How I RECOVERED from Pec Tear Surgery in ONLY 4 MONTHS
Summary
TLDRIn this inspiring video, the speaker shares their journey of recovering from a severe PEC tear sustained in 2019. Despite the typical nine-month recovery timeline, the dedicated weightlifter managed to return to full activity in just four months and regained strength in six. The video outlines their recovery process, including surgery, physical therapy, and a strategic blend of exercises that contributed to their swift comeback, emphasizing the importance of mindset and commitment in overcoming injury.
Takeaways
- 🏥 The speaker suffered a severe PEC (pectoralis major) tear in April 2019 and underwent surgery in May to reattach the muscle.
- 🔪 The surgery involved attaching the torn PEC to a plate in the bone using a surgical procedure that left a scar.
- 💪 Despite the injury, the speaker managed to recover faster than average, regaining full activity in about four months and original strength in six months.
- 🏋️♂️ The speaker's background as a weightlifter, rather than a gymnast or powerlifter, helped in the recovery process as it required less frequent use of the pectoral muscles.
- 🤔 The recovery involved a combination of physical therapy and self-directed exercises, with a focus on regaining mobility and strength without causing further injury.
- 📝 The importance of tracking progress, pain levels, and exercises is emphasized for better recovery and to avoid future injuries.
- 🧘♂️ The speaker incorporated various exercises, including PVC pipe lifts and leg workouts, to rebuild strength and mobility.
- 🎯 Setting a goal, such as a weightlifting competition, helped motivate the speaker to push through the recovery process.
- 🧠 A positive mindset and the belief in one's ability to recover were highlighted as crucial for a successful recovery.
- 📈 The recovery process was structured in six-week cycles, with gradual increases in exercise intensity and complexity.
- 🏆 The speaker successfully competed in a weightlifting meet, achieving personal records despite the injury and recovery period.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is the personal experience of the speaker recovering from a severe PEC (pectoralis major) tear injury and the process of regaining strength and mobility.
When did the speaker experience the PEC tear injury?
-The speaker experienced the PEC tear injury in April of 2019.
What was the immediate action the speaker took after the injury?
-The immediate action the speaker took was to ice the injured area and lay down to minimize movement, which helped in reducing the pain and swelling.
How did the speaker's athletic background influence the recovery process?
-The speaker's athletic background in gymnastics and weightlifting influenced the recovery process by providing a strong foundation in strength and understanding of body movements, which helped in the recovery and regaining strength more quickly.
What was the typical recovery time for a PEC tear according to the video?
-The typical recovery time for a PEC tear is about nine months to get back to full activity and up to a year to regain the original strength levels.
What made the speaker's recovery time faster than the average?
-The speaker's recovery time was faster due to their dedication, consistent exercises, and the fact that as a weightlifter, they didn't rely as heavily on their pectoral muscles, allowing them to return to activity more quickly.
What was the speaker's mindset during the recovery process?
-The speaker's mindset during the recovery process was initially one of grief and denial, but they quickly shifted to a positive and hopeful outlook, believing in their ability to recover stronger and faster.
What was the role of physical therapy in the speaker's recovery?
-Physical therapy played a crucial role in the speaker's recovery by providing structured exercises and guidance to regain mobility and strength in a safe and progressive manner.
What exercises did the speaker do during the early stages of recovery?
-During the early stages of recovery, the speaker did minor arm movements, leg exercises, and used a PVC pipe for light weight-bearing exercises to avoid stressing the injured area.
How did the speaker track their progress during the recovery?
-The speaker tracked their progress by writing down the exercises performed, pain levels, and any improvements or setbacks, which helped in adjusting the recovery program and ensuring consistent progress.
What was the speaker's goal during the final phase of recovery before competing?
-The speaker's goal during the final phase of recovery was to lift more weight than ever before in a competition and qualify for the American Open finals, which served as a motivation to push through the recovery process.
What advice does the speaker give for someone going through a similar recovery process?
-The speaker advises maintaining a positive mindset, being consistent with exercises, setting goals, and tracking progress to stay motivated and committed during the recovery process.
Outlines
🏥 PEC Tear Injury and Recovery Journey
The speaker shares their experience with a severe PEC (pectoralis major) tear sustained in April 2019, which required surgery to reattach the muscle. They emphasize the importance of their recovery process, noting that as a weightlifter, their recovery was faster than average, taking only four months to return to activity and six months to regain original strength levels. The video aims to discuss their background in athletics, the timeline of their recovery, and the unique exercises that contributed to their rapid healing.
🤸♂️ Background in Athletics and the Incident
The narrator describes their athletic background, starting with gymnastics in high school, moving to CrossFit, and eventually focusing on weightlifting. They discuss how their previous training in gymnastics, particularly on the rings, contributed to strong pectoral muscles. The injury occurred while attempting an Iron Cross on the rings, an exercise they hadn't performed in years. After the injury, they experienced significant pain and bruising, leading to a diagnosis of a complete PEC tear and the necessity of surgery.
🔨 Post-Surgery Recovery and Mental Adjustment
Following surgery, the individual underwent a structured physical therapy program divided into three six-week phases, focusing initially on mobility and gradually progressing to strength training. They also discuss the mental aspect of recovery, highlighting the importance of mindset in overcoming the initial despair and committing to a diligent recovery routine. The speaker shares their strategy of setting a goal to compete in a weightlifting meet, which motivated them to push through the recovery process.
🏋️♂️ Strength Regain and Training Routines
The speaker details the exercises and routines that were part of their recovery, including leg workouts, core training, and upper body movements. They mention the use of a PVC pipe for practicing weightlifting movements without strain and the incremental increase in weight for overhead exercises. The importance of tracking progress and pain levels is emphasized, as is the gradual return to full upper body exercises and the achievement of being able to perform a push-up by the end of the recovery period.
🎖️ Competition and Reflection on Recovery
The individual sets a goal to compete in a weightlifting meet, using this as a benchmark for their recovery progress. They describe the final phase of their recovery, which involved rebuilding strength and practicing lifts with increasing weights. The competition resulted in personal records, even though it did not qualify them for the American Open finals. The speaker reflects on the importance of mindset and the belief in one's ability to recover and come back stronger, offering advice and encouragement to others facing similar injuries.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡PEC tear
💡surgery
💡recovery
💡weightlifting
💡gymnastics
💡physical therapy (PT)
💡mobility
💡strength levels
💡unorthodox exercises
💡mindset
💡competition
Highlights
The speaker tore his pectoral major muscle (PEC) in April 2019 and underwent surgery two weeks later.
The scar from the surgery is still faintly visible between the speaker's chest and shoulder.
The speaker recovered faster than the typical nine-month timeline for a pectoral tear, taking only four months to return to activity.
As a weightlifter, the speaker's recovery was aided by the nature of the sport, which doesn't rely as heavily on the pectoral muscles.
The speaker had to perform unorthodox exercises to rebuild strength and surpass pre-injury levels.
The speaker's athletic background includes gymnastics and weightlifting, with a focus on rings in gymnastics.
The injury occurred while performing an Iron Cross on the rings, a skill not practiced for four years.
The speaker initially experienced denial and grief about the injury, fearing it would end his weightlifting career.
A mindset shift from unhappiness to positivity was crucial for the speaker's recovery process.
The recovery process involved three phases of six-week intervals, focusing on mobility, strength, and stability.
Despite doctor's orders, the speaker began leg training during the first phase of recovery.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of writing down exercises and pain levels for tracking progress.
By week ten of recovery, the speaker was pain-free in all ranges of motion except when lifting overhead.
Setting a goal to compete in a weightlifting meet helped the speaker stay focused and motivated during recovery.
The speaker was able to achieve a personal record in competition after recovery, despite not qualifying for the American Open finals.
The final phase of recovery included overhead stability work, which significantly improved upper body strength.
The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of mindset in the recovery process from injury.
Transcripts
[Music]
today's gonna be a good one no I'm not
gonna shave what's up everybody today I
want to be talking about my worst injury
ever which was my PEC tear I tore my PEC
major in April of 2019 then in May two
weeks after the injury I had surgery to
reattach my pack you can actually still
see my scar from the surgery let's go to
my face it goes right in between my PEC
in my shoulder here it's pretty faint it
healed really well it's still there a
little bit this video is very important
to me just because I was very diligent
about my recovery I recovered very fast
much faster than the typical recovery
time for back tear it normally takes
about nine months to get back to full
activity and it can take up to a year to
be at the same strength levels you were
originally it actually took me about
four months to get back to activity and
it took about six months to get back to
the same strength levels I was at
originally now part of the reason for
this was because I'm a weightlifter I
don't have to use my PEC as often as say
a gymnast or a power lifter would so a
lot of my movements were just about
going overhead and once I had the
mobility to do so the injury itself
didn't really affect my training too
greatly so it was relatively easy to get
back to activity getting the strength
levels back was the hard part though I
had to do a lot of unorthodox exercises
just to rebuild that strength
go even beyond where I was originally so
in this video I'm gonna talk about my
background I'm gonna talk about the
timeline for my recovery and I'm gonna
talk about basically the exercises I
used and what I did differently from say
other people having dealing with a pack
tear and how I use that to my advantage
to recover much faster than someone
normally would I'm gonna leave time
skips down below in case you want to
skip ahead to maybe just the exercises I
use to help with the injury I'm sure not
everyone watching this is going to deal
with the pack tear or has before but my
information is still valuable no matter
what injury to have just because I will
talk about the commitment and dedication
it takes to recover quickly from
whatever country you're dealing with so
let's have a background in case you
don't know me very well and you're just
watching this videos I didn't do any
sports any physical activity until I was
about 14 years old when I started
gymnastics in high school so I did
gymnastics for four years didn't do any
other sports when I graduated high
school I was like god [ __ ] I don't know
what else to do so I went to Illinois
State University they didn't have a
gymnastics team so I had to find
something else to do so that summer
between high school and college I picked
up CrossFit so I did CrossFit for about
a year and a half to two years and then
I got really interested in the
weightlifting portion of it so I got a
weightlifting coach and I did
weightlifting I've been doing
weightlifting for about the last 4 years
so my athletic background isn't super
extended but during these 10 years of
being active I've been very dedicated to
what I've been doing in addition to that
I want to mention that when I was a
gymnast I had very strong packs just
because of the amount of push-ups we had
to do and the different strength skills
we did for our events especially rings
which was my main event so when I
switched over to weightlifting I lost a
lot of the strength I
my pack specifically the rest of my
upper body maintained it very well and I
got I mean my shoulders are
significantly stronger than they were
when I was gymnast but my pecs
definitely weakened so I was very
susceptible to injury going back to
gymnastics and doing those gymnastics
skills so as you could see from the
intro I tore my PEC doing Iron Cross I
had not done an Iron Cross for about
four years I kept doing them for a year
after I graduated any time I saw rings
or I was back in the gym I would do an
Iron Cross without warming up and then
about another year after that I kind of
lost the skill just cuz I lost that
specific strength so I stopped doing
them I start coaching gymnastics at my
old high school last year 2019 and I was
on the Rings doing some stuff just in
between coaching kids one of them asked
me to do an Iron Cross actually a couple
of them asked me to do an Iron Cross
this was like oh why not you know I'll
try out I'll warm up a little bit so I
went on Total Gym if you know what a
total gym is it's basically like a sled
on an angle pulley system and you can do
iron crosses with it and went on it did
a couple crosses to warm it up one on
the Rings trying to iron cross and I was
holding it for about a second and I felt
this huge rip go across my shoulder here
and then you and you something was wrong
right away it hurt very badly so jumped
off the Rings sold out of my arm
any time I tried to move my arm I could
feel it throb and vibrator really
aggressively and it was significantly
painful if I didn't move it it wasn't
too bad so I try and just leave it I had
one of the kids grab me pack of ice and
basically the rest of the practice I
laid down and ice my my pack I didn't
really realize what happened until that
night when I
tried researching you know what could
have happened it looked like I had
toward my pack and I was really hoping I
wouldn't have to get surgery I know if I
tore my PEC minor I don't think I would
have to get surgery but if you tear your
PEC major it's clean off which is what
happened the tendon tore off of the bone
in my arm and snapped back in here so my
PEC would just kind of bunched up and
over the next few days that start
bruising and the bruising went all the
way down my arm and my bicep so people
thought I'd swear my bicep actually so
the next day I call my doctor
have an appointment they refer me to
orthopedics so I saw the orthopedic and
he was basically like dude
torture pack I'm gonna have to do
surgery and that was probably the most
painful thing I had to hear I was kind
of in denial about the injury for the
next few days I think I think four days
later I saw the orthopedic I was
extremely unhappy and extremely almost
in grief I don't want to say depressed
but experiencing grief for sure I felt
like any ability for me to continue
weightlifting was was over I was already
dealing with so many other issues I had
a teller tone Appa Thea I was dealing
with and I was just recovering from it
and then this happened so I was just so
down on myself and so unhappy because I
really wanted to push the weight lifting
as far as I could so another day goes by
and the next day I'm like okay I'm going
to end up on the other side of this
strong and successful and happy and I'm
gonna do everything I possibly can to
recover as well and as quickly as I can
so that I can get back to activity and
fulfill my goals my ability to switch
from being very unhappy to being very
hopeful and positive was a big turning
point for me I felt like I was able to
finally control
emotions and use them to fuel me to be
better and everything I do I didn't want
to go out and about that but I thought
it was important to mention just because
your mindset going into recovery for
anything is so important once you have a
handle on your mindset I think it's much
easier to be committed to what you're
doing so you can recover quickly and you
can come out the other side better and
stronger than you were originally okay
so let's talk about surgery
and then my recovery process in the
surgery the orthopaedic basically sliced
up here he put this plate with holes in
it into my bone in my arm and then he
grabbed the tendon pulled over and then
threaded it into this plate and
basically tied it down my arm I was
under anesthetic for the surgery I was
out for maybe an hour and a half to two
hours and I woke up wasn't it pain
because I was on drugs and you know I
could tell my arms all bloody and I was
stitched up of course I left I had to
coach at the state meet the next day
which was a little while so I try not to
take too many hydrocodone or whatever it
was I turned that take too much of it so
I was in pain but functional enough to
coach go to save me got through it and
now my focus entirely turned onto my
recovery and home and get back to
weightlifting started PT a week later
did super minor stuff my PT would just
kind of move my arm and that was
basically it
and then as the week's went on we would
do more flexibility and mobility worked
I didn't do much on my own I did very
minor stuff during that time you can see
here - you'll be able to see it but
these bite marks are the plates that you
put into my arm you drilled those in and
then you know tied my tendon down
see from different angles here but you
can see in this one there's two plates
there and then I think this little white
dot is something else I don't really
know no that's my recovery for the
injury was programmed in three six week
intervals first six weeks I was supposed
to just keep my arm in my swing not
moving at all except when I went to my
PT twice a week where she would manually
move my arm and stretch it out herself
just out regain mobility the doctor
asked me not to do any exercise outside
of what I was doing it when I saw my PT
against my doctor's wishes I was
training legs during this time so I
would go to a Globo gym and basically
just use leg press leg extension late
curl machines and so I'd show up to the
gym and this sling and a bunch of people
are looking at me like what what is this
guy doing I did that for about maybe
four weeks and then once my arm was
getting more mobility I started adding
in other exercises that I could do that
once where and use my arm but ones were
I was a little bit more fearful of
putting pressure on my arm like let's
say doing sit-ups or any other ab
exercise where my upper body has to move
a little bit so I waited till that four
week mark and then started adding those
in lightly making sure that there was no
pain in my PEC and I wasn't moving my
upper body too much when the six week
mark hit I was basically allowed to
start doing things on my own not
strength work on my own just mobility
stuff on my own so I could take my sling
off move my arm I was given these
exercises let me show you guys one
example of exercise I to do while I was
at home was I had to just lean over
anything and circle my arm and I
couldn't use my arm to actually move it
I had to sway my body enough so the arms
are just naturally swing so do circles I
do swings side to side I do a bunch of
sets of those during this time too once
I felt comfortable and I didn't have as
much pain I started adding in pulls with
a PVC pipe so I would basically
hold the PVC pipe and a snatch grip or a
clean grip and I would deadlift it and
it's a PVC pipe it's almost no weight so
it didn't affect me at all
but this helped me drill the movement of
the snatch and the clean again I'm gonna
do any jerks couldn't go over head yet
it took about another 6 weeks before I
was able to do that I did however start
barbell squatting so what I would do is
I would throw my sling over the barbell
and I hold it with this arm since I
didn't have the mobility to really get
it up this high yet so throw my sling
over hold it down low and then my other
arm would just be on the bar normally so
people are still in the gym like what's
dad doing
and now barbell squat I started light
and I started building weight but I had
to make sure that my core and upper back
were so tight and that I maintained such
a good position that I didn't have to
worry about any pull on my pack at all
in addition to this this second six week
cycle was when my PT start adding weight
bearing exercises within this lower
plane so I couldn't add weight overhead
I couldn't even fully lock on my arm up
here yet so I would do things like being
in a push-up position with my arms bent
just so my arm muscles were activated so
I did easy stuff like that and as the
week's went on my I can prove and it got
better and better and better and during
this time I kept ramping up the leg work
ramping up the poles I did hundreds and
hundreds of poles in a week
now do every day just to make sure I was
still drilling those positions and not
losing my strength in those positions
I was extremely diligent about the work
I was doing every single day same time
when it did my exercises at the end of
the week I would go home write a program
for myself for the next week and
continue building on what I was doing
every single day with the poles with the
leg work with the core work and then
making sure to factor in my PT and once
I was done with the early stages of PT I
made sure to start adding in my own
upper-body work being diligent about
that so that brings me to a huge tip I
have for you write everything down right
down the exercise you do write down pain
levels
make sure you are tracking everything if
you track everything you can use that
information for later if you re-enter
yourself or if you deal with a separate
injury but you be able to track things
helps you progressively overload your
body so that you are improving and
getting back to your original strength
level unfortunately I did write
everything down but I don't still have
the stuff I wrote down so I can't even
access it now which was my mistake and
so that's why I recommend you guys write
stuff down save it somewhere make sure
you still have it for later about week
ten is when my pain was completely gone
I would still feel pain when I did
exercises that involve my PEC muscle
overall week 10 is when pain was gone in
any range of motion I put my arm in as
long as there wasn't weight against it
putting weight against my arm overhead
was fine too just while I was in this
forward plane here is when I would feel
pain I started to snatch and clean and
jerk doing the full lift with just the
PVC pipe so again like I didn't have
pain at week ten my then it was totally
fine for me to go overhead with the
snatch or the jerk as long as I wasn't
being too aggressive with the movements
and wasn't putting weight on to it so I
just used the PVC pipe to do that and
did it for a couple weeks and as we
entered the third six week cycles when I
started actually adding weight to the
snatches cleans and jerks I was starting
to get a little restless during this
time and I felt like I needed to set my
eyes on some sort of goal so I sign up
for a weightlifting meet in October late
October my goal was to lift more weight
than I had at any other competition and
qualify for the American Open finals
pretty lofty goal for someone who just
store their pack and had surgery and was
going to draw this recovery and couldn't
lift the same weights as before but I
knew if I set this goal that I would
attack recovery a little bit better and
I would at least be able to get to full
strength sooner than I had originally
planned
by the end of the second 6-week cycle I
was almost completely overhead I was
about probably about this position and
if I went all the way overhead my arm
would be bent like this I was getting
there and this was around the time my PT
started to ramp everything up so I
started my third 6-week cycle so I set
the goal and I began to push the weights
more and more and more especially with
the legwork since that's what I
basically had full availability to do
especially once my pack didn't hurt
anymore this is when I started pushing
the lower body in the core work because
I didn't feel as much pain when my torso
would move during exercises and while I
was in PT this is when I started doing
full upper body exercises going overhead
so it did things like lat pull-downs I
would do plank holds on moving objects
stuff like that where my PEC had to
activate knew it was very uncomfortable
but during this six weeks there's a
little bit more freedom in terms of the
pain I felt with my PEC even though it
might be uncomfortable to do certain
exercises it healed well enough where I
wasn't gonna read tear it doing one of
those movements I wasn't doing stuff
like push-ups yet except when my PT want
to test how much better I had gotten she
would have me do a push-up or just see
how low I could go and then by the end
of that third 6-week cycle I could do a
push-up again even though it was very
uncomfortable did very light dumbbell
pressing bench pressing and overhead
pressing I had to do external rotations
with bands during this third cycles when
I also start adding weight to the poles
so I started very light at use of
training bar which was at our gym it was
11 pounds every week I would just add
weight to it add five pounds and another
five pounds and another five pounds and
so on
as long as my PEC could handle it and
there was never a time where I was like
oh this doesn't feel so good I'm gonna
drop the weight back down I was
continually able to add five pounds
every week once I was done with PT I
basically had another six weeks cycle of
myself before I had to compete I think
the most beneficial exercise I added in
once I was done with PT was my overhead
stability work so basically three days a
week I would put weight over head just
hold it
there get comfortable with it one day I
held weight in a snatch grip position
one day I held weight in clean grip
position and one day I would do carries
overhead not with a bamboo bar but the
same idea I had a bar with bands and
kettlebells hanging from it just tried
to work on even more stability control
once I started adding these exercises in
my upper body strength skyrocketed I was
getting it back so quickly and that made
it much easier to build on the snatches
and cleanin jerks as the week's
progressed about two weeks prior to the
competition I was able to lift about 95%
of my original maxes which was a really
good sign my technique could definitely
improve and that was a result of me
doing those poles every day and drilling
that technique every day so fast forward
get to the competition I snatch 101
which is 222 pounds and then I clean
jerk 125 which is 275 pounds couple
kilos over my best competition toll not
enough to qualify me for the American
Open finals didn't matter I was
incredibly satisfied with the progress I
had made and incredibly satisfied with
getting competition PRS after everything
I had been through so that was my
recovery process has a little bit of a
jumbled mess again it was three six week
cycles of PT plus adding in my own work
and then a final six weeks to rebuild
all of my strength and then compete in
this competition a few final words for
you guys kind of like I said at the
beginning of a video I think one of the
most important things during a recovery
period is your mindset not necessarily
the exercises you are doing to help
yourself if you are positive and you
know you'll come out the other side
better and stronger then you will be
fine that belief alone will carry you
through the exercises and it will carry
through your decision to
pleat them as well obviously you have to
put it in the work but what I'm saying
is that belief and intention are exactly
what's gonna drive you to stay committed
and stay consistent thank you guys for
watching if you have any questions on
any injury and how to handle it leave a
comment below I'd love to help you of
course I'm not as knowledgeable as a PT
is for any other person who has a degree
in the medical field but I have the
experience I have the mindset I can at
least give that to you so once again
thank you guys for watching and I'll see
you in the next one
[Music]
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