Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I had an A/C shoulder separation injury following a fall that was pinned, had the pin removed, and months of physiotherapy before given the all clear last August. Been advised by a personal trainer to avoid dips and possibly close-grip benches. What safe moves can I do to form a good triceps workout?  I’ve lost a lot of confidence here.

It’s been many months since the doc’s okay; you should be well on the mend.

Tough to advise on joint repair. Only the bearer of the injury can accurately choose the exercises, direct their grooves and the recovery process — commonsense, pain awareness, focus, warming up, abbreviated movements, light weights, slow and thoughtful reps, trial and error.

You might stick to various dumbbell presses to secure shoulders and work tris.

Try pulley pushdowns — overhead and forward-facing — with safe positioning of the cable and range of motion and medium resistance.

Lying extensions with a barbell and one-hand overhead extensions with a dumbbell are risk-worthy possibilities. Kick-backs… ugh.

Overall training will bring you back to full power and speed in time. Injury and recovery have a weird way of complementing the musclebuilder.

Confidence will grow with exercise-injury understanding and muscle strength and shoulder health.

Go… Godspeed

Approximately 5 months ago I completely tore my distal biceps. I had the biceps repaired and have now completed four months of physical therapy. My question to you is when can I resume lifting like I used to, and what exercises? I’ve been cleared by the doctor.

Tough recovery. The biceps were described to me as so much chopped meat, which is difficult to repair at the insertions. Using that picture, I became focused and more focused.

Just a rundown of precautions might help:

I’d return to my training with great care and attention beginning with partial reps and light weights, and would engage thumbs-up curls with dumbbells for starters.

Wrist curls would fit in there nicely. Triceps would include machine dips, close-grip bench pressing and pulley pushdowns.

I’d avoid any movements that required cleaning the bar or dumbbells into position (sudden biceps overload), including for triceps extensions and dumbbell presses. And I’d avoid over-extension of the biceps in lat pulldowns, chins, extended curls or preacher curls and such.

Abbreviated seated lat rows and modified bentover dumbbell rows will require care and testing.

Make up your routine as you test and try the various basics… no secrets here… you’re your own best therapist, so the docs told me… and they’re right… commonsense, guts, time, perseverance and God’s right hand.

Legs and aerobics and diet need no alterations.

Go… Dave

Dave, how did you kick the sauce? I’m pretty sure I drink too much.

I hit the real bottom. House, family, friends and work gone, and in ICU with congestive heart failure. The doctors and nurses said goodbye.

I managed to crawl away and re-right myself over the years by none less than God’s grace. Sober eyes and mind see and think differently, clearly and painfully. I was sick to death, you’re just a little under the weather.

Read, jog, train, clean house, find a productive diversion, recognize the weakness and worthlessness and commonness and cheapness of the booze habit and put it away — before it puts you away, and it will in time — very insidious, the Devil in a mug or six-pack.

Here’s one for the record books: Jesus Saves… read the Bible, live, learn and grow.

Go… Godspeed… Dave (I ain’t no alter boy)

I began working out again at home with a bar, a bench and dumbbells after a huge layoff, ’bout 25 years! I’m experiencing elbow pain, mainly with curls and slightly with kickbacks and triceps extensions. Can’t do laterals at all without pain. Holding the weights for deadlifts and calf raises kills the elbows. Do have any advice for an old feller who loves to lift?

Elbows are under heavy stress: age and condition and inflammation due to overuse and overload and insufficient repair time. Additionally, training with limited equipment narrows down your choices of exercises to perform. Less variation, more redundancy and you’re pressed to practice unsuitable or disagreeable movements.

Sounds like tendonitis… so common and disheartening. You’ll have to follow the pain and work out the solution yourself — basic instinct and commonsense.

Rearrange your workouts so pressing and triceps work don’t interfere with one another. Don’t over-extend the elbow in either the lock-out or bent position.

Skip triceps kickbacks — troublesome.

Invest in a pair of elbow wraps that can be pulled on and off, snug and not-so-snug as needed. Helps me bigtime.

Take Aleve or other anti-inflammatory OTC medicine on tougher days. Ice if swelling is visible, or even maybe if not.

Try reverse or thumbs-up curls for painfree biceps action.

Expand your exercise repertoire by improvising or further equipment investments or a gym membership.

Provide a three-day weight-free rest each week.

Carry on the good fight, go… Godspeed… dd

I have a pinched nerve and my lower vertebrae are compressed from an injury. At a recent visit to my chiropractor, he told me to avoid the elliptical and stair master, and to avoid all back exercises… specifically to stop doing squats (one of my favorites). What exercises do you suggest?

Not good news… critical area and you don’t want to abuse or damage it further. Beware and be aware.

Did your DC take pictures to confirm his findings? I’m scheduled for an MRI of the lumbar for a similar problem, which is getting severe. For me, squats are out, but the leg press is no problem till I sort things out.

No major loss giving up the Stairmaster and the elliptical (tough on knees and hips); you can replace them with the stationary bike — practice intervals. Great stuff.

Squats and lunges might have to give way to the leg press, extensions and curls. You might carefully bring in hyperextensions for the lower back health and strength. Dunno about very light deads…

Can’t tell you how many favorites I’ve had to give up due to limitations from injury and age. The beat goes on; we improvise, we adjust, we find joy in the bountiful remnants. Growth comes from accidents, injuries and failure. Smile, you’re on a roll.

Go, girl… Godspeed… Dave

I’m having shoulder pain lately. It could be tendinitis, but I’m not certain. Is this something to be concerned with? Should I rest it? Do you have any suggested workout or stretching routines for a shoulder problem?

Join the club. We struggle and strain and eventually get an injury for all our noble efforts. It ain’t fair.

I continue to train when pain rears its ugly head, working those muscle groups unaffected or least affected by the injury. This MO often assists in repair.

After warming up I work close to the pain and injured region to engage my own therapy. Most doctors can’t help till a real problem develops. They often suggest a layoff, water-boarding to a devoted nutsie lifter.

Do common sense warm-ups, light weights and so forth and go onward with bold caution… website full of info… look around. Here are a few links to get you started:

Handling weight training injuries

Tendinitis

Repair of shoulder injuries, part 1

Beware of heavy bench presses.

Go… Godspeed… DD

My question involves a chronic discomfort I have in what I am told is my rhomboid. It is basically a collection of knots behind my left shoulder blade, that I can’t seem to get rid of and seem to be agitated by bench pressing and occasionally by shoulder pressing.

I believe the knots are exactly that, knots of muscle fibers that need to be basically untangled and dispersed by a knowledgeable sport massage therapist, a chiropractor you trust or a therapist skilled in Active Release Therapy (ART).

Laree’s written a blog post that will explain this more fully, here: Triggerpoint therapy.
Works wonders to relieve pain, regain regional body function and allow healthy neuromuscular transmission… something like that.
Go… DD

What do you suggest for me as I begin training after a layoff and with a bad back?

Try this:

Warm up with floor crunches and bent-leg leg-raises (according to your back limitations and range of motion) for the core muscles and abdominal area: a set of 15 crunches (more or less, depending on ability) followed by a set of 10+/- leg-raises. Repeat.

Stand up straight (at attention) as a starting position and perform 10 reps of bent-leg good morning exercises (modified deadlifts), reaching for the floor to maximize your range of motion and to continue to work and warm up the back region. Perform a second set. In future workouts you’ll look forward to holding light weights in your hands for resistance and strengthening of involved systemic and ancillary muscles (lower back, grip, thighs).

As you are able, position a pair of light dumbbells over head as you sit on an incline bench. Perform 2 sets of dumbbell inclines for 10 reps. Soon you will move to 3 sets, maybe four sets, and increase the weight as your strength grows (works shoulders, chest, triceps).

Seated on the end of the bench, perform two sets of 10 reps of alternate dumbbell curls (provides biceps, grip and some torso action). In time move to three and four sets, increasing the weight to accommodate strength increase. Lower reps to eight where and when needed. Your commonsense is welcome.

Lying on the bench with both hands gripping and positioning a single dumbbell in an overhead starting point, lower the dumbbell so the plates just pass the forehead by bending the arms at the elbow only, and return to the starting position (triceps, grip). The upper arm should remain stationary, thereby placing the resistance on the triceps. Repeat and follow same rep-weight protocol as suggested above.

Focus, hope, daring, patience and practice. This is a substantial beginners routine for a guy with some possible background, some drive and some heart. It’s great practice to start someone thinking right and take them to the next levels (our website will make more sense with each workout). As you learn and improve you can apply more and more effort and acquired savvy. This routine, though modest, will work an advanced musclebuilder if he or she gives it all he or she has.

Backs are tricky… you be the guardian as you proceed.

Go… God’s Might… Dave