Hello there gentlemen,
As you can tell by the username my name is Murph, overall I'm your typical 25 year old living in SoCal. I guess you could say that I'm an "enthusiast" body builder/power lifter, but I'm currently unable to lift or do much of anything, due to a severe case of TOS (thoracic outlet syndrome) in my right shoulder from a wrestling injury when I was 18 that apparently never quite healed right and didn't become an issue until I was reaching 225 bw. Hoping to get surgery done on it soon but the doctors have been trying to do a very painful course of physical therapy to try to get the artery and nerves to come loose. Final consult should be on Tuesday, so hoping that bodes well for me!
Also something of note, and a reason I never really decided to step on a stage of any sort, I "suffer" from a condition called muscular dysmorphia, which is just a fancy way of saying that no matter how big I seem to get I never have been able to reach what I feel is my "perfect" body and always appear scrawny to myself. I remember being about six years old and my parents took me to the mall to see the glorious Santa Clause, and the only thing I wanted in the whole world was a set of weights so I could look like the guys on TV. However, Santa tried to explain to me that it would stunt my growth and yada yada yada. That still didn't douse the flames though, and I started doing push ups and pull ups in my backyard trying to get bigger. My father continuously telling me that I didn't need to get big I just needed to "tone up" in his words.
Well, damn near twenty years later I'm still addicted to this fitness thing, hope to try to get over my self-image bullshit and actually get on a stage or at least do a powerlifting competition! The one thing that's killing me though is this damn injury, and if I can't self medicate through the gym I at least hope I can help people avoid some of the mistakes I made when I was younger. I'm by no means the most qualified individual, but what knowledge I do have on what worked and didn't work for me might help somebody else out there. If you ever see me make a post that is completely wrong please let me know, it's not me trying to mislead people but more so information that I learned growing up that might be messed up. I'll gladly withdraw/edit any comments made and keep it in mind for both my personal benefit as well as the benefit of others.
My one question to everybody here, that I'd like some guidance on, would be my recovery from this TOS plague. I was training through the injury for a good long while with the assistance of my friend and workout partner but as all injuries do when they're not addressed it finally reached the point of failure. I know I can't put too much strain on the joint too early, which sucks because I love lifting heavy, but what is your input on training that I can incorporate either currently or after surgery to help aid recovery? I've lost damn near fifty pounds from not being able to train and frankly I let my diet go to shit after the depression and everything hit. Any input on training or even gear (not too soon obviously because I'll need to rebuild my base to avoid another joint/tendon injury) would be greatly appreciated.
Much respect,
Murph
As you can tell by the username my name is Murph, overall I'm your typical 25 year old living in SoCal. I guess you could say that I'm an "enthusiast" body builder/power lifter, but I'm currently unable to lift or do much of anything, due to a severe case of TOS (thoracic outlet syndrome) in my right shoulder from a wrestling injury when I was 18 that apparently never quite healed right and didn't become an issue until I was reaching 225 bw. Hoping to get surgery done on it soon but the doctors have been trying to do a very painful course of physical therapy to try to get the artery and nerves to come loose. Final consult should be on Tuesday, so hoping that bodes well for me!
Also something of note, and a reason I never really decided to step on a stage of any sort, I "suffer" from a condition called muscular dysmorphia, which is just a fancy way of saying that no matter how big I seem to get I never have been able to reach what I feel is my "perfect" body and always appear scrawny to myself. I remember being about six years old and my parents took me to the mall to see the glorious Santa Clause, and the only thing I wanted in the whole world was a set of weights so I could look like the guys on TV. However, Santa tried to explain to me that it would stunt my growth and yada yada yada. That still didn't douse the flames though, and I started doing push ups and pull ups in my backyard trying to get bigger. My father continuously telling me that I didn't need to get big I just needed to "tone up" in his words.
Well, damn near twenty years later I'm still addicted to this fitness thing, hope to try to get over my self-image bullshit and actually get on a stage or at least do a powerlifting competition! The one thing that's killing me though is this damn injury, and if I can't self medicate through the gym I at least hope I can help people avoid some of the mistakes I made when I was younger. I'm by no means the most qualified individual, but what knowledge I do have on what worked and didn't work for me might help somebody else out there. If you ever see me make a post that is completely wrong please let me know, it's not me trying to mislead people but more so information that I learned growing up that might be messed up. I'll gladly withdraw/edit any comments made and keep it in mind for both my personal benefit as well as the benefit of others.
My one question to everybody here, that I'd like some guidance on, would be my recovery from this TOS plague. I was training through the injury for a good long while with the assistance of my friend and workout partner but as all injuries do when they're not addressed it finally reached the point of failure. I know I can't put too much strain on the joint too early, which sucks because I love lifting heavy, but what is your input on training that I can incorporate either currently or after surgery to help aid recovery? I've lost damn near fifty pounds from not being able to train and frankly I let my diet go to shit after the depression and everything hit. Any input on training or even gear (not too soon obviously because I'll need to rebuild my base to avoid another joint/tendon injury) would be greatly appreciated.
Much respect,
Murph