Pretty happy with my session today ending my 6th set of bench with 140kg for 2 reps.
My session went like this: 115kg x 4, 120kg x 4, 125kg x 4, 130kg x 4, 135kg x 3, 140kg x 2
I had the goal of benching 140kg for a single back in 2013 and it has taken me this long to achieve. It isn’t because I am lazy, inconsistent, or changed goals, nothing like that. It is simply because I kept getting injured (in league and then jiujitsu) and every time I got close would almost have to start from scratch.
In that time, some of the bigger injuries I had:
* Broke my back (L3 transverse process). Finished the last 20 minutes of the game and played two weeks post doing this.
* Broken wrist
* Broken collar bone (I played the whole season with the broken wrist and collar bone, so that set me back a long way. I spent 12 weeks in a cast post season)
* Tore my pec off the ribs, done my A.C, tore my infrasprinatus, and tore my delt (semi-final, finished the game out after doing it in the first half)
* Tore my pec off the ribs again the following season (finished my career due to this)
* Had 3 screws put in my hand
* Had a few disc bulges flair up
* Tore a right quad muscle off
* Ruptured my top left ab
* Tore my hamstring
* Ruptured my adductor and conjoint tendon
This is on top of an injury list twice as long as this one prior to 2013.
So, while it is far from being a world class bench, I am happy for sticking in there and achieving my goal.
As bad as the injuries have been, they have given me a lot of practical experience about program design, rehab, and technique. Shit you can’t learn from a book. Most people will never experience this type of learning and for our young athletes, and clients, thankfully so.
What are the main reasons for this amount of injuries? I’d say the extreme over training and weaknesses never addressed early in my career. From that, the 30 plus cortisone shots I have had, and then also all the compensations I have made over the years training around and playing with all the injuries.
At the end of the day, what happened, happened. I am just trying to be as good as I can be.
From this, I have learnt many lessons, ones that I can use to help prevent my clients from going through the same types of things, and help them reach their full potential.
You aren’t done until you decide you are.
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