I am sitting here at my computer breathing slightly hard. During my post-op visit yesterday my surgeon said I could start light workouts. Considering how badly my surgery knocked me on my ass I took him very seriously.
So I sat down about half an hour ago at my workout bench and did the following exercises:
- Rows, 5 sets of 10. 50lbs weight. Alternated underhand and overhand.
These were really easy and I didn’t feel like I was working out at all. But as my doctor suggested, I kept the weight low. - One Armed Curls, 3 sets each arm. 30lbs weight.
These were also really easy and I had no problems. - Bench Press, 3 sets. 50lbs.
This is where it started to get interesting. As I did the bench press, I noticed a warm feeling in my neck, right where the neck muscle that was taken used to be. I also noticed a tightening in my left shoulder. Still, all in all, it was not that hard. - Arm raises, never finished, 10lbs.
This is where I immediately hit failure. Remember, in a previous blog I said that my surgeon had to move a nerve that controlled my left shoulder to get to the cancer. He told me I would have some weakness as a result. No shit! With my left had at my side and with a 10lb weight I could not lift the weight more than a foot before my shoulder gave out on me. So I lowered it to 5lbs and barely got any higher. I grabbed a 2.5lb weight and managed to get it and my arm parallel to the ground but no higher. I cannot list my arm higher than my shoulder right now in a stiff-arm raise.
Pretty crazy stuff. To top it off, when I came in Carey said my scar was glowing red. I forgot that blood rushes really show up on scars and since my is so new it looks very wicked.
Still, for a 20-minute workout it’s a start. Tomorrow I’ll try again and, knowing my limitations now, I’ll target the workout to address my weak area.
It must be awful to suddenly feel helpless when you’re just trying to do something that’s always been a piece of cake before.