Patience, young lad. It will all come back soon enough. Give yourself some time to adapt to basic walking around before heading to the gym for deadlifts and trying one-armed swings with your 40kg…the next few weeks are, in some ways, the most challenging time when rehabilitating an injury because of the temptation to do too much, too soon. Giving yourself a week or two to get used to walking around again is nothing in the big scheme of things. Get used to walking around again, doing basic bodyweight squats, etc.
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Congrats on being able to walk again dude! That’s a huge milestone. You are looking big in that progress pic as well. I actually have the t-shirt version of that tank top. Same photo and everything, haha.
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Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate it! That’s cool pwnisher - it’s my favourite tank top for sure. A present from a friend.
I failed to follow ActivitiesGuy’s wise advice and pushed myself. Ended up being the most challenging training session of my life I reckon!
One-Handed Kettlebell Swing
28kg: 3x10
Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing
40kg: F
28kg: 3x20
Walk (Hobble)
2 miles - 1 hour 15 min
The kettlebell swings felt much better than I expected - I could feel a horizontal force in my shin but it was totally manageable with the 28kg (although the 40kg didn’t feel safe). My form suffered due to my caution, but overall they felt good. The walk was the toughest training I’ve ever done, my right lower limb is super painful between the insane pump I got and the pain at the fracture and various surgical sites. It was pretty dumb to push myself for so long, but at least I’ve got that out of my system. Live and learn.
Week 10 - Summary
Bodyweight: 94.0kg (only weighed myself once this week)
Training: Excellent - Smolov Jr is going great, I’m very happy with my pull-ups and I’ve obviously made a big step forward with my lower body (pun intended).
Nutrition: Reasonable - as with last week I’m getting all of my nutritional requirements and then some extra junk
I didn’t do any formal training today - I’ve just been up and about practicing walking. My shin doesn’t feel any worse following my long walk yesterday, so that’s reassuring. I have quite a lot of lower back DOMS, and a little in my hamstrings, so I probably wasn’t using great technique on my swings (I should really only feel it in my hamstrings) but I thought that at the time.
Week 11 - Smolov Bench Day 9
High Resistance Cycle
10min
Bench Press
87.5kg: 6x6
Deadlift
100kg: 4x5
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 2x10
Bodyweight: 96.1kg (taking off now!)
Yesterday I went for a walk which was approximately 0.7 miles and it was absolutely horrible - it felt at least bad as the 2 mile walk the day before. Terrible pain in my shin, so bad that I had to climb the 5 steps outside my apartment on all fours (luckily no one was around lol). So I decided against trying to walk to and from the gym today (exactly 1 mile each way) and drove instead. I’m so happy to be driving - my 4x4 is my second passion after training and it feels so good to be behind the wheel again.
I wanted to train my lower body quite hard today, but give myself a bit of a break from walking, so I started my session with some high resistance cycling. After my bench press sets I did some conventional deadlifting and worked up to 4 sets of 5 with 100kg. Surprisingly this barely bothered my shin, probably because my deadlifting style is so hip dominant (I remember when I posted a video on here ages ago I was told I was basically just doing stiff leg deadlifts lol). Unfortunately I was concentrating so hard on my shin that I didn’t brace properly and tweaked my lower back a little. It felt extremely reassuring to be able to deadlift 100kg so easily, but I don’t feel the need to start deadlifting regularly just now - I think it’s better to focus on walking and kettlebells as a priority.
Week 11 - Smolov Bench Day 10
Bench Press
92.5kg: 7x5
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 10-8-6
Walk
1 mile (x2)
Bodyweight: 96.6kg (getting fat)
A huge improvement today - I walked to and from the gym with very little pain, in stark contrast to my 0.6 mile hobble the day before yesterday. My gait isn’t any better, but it’s fantastic to be relatively pain-free. The bench and pull-ups felt a little heavy, but were manageable.
A shock broke on my 4x4 yesterday evening - I must have jinxed it by mentioning it on here. Pretty frustrating but I’ve ordered upgraded ones. That’s my theme right now - coming back stronger.
“I did some conventional deadlifting and worked up to 4 sets of 5 with 100kg. Surprisingly this barely bothered my shin, probably because my deadlifting style is so hip dominant (I remember when I posted a video on here ages ago I was told I was basically just doing stiff leg deadlifts lol).”
Oddly enough, I’ll validate this feeling for you because I’ve noticed something quite similar with my own legs; I have a few dormant injuries from long ago, things I picked up playing football (American football, that is!) that are still bothersome with certain movements. The most vexing is a high ankle sprain from fall of 2006 that I don’t think ever healed properly - I still notice at least mild discomfort doing almost anything that requires a significant amount of ankle flexion, one reason you’ll rarely see me squatting in training - but I can deadlift 405 pounds with no pain in that region at all.
Presumably deadlifting feels OK for you now because the injured region is just a supporting structure in the deadlift and not actually “lifting” the weight (it just has to “bear” the weight), at least if I’m properly understanding your injury and deadlift style correctly.
Anyways, that’s quite encouraging to hear you deadlifted a decent amount of weight already, and an indicator that you’ll likely regain much of your strength quite quickly.
Yes I think you’re completely right. When my shin is vertical and simply supporting weight it is fine, but when it is actively moving it becomes a problem. Which is why walking is so hard, but deadlifts are ok! Thank you 
Week 11 - Lower Body
Bodyweight Squats
BW: 5x10
One-Arm Kettlebell Swings
28kg: 5x10
Bodyweight: 96.1kg
I was hoping to try some bodyweight lunges today, but the squats were very uncomfortable and I didn’t want to push it. The one-arm swings felt much more explosive than last time, but my conditioning is absolutely horrible! It’s interesting - I don’t feel like I’ve actually lost much strength, but this brief session completely wiped me out.
One thing I should mention is that for the last 5 days I’ve been having niggling anterior shoulder pain, presumably from all of the bench pressing. I used to have the same pain and it got really bad. I’ve been doing a fair amount of dislocates and static stretching which seems to keep it from getting worse. Also I’ve been wearing my Rehband knee sleeves for all of my lower body training and they feel fantastic. It’s obviously impossible to tell if they’ve made a big difference, but I know that my knees feel good.
Week 11 - Smolov Bench Day 11
Bench Press
100kg: 8x4
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 10x5
Walk
1 mile (x2)
Leg Extensions (Right Only)
5kg: 4x50 (ankle weight)
Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing
28kg: 5x10
This was a tough bench session - the fourth rep on the last two sets was a slow grind. I went with a different approach to pull-ups today - higher total volume and lower reps instead of a couple of all-out sets.
The walking was really good - I’m now up to acceptable speeds (I averaged 3mph) and the pain is much better. I tried and failed to do bodyweight lunges again, so I just did extensions and swings instead.
Week 11 - Lower Body
One-Handed Kettlebell Swing
28kg: 5x10
Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing
28kg: 5x15
Bodyweight: 96.1kg
I did this whole session every second minute on the minute, and it felt much better than last time I did swings. I occasionally felt a strange torquing of my right shin, but it didn’t feel like it was doing any damage. I’m beginning to think my scale might be broken, because this is the third time this week I’ve weighed 96.1kg lol.
…Continued
Walk
4.3 miles - 1 hour 50 min
This was extremely tough, but I’m glad I did it. By the end my right shin was very painful, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time. I wanted to push for 5 miles, and I could have done it, but it was just taking too long lol.
Week 11 - Smolov Bench Day 12
Bench Press
102.5kg: 10x3
110kg: 3
120kg: 1 - PR (for the past few years)
Barbell Press
60kg: 1
70kg: 1 - PR (tied)
75kg: F
Weighted Pull-Up (Neutral Grip)
20kg: 1
25kg: 1
30kg: 1
35kg: 1 - PR
BW: 8
Stationary Bike
25min
Absolutely insane session today - I finished my final Smolov Junior session and felt I still had more to give, so I tried for a single at my previous maximum of 110kg, but before I knew it I’d smoked 3 easy reps. Then I went up to 120kg and got a solid single, which is a PR for a good few years on my twelfth working set! I’m beyond excited to see what I can do when I properly test myself.
Afterwards I decided to push myself on the barbell press and got a solid single at 70kg, which is a tie with my all-time PR. Then I did weighted pull-ups and beat my previous PR of 32kg. I’ve never consistently trained the press, and only once 3 years ago consistently trained weighted pull-ups, so it feels really good to have gotten stronger at them. I hope that’s a sign that I have gotten stronger overall, and not just more efficient at benching.
I’d just like to thank the regulars in my log: @ActivitiesGuy @jblues85 @T3hPwnisher - having you guys encouraging me makes a huge difference and I really appreciate it. It sounds silly that I’m making a big deal out of this, but it means a lot to me to be coming out of the other end of this injury better than I was before.
Week 11 - Summary
Bodyweight: 96.2kg
Training: Fantastic - huge improvements with my leg and solid progress with my upper body.
Nutrition: Acceptable
I’m going away camping for a long weekend with some old friends, and I’m incredibly excited to spend some time outdoors for the first time since that fateful skiing trip! I feel reasonably confident that I won’t mess up anything with my leg, but I’ll have to take it easy.
I don’t think it sounds silly at all. One of the great things about the pursuit of strength (or any element of fitness) is that it really is all about self-improvement. I think it’s important to keep things in proper context and not get a big head about yourself, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your own small victories…for example, I’m very pleased that now I can deadlift 405 as a normal “work weight” - that’s a big step for me. At the same time, I also know there are guys on this site throwing a couple extra 45’s on top of that and pulling it for reps, so I’ll just remember where I stand in the bigger picture.
Absolutely ActivitiesGuy, you said it perfectly. At some point in training it’s so refreshing just to drop the comparisons with other people and focus on improving yourself - 120kg (265lb) bench press is, to be honest, terrible by t-nation standards. According to some I should be at that level after 6 months of 5x5 lol, but it means a lot to me. And 405lbs for such an easy deadlift single is fantastic in my opinion, well done.
Thanks for the acknowledgement in your previous post. Us “Kettle-bellers” have to stick together right?!? Congrats on the Bench Press and Pull Up PR’s while nursing the leg. Keep up the good work!
It’s been awesome to see you comeback dude. Injuries are blessings in all honesty. They suck at the time, but they’re an excellent opportunity to grow and get stronger. The only time they’re bad is when we use them as an excuse to feel sorry for ourselves.
You’ve put in the work dude, you’re coming back strong.
Thank you very much @jblues85 and @T3hPwnisher, I really appreciate the kind words. And congratulations on your 500lb deadlift blues, I know it wasn’t what you were hoping for but a PR is a PR!
Week 12 - Test Day
Bench Press
110kg: 1
120kg: 1
125kg: 1 - PR (tied)
130kg: F
100kg: 10 - PR
Squat
60kg: 1 (lol)
Deadlift
70kg: 5
120kg: 1
140kg: 1
Pull-Ups (Neutral Grip)
BW: 12 - PR (tied)
Swim
10x22m
Bodyweight: 95.9kg
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with my bench press today, I had my heart set on 130kg, but I really can’t complain about a 15kg improvement. From Friday to Monday I was wild camping in the Highlands, and it was a real challenge for my leg. I feel that overall it was of great benefit, although my lower body was really beat up by the end. After today’s session I hit the sauna and that has really helped.
I have decided that my next move will be to do 5/3/1 using the two day per week template - I’ve been considering doing 5/3/1 for many years now, and I’ve got the books, but I’ve always ended up basing my routines around kettlebells. However, Smolov Junior has really lit a fire in me to get much stronger, and I’ve really enjoyed using a percentage-based routine, so 5/3/1 is the logical choice. I’m using the two day template because my rota is all over the place, so I want a plan that I can hit consistently. I deadlifted and squatted today to ascertain maxes for 5/3/1, and my squat really sucked (60kg was painful and weak) but deadlifting felt reasonably good (140kg shot up, but I didn’t want to push it further). Swimming felt quite uncomfortable at my fracture site, but it really helped to stretch out my hips.
5/3/1 Routine
My plan is to do the two-day routine from page 70 of the Beyond 5/3/1 book, which looks like this:
Week 1, Day 1: Squat 5/3/1; Deadlift 65% x3, 75% x3, 85% x3; Assistance
Week 1, Day 2: Bench 5/3/1; Press 65% x3, 75% x3, 85% x3; Assistance
Week 2, Day 1: Squat 65% x3, 75% x3, 85% x3; Deadlift 5/3/1; Assistance
Week 2, Day 2: Press 5/3/1; Bench 65% x3, 75% x3, 85% x3; Assistance
All of my lower body assistance will consist of single leg work, at least until my legs are balanced out. My upper body assistance will be based on pull-ups and rows. I will use first set last (FSLs) on all 5/3/1 exercises, but to avoid injury, I will only do Joker sets on my upper body lifts. I will use the following training maxes (all 90% of real 1rms):
Bench: 112.5kg (247.5lbs)
Press: 62.5kg (138.5lbs)
Deadlift: 125kg (275lbs)
Squat: 54kg (120lbs)
On busy weeks I will just hit the two 5/3/1 sessions, otherwise I will try to do brief kettlebell sessions on all of my off days. I don’t have any particular goals at the moment, I’m mostly concerned with getting my lower body lifts up into an acceptable range, but I don’t have any concrete ideas on numbers. A good starting point will be to get to the point of being able to rep out on my current true 1rms (140kg deadlift/60kg squat).