I started going to a physical therapist 2 weeks ago for tricep tendonitis. Up until this point I’ve been focusing on getting bigger and stronger, with an emphasis on my chest. Anyways I got up to 200lbs for my bench press and 100lbs for my overhead press. Not good by any means but I was ready to keep going up.
Anyways I took a week off and then last week didn’t do any benching or pressing movements per doctors orders. He said I prlly won’t be able to start again until 2 more weeks and even then will be lighter weights.
My quesiton is will I lose any strength or size during the 4 week period? For chest work I decided to do flyes instead. Will this atleast help maintain my size? THanks for the input
your solution is not to take a break from pressing every time this flares up…that’s avoidance of a problem. You need to get it sorted out directly: 4 Steps to Fix Your Triceps
A doctor is not an authority on how much time you should take off from weight lifting…ever. Tell me, did you Dr. look like he had any experience in the weight room?
4 weeks isn’t a long time. I wouldn’t expect drastic strength/size losses during that period, as long as you eat enough. I usually don’t lose significant strength when I take time off unless I let my diet go to shit. The link jskrabac posted is good, and you would be well served to take a look at it and implement its recommendations. I personally don’t think it would be a problem to take 4 weeks off from pressing completely, but I definitely understand where jskrabac is coming from. Don’t avoid the problem when you do get back to pressing, tackle it aggressively.
You will most likely feel a little soft and have to shake the cobwebs off when you press again but four weeks is not going to reverse everything you’ve ever done.
[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
You will most likely feel a little soft and have to shake the cobwebs off when you press again but four weeks is not going to reverse everything you’ve ever done.[/quote]
I heard someone on here say something to the effect of “if you take one month off, you’ll lose everything and have to start all over”. I wish I could find that quote… so many posts to look through. It was a gem.
OP, I don’t have any solid advice for you. Except I’m certain that a month off won’t reverse things; you’ll just have to back off a bit.
Sorry I didn’t mean a doc, I meant the physical therapist. I’m doing exercises with him and he had some good advice. He did however say that I look big enough already and not benching wouldn’t make a difference… I just stared at him like wtf are you looking at?? He then went on to tell me how different variations of medicine ball push ups were just as good for physique. I don’t remember anything he said after that I kinda just stared at the wall and waited for him to finish haha. Thanks for the replies though, I’ll look at that article. Also just out of curiosity will flyes help build size while I can’t bench press?
[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
You will most likely feel a little soft and have to shake the cobwebs off when you press again but four weeks is not going to reverse everything you’ve ever done.[/quote]
I heard someone on here say something to the effect of “if you take one month off, you’ll lose everything and have to start all over”. I wish I could find that quote… so many posts to look through. It was a gem.
OP, I don’t have any solid advice for you. Except I’m certain that a month off won’t reverse things; you’ll just have to back off a bit.[/quote]
No need to dredge that sucker up, I believe you. lol Let is stay buried.
OP, I thought I’d add that I have taken some time off before and even though when I first went back to it, I felt relatively weak, within a few workouts I was right back to where I was previously and in many cases even stronger. Now, I wouldn’t say this would apply if you took say six months off but a month? You’re good.
[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:
You will most likely feel a little soft and have to shake the cobwebs off when you press again but four weeks is not going to reverse everything you’ve ever done.[/quote]
I heard someone on here say something to the effect of “if you take one month off, you’ll lose everything and have to start all over”. I wish I could find that quote… so many posts to look through. It was a gem.
OP, I don’t have any solid advice for you. Except I’m certain that a month off won’t reverse things; you’ll just have to back off a bit.[/quote]
No need to dredge that sucker up, I believe you. lol Let is stay buried.
OP, I thought I’d add that I have taken some time off before and even though when I first went back to it, I felt relatively weak, within a few workouts I was right back to where I was previously and in many cases even stronger. Now, I wouldn’t say this would apply if you took say six months off but a month? You’re good.[/quote]
Agree with this. I had to take about 2 months off from lifting due to a car accident. It took a couple weeks to get back in the swing of things, but after that I was good to go. You’ll get back to where you were before the injury pretty quickly.
I also agree you need to fix the problem, not just treat the symptoms.
On a side note, wtf is with that physcial therapist? And I know he’s not one in a million. As someone studying in the same field, it’s embarrassing.
Yeah I just want to get back to my main pressing movements, as you can see by my numbers they are pretty weak at the moment. The pain is right above my elbow where the tricep connects. I’ll post the program later when I have a bit more time. Also I feel as if my form for those lifts is pretty solid. Obviously I’ve only been lifting for a bout a year so there may be a few small things that add up to bad form but nothing serious I’m aware of.
Just looked at that article and realized I had read that before and it was very interesting. I have been foam rolling my triceps and also using the barbell for self release for a little over a month now. Haha people look at me like I’m retarded when they see me doing that.
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
My quesiton is will I lose any strength or size during the 4 week period? For chest work I decided to do flyes instead. Will this atleast help maintain my size? THanks for the input [/quote]
I don’t get the sudden obsession/fear with losing mass or size from short layoffs. You might lose a little strength/size, but probably not much. Lifting is a long term pursuit and as such there is a good chance you will suffer various injuries/strains over the years. Trust me, you will be fine.
I don’t get the sudden obsession/fear with losing mass or size from short layoffs. You might lose a little strength/size, but probably not much. Lifting is a long term pursuit and as such there is a good chance you will suffer various injuries/strains over the years. Trust me, you will be fine.[/quote]
Yeah I know its kinda dumb, its just that when you don’t have much size or strength to begin with it sucks to lose even a tiny bit. My chest has been a real sticking point throughout my training as well. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions, your responses were very helpful. Does anyone know of some great chest/shoulder builders I can do in the meantime that shouldn’t be too stressful for the tricep tendon? Also maybe some that will help maintain strength in the are for my bench press and overhead press? I can’t think of any, and I know push ups don’t translate well to the bench press.
I don’t get the sudden obsession/fear with losing mass or size from short layoffs. You might lose a little strength/size, but probably not much. Lifting is a long term pursuit and as such there is a good chance you will suffer various injuries/strains over the years. Trust me, you will be fine.[/quote]
Yeah I know its kinda dumb, its just that when you don’t have much size or strength to begin with it sucks to lose even a tiny bit. My chest has been a real sticking point throughout my training as well. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions, your responses were very helpful. Does anyone know of some great chest/shoulder builders I can do in the meantime that shouldn’t be too stressful for the tricep tendon? Also maybe some that will help maintain strength in the are for my bench press and overhead press? I can’t think of any, and I know push ups don’t translate well to the bench press. [/quote]
I wasn’t trying to dog you because I do understand where you are coming from. In my younger days I used to think if I missed a workout I’d risk losing mass. You have to remember the body takes time to adapt to stimuli. The mass doesn’t go on overnight, so it won’t come off over night either. Push ups aren’t a bad alternative if you can do them pain free until you are better. As for exercises you could do flyes and/or cable crossovers for chest and lateral raises for delts for the time being.
Thanks Ryno, I have been doing just what you said I just took forever to reply. In fact it almost seems as if in the past 2 1/2 weeks of doing flyes my chest has filled out a bit. Not sure if this is all in my head or whatever but it def seems that way. I’m still worried about losing strength and it might end up being more than 4 weeks. I guess it’ll just take some time to get back to it.
Just wanted to give an update. Hopefully this thread isn’t dead, maybe some of you will see it maybe not. Anyways my 4 weeks of no pressing is just about up. I have been doing a lot of shoulder stability exercises, and just recently some push up/ dip variations (all with bodyweight). In the meantime on my own I have continued my routine swapping out pushing exercises for flyes and front raises on my push day. To keep myself sane I have put a shit ton of effort into bringing my deadlift and squat back up (had to stop for 8 weeks cause of surgery, unfortunately have to have surgery on the area again cause it never closed up). Anyways my new PR for deadlifting is 315 for 3 reps and my squat is at 230 for 3 reps. Nothing impressive but for a bodyweight of 185 at 6’2 and accounting for all the shit I’ve been through Im happy. Not content by any means but happy.
Anyways the physical thereapist gave me a workout to do two more days this week (obviously not consecutive days). If there is no pain after this I can start benching and pressing again… Unfortunately I start with the bar and he said to take “6 weeks” to get back to my old weight. This is frustrating news as not only is it embaressing to go to the gym and bench basically nothing after gaining some strength, but its annoying to do an exercise and not feel like youre getting stronger or bigger. I’m willing to be patient though I guess, just wish it didn’t have to take 6 weeks. not sure if anyone will see this but just wanted to give an update and say thanks again for the input and advice.
