Return after pec tendon complete rupture

[Aaron Prosser]

(Let me apologize for the length in advance, and say that I am merely looking for anecdotal advice to help my mental return)

 

I'm a rock climber who progressed into gymnastics primarily using BtGB as a bodybuilding endeavour. I completely ruptured a pec tendon in a fashion similar to this video where my body rotated left during a one-arm swing from the right hand. The pec major tendon was torn of the humerus completely and was surgically reattached about 32 hours later. I had a great surgeon but the Physical Therapy I had access to over the last 2 months was fairly generic (15 year PT on site had never seen my type of injury, nor had any one else in the facility). I had 95% P-ROM 3 weeks post op, and 98% A-ROM after 6 weeks. 

I'm now 12 weeks post-op with pre-surgery ROM, and my conservative treatment under my surgeon/therapists control has now come to an end. While I maintained leg and core strength during my recovery (lots of SLS, HBR, PLK, Vup, StradleUp), my upper body work was limited to blue therabands.

 

I did my first workout this week, which wasn't pushing anything, I was conservatively testing my degraded abilities. I did 3x10 inverted pike bodyweight rows in the rings, 3x30second inverted hang/shrugs, 3x10 pushups on inverted bosu ball, 30s L-sit on parallettes, and 3x30second free handstands (proud I still had any balancing ability!).

 

Now I find myself to scared to do dips, pullups, and levers. The only guidance my surgeon had for me was to remain below 50% 1RM for the next 3 months. My old dip maxes (never 1RM'd anything) was 135lb for 8 reps and 135lb pullups for 3 reps from a dead hang).  I find myself asking "what is 50 percent of a 10 second FL in the rings?" I'm going to start back on the beginner progressions (considering signing up for F1), but wondering how I should incorporate the surgeon's 50% 1RM limitation to a completely different type of training. I'm 6'2" and I've atrophied down to 190lbs from about 198 while my latest dexa scan raised me up to about 9 percent fat), so I'm not a featherweight.

 

I'm certain that Morgan Hamm and myself aren't the only guys to tear pecs in this sport, but I have yet to find anyone in my small circle with experience in such things. Anyone here had a full pec rupture that had the benefit of advanced trainers to return? Morgan put some videos like this and this on the internet 7 years ago, but it shows him going from blue therabands in month 2 to Giants in month 4. I can't mentally get to a dead hang right now for fear of tearing that tendon back off. I really am just beginning my return, but I'm looking for advice on getting my mental game back on the right track since I don't have a team of Olympic trainers guiding me. Any anecdotes from folks with similar injuries? Any books written on the topic? Think I should just do F1/F2 to pace myself?

Any advice is appreciated... thanks.

 

[Mikkel Ravn]

Shucks, that sounds nasty. I had a bankart tear some years ago, and it took me quite a while to get back. Afraid I can't offer anything but best wishes...

[Aaron Prosser]

Thanks! After I posted this I looked around the new forums a little more (hadn't logged in here in a year, but was a lurker for a long time before that) and found a thread by Daniel Burnham with a labrum tear that I found very interesting.

 

In the same regards, I have to thank Coach a lot for what feels like a quick return. If I had never bought BtGB I probably would have been struggling with rotator cuff problems during my recovery; but since they were so strong initially (and mobile compared to the general population! my PT even used the term "hyper mobile" which I found ludicrous in relation to gymnastic mobility standards), the atrophy and immobilization did not result in a massively unstable shoulder or muscle adhesions. 

 

[Coach Sommer]

To give the tendon plenty of time to 'set'; you will need to continue to be quite conservative for a long time.  In the neighborhood of 12 months has been my past experience.  

 

Yes, according to most doctors you will be ready to go in 6-7 months; but that timeframe is in reference to regular folk, not athetes who are training under heavy loads.  So far Daniel's attitude, pace of rehab and gradual approach to recommencing his training is a good example to follow.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Mikkel Ravn]

Although my injury was to the joint capsule, not a tendon, it did involve joining the broken capsule back down to the bone via some bone anchors. I was told to do nothing but a bit of mobilization for the first three months, and no contact sports for the first year. It probably took three-four years before I was completely comfortable again. There's no doubt, however, that strength training and stretching has been a huge advantage in recovering, but patience is key.