Starting w/ repaired pec tendon & elbow issues

Hey everyone,

 

I came across gymnasticbodies a week ago and realized that I have significant deficits in my strength despite have weight trained for nearly 14 years.  I was humbled by the assessment, but I'm excited to get started.  I have a background in football, wrestling, and competitive weightlifting.  Some elbow issues (which an MRI revealed are 3 "loose bodies" in the elbow joint) forced me to lay off of weightlifting because I could not longer fully extend my elbow and was having significant pain.  Hopefully this will be surgically corrected by October/November.  Also I tore my pec in April while attempting a wrestling throw with poor technique, and it was surgically repaired in May.  

 

The pec tendon still hasn't re-gained it's full elasticity, but it is continuing to improve.  Also, my anterior deltoid had atrophied to practically nothing after the surgery, but that is steadily regaining strength as well.  

 

I am excited to start building gymnastic strength, but I'm a bit limited at the moment and don't want to cause more harm than good.  As these injuries recover and are taken care of, I could use some advice on what to focus on in the meantime.  

 

Should I bother with any of the pressing movements even if I cannot achieve full elbow extension?

 

Your help is appreciated, Thanks!

Wait for the elbow surgery before doing any exercises with the arms. I would work on the the FL, SLS, MN and SL as the first few exercises you won't need to stress the elbow.

Most of PE1 exercises have to be done with straight arms (FL/PE1, sPL/PE1, SL/PE1 & MN/PE1) or involve straight arms at a certain point (HBP/PE1 & RC/PE1).

HBP/PE1 & RC/PE1 are far too stressful for the distal biceps tendon considering the fact that you cannot fully extend your elbows.

 

You could have performed FL/PE1 & MN/PE1 with bent arms temporarily. However, FL/PE1>iM & MN/PE1>iM cannot be performed with bent arms.

That is why I would suggest you to only focus on SL/PE1 and SLS progressions for the moment in Foundation One.

 

Give your body the time to fully recover, don't train through the pain. When your body will be ready, you could do passive hanging, this exercise is great to begin with conditioning You will also have to do some very easy exercises for your distal biceps tendon and pec tendon in order to conditionate them before completely starting Foundation One.

Ok thanks for the advice.  I have plenty of work to do with mobility and abdominal strength in the meantime so I'll use this as an opportunity to focus on that.  

I would still work on tuck ups and arch holds as the easy bit is straightening the arm. This will be no problem post operation.