ADVENTURES IN TRAINING: Post Surgery Holiday Kick Off!

The holidays are here!! Well at least for most of us. Bring on the good times and the delicious food, and also a very welcomed opportunity to get in some quality rest and recovery.

I myself am taking a few weeks off regular training as i had a small surgery on my shoulder last week which will need some time to heal. Its far from ideal but it had to be done and the Christmas break is probably the easiest time or me to chill out and not train (i find it hard not to train. Very hard.). Given the nature of the surgery - a 5cm incision on the back of my shoulder to remove a lipoma -

A lipoma is a benign tumor composed of adipose tissue

*for those of you who are nasty like that, there is a photo attached at bottom of the page!

upper body work, pushing, pulling etc. is pretty much off the cards for the next few weeks, and any grappling will have to wait at least a month.

What am i left with? Lower body work, with minimal resistance and no explosive movements (as they tend to incorporate the trunk and upper body extremities), and some select core exercises that do not place too much pressure up high on the trunk.

What do i have to work with? Squats, lunges, split squats, pistols, sumo squats, curtsey squats, planks, skydivers, and the like. In addition some jogging or low speed running is probably OK too, even though i detest long distance running (however my cousin recently gave me the book 'Born To Run', which i am hoping will give me some secret means to develop a fondness of running) . I am open to suggestions here, so send any ideas you may have my way please.

Incidental Squat Training

Very Intentional Squat Training

For additional recovery: I am smashing the vitamin C supplements and Fish Oil as they both promote the repair of tissues in all parts of the body - vitamin C is particularly good for healing flesh wounds and scar tissue, and Fish Oil as an anti-inflammatory. Topically, i am using Propolis Tincture to help accelerate healing and keep the thing germ free. If its good enough for the bee's to lather themselves in, its good enough for me.