Bicycle Accident Anniversary and Hamstring Update

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of my bicycle accident, which occurred on July 28, 1999. I sustained numerous injuries in the accident and might have been killed if I wasn’t wearing a helmet. Details on the accident are on my site at: Bicycle Accident.

I recovered fully from the injuries, except for my right shoulder. Since then, it has been noticeably weaker than my left shoulder. This is very possibly why my bench press has not progressed very well. Also, I still do not have a full range of motion. If I raise my arm to the side (like when doing a side lateral), I can only raise it a little above parallel to the ground, and I have a hard time lifting my arm straight over my head. This makes overhead presses (especially with dumbbells) very difficult. I also experience some pain on the top of the shoulder at times, especially when deadlifting.

I actually hadn’t noticed until recently how very bad my range of motion to the side is. I mean, when do you ever actually raise you arm to the side like that? Or maybe, I just have been living with all of these problems so long I stopped thinking about them. That is probably why I never brought my shoulder up with my doctor before.

But on Monday when I was at the doctor’s office to talk about my hamstring injury, I mentioned about the shoulder. He tested it and called it a “frozen shoulder.” He then included on the prescription for physical therapy for them to work on my shoulder along with my hamstring.

Actually, I had had him include both hamstrings on the prescription. There have been times when my left hamstring has also been slightly painful during and after workouts. This is probably because my hamstrings are still rather tight, going back to my formerly very serious “Stiff Person Syndrome” problem from a few years ago.

My hope is that physical therapy will be able to not just rehab my injured right hamstring but to loosen up both of my hamstrings, along with loosening up my right shoulder. If all goes well, this could prove to be very beneficial. There is no doubt the tightness in my hamstrings and shoulder is holding back my performance in all three powerlifts. So I am hopeful I could see some good progress in my lifting after I get through therapy.

My insurance approved nine treatments. My first appointment is today (7/29/09). I’ll probably go 2-3 times a week for the next 3-4 weeks. With them working on both my upper and lower body I doubt I will work out on my own during this time, but I shall see what the therapist recommends.

For an update to this message, see Physical Therapy Update and Plans.

Bicycle Accident Anniversary and Hamstring Update. Copyright © 2009 By Gary F. Zeolla.

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