"Unfortunately, my injury total has also been accumulating. Here's a brief summary of all my major injuries, starting with my first one in 1986. I'll begin with the calves and move up. Also keep in mind that these are just the major ones that left me immobile for more than a week:
• Calves: I've torn both of them, leaving a huge indentation in each.
• Right Knee: Back in the late 80's I strained my ACL and that left me on crutches for two weeks. I've had three other similar strains since that time.
• Right Hamstring: I tore this hamstring so badly that I nearly needed surgery to fix it.
• Left Knee: I've partially torn my patellar tendon. This wasn't bad, pain-wise, but it did mess up my squatting for four months.
• Quad: I pulled my right quad in the early 90's. It was so bad that it turned my entire leg black.
• Groin: I've injured my groin on both the right and left sides. This was a year of hell where there was nothing I could do to get it fixed. So I just wrapped it up and dealt with it. After a year it got better.
• Lower Abdominal: I tore my lower abdominal muscles seven years ago. I did this while squatting and it was perhaps the most painful injury I've ever had.
• Spine: The following discs are herniated: L4, L5, C4, C5. C4 and C5 left my hand numb for a few months. L4 and L5 occurred over 14 years ago and required me to take two months off training
• Intercostals: I've strained two on each side over the past ten years.
• Left pec: I tore this muscle at the tendon and needed surgery to repair it.
• Right pec: I tore this muscle in half but decided to not have surgery since the tendon was still attached.
• Both pecs: I've torn each at least 20 times and each time caused the entire pec to turn black and blue. All of these happened before the above pec injuries.
• Right shoulder: I've had a torn supraspinatus, bone spurs, and now have arthritis. I had this shoulder cleaned up with the AC shaved down to allow more movement, but am now experiencing almost all the same ailments in the same shoulder. Doctors are talking replacement.
• Left shoulder: This one also has arthritis, but isn't as bad as the other."
Wow. Are you shaking your head in disbelief? I was too when I read this for the first time. Dave goes on:
"Outside of one injury, I never took time off for any of them. I'd take painkillers and wrap the injury tight and keep pounding away. Now, I don't say this to brag. Instead, I'm pointing all this out because I feel most of my injuries could've been avoided if I would've taken some time off to rehab them. Wrapping them up and pounding away probably lead to what I'm facing today.
"You see, my right shoulder has already been worked on twice, and now my arthritis has gotten to the point where I've been given three options (from three different doctors):
Option 1: They go in and clean up the shoulder. This would have a low success rate and would likely lead to a total replacement within 12 months.
Option 2: A partial replacement. This would likely buy me five years before a total replacement.
Option 3: Cut back on the heavy pressing, change my training and focus, and improve my mobility. This could buy me 10 to 15 or more years.
"I've come to a place where the cost of an injury isn't worth the price I have to pay to continue my time on the platform, so I've chosen option 3. The biggest deciding factor came down to my kids. They are 2 and 4 years old and I'd hate to not be able to train with them when they get older. This isn't about being hardcore or seeing who has the biggest set of balls or who can last the longest. This is about leaving a legacy with those I care about most.
from T Nation: http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1051590
