I made a list of the top 100 finance blogs. Thus, everything I write, like that on the internet in general, is even more true. If you like this blog, please buy my book, The Missing Risk Premium, which is on $10 on Kindle, $15 paperback.
note: I had surgery on my long bicep tendon today, a residual of prior damage, as benching 405 was probably not one of my better mid-life goals. Hopefully I'll be back, but right now I suspect I have been given placebos by some new penny pinching Death Panel because I'm in a lot of pain.
Interestingly, for my pre-op exam, they basically asked me a bunch of questions, including: do I wear seat belts, what type of birth control I use with my wife (and the set up, whether I have an active sex life--I didn't ask for a definition of 'active'), whether I feel safe in my relationship, and if I sometimes feel anxious (I said 'sometimes' to the latter, which I think must be true for any non-psychotic, but perhaps in the future I won't be able to get a concealed carry permit).
They asked these at a later phone consult from the surgeon's office, so I stopped the second time and asked, 'what these have to do with susceptibility to a bad reaction to anesthesia?' She said, 'I have no idea, we just have to ask them.' I imagine some bureaucrat thought this was a great idea, but I'd rather my doctor fix parochial problems and not have to spend any time on them. Always back to the Serenity Prayer.
Interestingly, for my pre-op exam, they basically asked me a bunch of questions, including: do I wear seat belts, what type of birth control I use with my wife (and the set up, whether I have an active sex life--I didn't ask for a definition of 'active'), whether I feel safe in my relationship, and if I sometimes feel anxious (I said 'sometimes' to the latter, which I think must be true for any non-psychotic, but perhaps in the future I won't be able to get a concealed carry permit).
They asked these at a later phone consult from the surgeon's office, so I stopped the second time and asked, 'what these have to do with susceptibility to a bad reaction to anesthesia?' She said, 'I have no idea, we just have to ask them.' I imagine some bureaucrat thought this was a great idea, but I'd rather my doctor fix parochial problems and not have to spend any time on them. Always back to the Serenity Prayer.
12 comments:
"We have to ask them." From whom?
My left shoulder was hurting me yesterday on some bench presses (at about half the weight of your impressive feat) -- wonder if it was that tendon. Do you know how you hurt it -- was it from improper form, or just overuse?
And are you in the hospital now, or was this an outpatient procedure?
2 hours cutting, then I'm out. I remember dreaming, but perhaps that was only at the end. Benching (with elbows out), dead lifts, are bad for this tendon. I think dodge ball didn't help (throwing is very stressful, especially when you are running around with 'bad' form). That arm was about 25% of the other in strength, and I just got sick of it. Hopefully I get most of my functionality back.
Sadly, he said no more 1-rep max lifts, stick to 12+ repetition sets because it's less stress on the tendons. I had some missing cartilage there as a byproduct, and that's not coming back, but it highlights it was good to do, because weak tendons lead to these other issues. I want to intimidate my 5-year old's dates in 13 years, so I need to stay fit.
First, congratulations. I bought the book and am still plowing through it with a lot of side excursions to relevant topics.
20 years ago I had a similar operation and was prescribed enough heavy duty pain killers to knock an elephant out. But I was so sick of the stuff after I got out of the hospital that I threw the drugs out after a couple days. Last year I had a more minor operation that nonetheless had at least as painful a recovery. The stuff they gave me was about 95% Tylenol. It was awful, totally ineffective and no, nothing else was available. After waiting 24hrs to clean myself out I switched to port wine!
It varies by state but you won’t be surprised to learn that the gov’t has responded to illegal pain killer abuse by taking many pain killers off the market completely or making them very, very hard to get without severe dilution. Next time someone you know dies of something terrible, try to get your hands on any left over good stuff (to ensure proper disposal of course). Do your own research but my understanding is that painkillers don’t really “expire” or become (more) toxic although they may become marginally less powerful after many years and/or improper storage. Every old/retired doc I know is stockpiling pills (antibiotics is another biggie) like they’re expecting The Planet of the Apes.
It also probably behooves the younger generation to become more educated in medical science and human biology than would otherwise have seemed necessary for most people 30 years ago.
--------
The Serenity Prayer should be updated with an additional line like:
“and grant me a general forbearance from divulging any detailed personal information unless it is absolutely necessary”
I've been following the Starting Strength program for a few months, which has 5 rep sets. One of the points the author says re bench presses is that your upper arms should be at about a 70 degree angle from your body, and that if you bench with them out at about 90 degrees (perpendicular to your trunk if someone were looking down at you from above), it can cause shoulder injury. Is it possible you were keeping your arms perpendicular like that?
Haven't had shoulder problems with dead lifts so far, but did tear a costal cartilage which was quite painful. Working my way back on that now, focusing more carefully on form.
BTW, congrats on making the top 100 finance blogs. You are probably the strongest financial blogger (though I hear Josh Brown is doing Cross Fit now).
do you know any other similar blogs? ie. slightly academically leaning general finance blogs? I can think of John Cochrane's blog but he does politics way too much compared to finance (or he does way too much politics relative to what he should be doing based on his knowledge)
I ripped a rotator cuff while carrying an old oak table that my grandfather left behind. At the time, the lift felt quite reasonable but some days later I was unable to do push ups because all power had gone in my left arm. I did the lift quite smoothly too, and took my time with it, no jerky movements or anything. It is easy to lose track of where your limits are.
Takes a freaking long time to fix a rotator cuff.
Also, even micro-tears in the muscle trigger cortisol production which is exactly what you DON'T WANT if you are trying to build strength. What do the you people say these days, "stay safe bro". I dunno what that really means, is it ironic?
you people => young people.
Can't type.
Top 100? No offense to the list maker, but youre top 10. Your dedication to rationality and the challenging perspectives you offer with regard to research papers make Falkenblog a healthy part of a well balanced blogroll. And the book is something I constantly recommend to friends outside of the industry.
Cheers
Dave: keeping elbows in is key for not damaging the shoulder. Supposedly, if you want to get really good, that gives you more power, but for an amateur like me, I did better with them out. It's impossible to know what did it, but those couple years when I was lifting really heavy didn't help.
Eric: See from about 7:30 to 10:00 of this video, where Mark Rippetoe addresses this. In a nutshell, he says the way you were doing it is actually more mechanically efficient if shoulder anatomy weren't a consideration. Another thing he says in the book (maybe elsewhere in that video, which I haven't finished watching yet) is that some injuries come from an over-development of the chest relative to the shoulder; partly for that reason he recommends alternating overhead press with bench press in workouts.
That said, he's had shoulder surgery too. So maybe you're right that if you get to a certain weight, it's dangerous regardless.
OT: going to send you a quick email. If you wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for it, I'd be grateful. Thanks.
Fitness mania is highly destructive to the human body. Developing ape-like strength makes you look low class and leads to issues like what you are facing and many more down the road as you age. Health is about eating right and moderate activity, while fitness destroys the human body.
Post a Comment