In August of 1998 I was in the gym working out, as usual. And, as usual I was busily going about my workout routine not as mindfully as I now know that I should have been. I was performing a dumbbell military press with 100lb dumbbells when I heard a "pop" in my left shoulder. I was pretty strong back then, especially for being natural(drug free). However, after hearing an audible pop in my shoulder I stopped my program and moved my left arm around swiveling the humeral bone in the shoulder socket. Nothing, no pain, no popping. I shrugged it off and continued on(smart).
About a year later, I began to notice changes in the weight room. I noticed that I seemed have trouble doing some back exercises, like pull ups, for instance. Weird, I thought, but I worked around it without a second glance. After another six months I really began to notice things. I noticed that I was having trouble stabilizing my left shoulder during my workout with dumbbell military presses(over the head) and that my left triceps had grown noticeably weaker. Eventually, I became concerned and sought out the advice of health care practitioners. Because it was not life threatening and I seemed in excellent health, nobody took it very seriously. I finally talked to some physical therapists who had me do some basic internal and external rotation for the infraspinatus and supraspinatus tendons respectively. Didn't work. The only thing I got out of that was a sore subscapularis muscle.
Finally, around 2002 I realized that I had to do something and fast. By this time, the entire left side of my upper body had been affected. My left triceps, pectoral(chest), latissimus dorsi(back), and rotator cuff(the four muscles that comprise the area around the shoulder) muscles had atrophied considerably. I was desperate and fighting extreme depression. After all, my body was how I made my living. How could I possibly promote an image of good health to my clients if I couldn't even maintain my own? I sought out some alternative holistic physical therapists. And what luck! I found some and they gave me techniques that worked! I began with some of the exercise mods that they gave me and expanded my knowledge of holistic healing on my own from there. I began to realize the massive inadequacy of modern day textbook medicine and physical therapy. My arm regrew, my entire left side of my body began to reform again. I went from an extremely unacceptable(for a personal trainer) body fat of 18% due to my inability to workout back down to 10% inside of 6 weeks! I had lost a lot of weight and muscle, but my new smaller more compact body type was healthier and lighter anyway. I realized that I felt better at the lighter weight and still maintained a good amount of muscle mass and strength. In essence I had been reborn.
Another thing that I learned from this ordeal was how injuries are creative. I began to accept that I had actually created this injury so that I might take some time to rethink my life and be grateful for what I was given. Where I had been heading before the injury was into the unconscious never never land of glitter and bling-bling in Los Angeles. Where I am going now is on a much more spiritual pathway towards healing and health & fitness. I understand and accept that now, and am extremely grateful.
