How I Gradually Degraded And Finally Ruptured A Biceps Tendon

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Calisthenics and bodyweight strength training advice for older athletes.

I recently broke one of my biceps tendons. Completely broke. As in: snapped in half. I also severely damaged one of my rotator cuff tendons. There were clear warning signs that I didn’t pay attention to in the months leading up to the incident. In this video, I describe exactly what I did that lead to this injury.

Hashtags:
#OlderAthlete #FitOver50 #AgingWarrier #Calisthenics
#BodyweightStrength #BodyweightFitness #RotatorCuff
#SportsInjury #BicepsTendon #TendonRupture

Comments

@tomdi5557 says:

Thanks this probably saved me from rupturing my biceps tendon

@JKillen says:

Just tore my bicep in the most bizarre way. was reaching for something and it tore. I do landscaping and crook my arm a lot. Lots of paddling in the ocean. The fact it happened while you were juggling just reinforced what it you said and what my friends said: You're getting older. I'm 37. I still train like I'm 27, and introduced a lot of new things that really added up in the end.

@DevinsCalisthenics says:

Great video, good reality check! I'm 42 and had to stop doing chin ups for months due to golfer's elbow that just gradually got worse. There are some things you can't walk off. Thankfully now I found a good rehab exercise that seems to be improving it. Good luck with your recovery as well! It's always a good learning experience, pain is a good teacher.

@diopardo9715 says:

I’m 50 and I do muscle ups handstand pushups etc. been a minimalist for a while. Haven’t felt pain I could t recover from in a couple of weeks in a while. By training this way.
Just recently I started training more frequently.
Fine in the beginning but now I feel aches around shoulder.
I appreciate this video very much and I’m going to take it as a warning.
– allow connective tissue to recover
– address discomfort before it becomes painful
– train minimal while progressing slowly

God bless brother I think you just spared me injuries I just can’t afford.

@ruthhuijgens says:

It sounds like I actually have the exact same sharp pain in the back of my left shoulder! It appeared in August when I was doing +25kg dips (probably too deep) at 46kg bodyweight (probably also should mention that I'm a girl, I'm not a skeleton!)
It's been on and off ever since then, last Saturday it really hurt badly again when doing back lever, could only hold it for 5s. And just now it hindered my MU transition so I decided to just leave it like that and do different exercises instead that felt better.

Anyways thanks for sharing your story! I'm 31 but even so, this pain keeps haunting me for months now and I just want it to go away so that I can train hard. Your story made me realize that I really do need to back off for a while and let the thing heal properly. I'll be focusing more on FL and HS work for now.

Thank you!! This maybe saved my calisthenics journey, who knows.

Edit – Forgot to say: best of luck with your rehab! I (quite literally) feel your pain of not being able to train as you want. Since it's almost been a year now, how is the rehab going for you?

@richardyates1417 says:

You are a remarkable athlete for any age. I am 66 and trying to slowly get back into upper body workouts after 6 weeks of PT followed by PRP injections in the shoulder. Needless to say your story made me swallow hard. You have encouraged me to take my foot off of the gas. Thanks for sharing your important message, and I pray that you heal quickly and thoroughly.

@fleadoggreen9062 says:

Yes I feel somethin slipping over my shoulder when I do deep push ups , it doesn’t hurt, I seen a dr
He said well ur 56 years old so blah blah blah
Dr was like 40 years old lol
I’m like , wait til u get this old ,I bet u won’t wanna go out to pasture

@OliV777 says:

Did you also injure your labrum, or was it only the tendons?

@OliV777 says:

I also injured my right biceps tendon in 2016 (not a full rupture but still very painful. I’ve subsequently rehabbed it, but often get the pain at the back of my shoulder which I think is due to the instability in the joint, especially after pull-ups. I’ve felt the shifting too, at times. At 41 I love training calisthenics and I would to learn if tendons can be strengthened again after injury. Will be following your journey and wish you a quick recovery with any more years of training to apply and share the wisdom you’ve learned. Thank you for sharing your painful experience for our benefit!

@LeoTaxilFrance says:

Returned to some of your videos…I really appreciate them. And it is very sad that people like you have to limit your physical activities and disappear from "public" life in this field. Hopefully your health in your shoulder returns.

@franktaubenkraut2217 says:

#agingwarrior
I haven't seen anything from my man lately. I hope all is good.

@spooniegee says:

Great summary and advice. Thanks for helping our tribe of aging warriors.

@limsk9580 says:

Very helpful tips for the aging group not to exceed their limits.

@LorraineCLadish says:

My doctor said that 60% of people over 60 have rotator cuff tears and 80% of people over 80 have tears. I am with you as a lifelong exerciser I agree that age isn’t nothing. We need to adapt our workouts. Thank you so so so much for sharing.

@LorraineCLadish says:

Thank you for sharing!!!! Wishing a speedy recovery. I tore my supraspinatus and am trying to be super mindful now that I am better. I stop any movement that gives me pain now. 🌹🌹🌹

@LeoTaxilFrance says:

Thanks for sharing your experience!
Unfortunately we learn mainly from our own experience.

@MrMcGillicuddy says:

There are some things you just can't prevent when it comes to aging but I'd like to mention one thing because I believe A LOT of people don't realize this. I don't know what your diet is like but as you age you should eat more protein not less. There is so much talk about it being hard on your kidneys to eat excess protein but if you actually look there is no study that proves causation. In fact there are many people with severe kidney damage that heal by eating way more than what is recommended.

My point is that bone, muscle, tendons and organ systems need a lot of high quality protein to not only maintain healthy tissue but also build upon. I think probably one of the main issues that people associate with aging is actually slowly depriving yourself of proper nutrition. High quality animal fat, meat and fish is very important as well as removing certain foods that hinder assimilation of nutrients.

I believe if you are relatively active but you aren't eating at least 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass ,OR MORE as you age, it isn't surprising that you'd get a tendon injury. I mean at any age. Don't get me wrong there is also not listening to your body's pain response like you described but 55 is still pretty young if you give your body the building blocks it needs to recover and heal.

It's amazing to me how many people I see wondering what is wrong with their health and recovery time. They can't figure out why they can't build a house when they only ordered half the building materials and a quarter of the fasteners they needed. I believe that is literally the biggest problem with people's aging effects and other health issues. Even if you aren't eating any processed food if you don't eat what you need the body can't work magic without providing it with the amount it truly needs.

@sabonacio says:

FJ

há 12 segundos (editado)

it'd make a nice video if you tried for sometime that therapy that reverses aging.

You could compare the before/after of cardio rate, skin, idk.

@NopeNopeNope. says:

Just curious, do you do any mobility and stretching sessions? Or something like yoga? Do you think this would have helped your shoulder issue?

@ilikefrogsilikefrogs6102 says:

Very informative. Wish you a speedy recovery

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