ACHILLES TENDON STIM FOR REHAB AND ATROPHY PREVENTION

*WARNING* 

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS AGAINST ALL DOCTORS ORDERS

SERIOUS RE-INJURY AND PERMANENT DAMAGE MAY RESULT FROM FOLLOWING WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ

ANY AND EVERYBODY HAS TOLD ME I AM COMPLETELY CRAZY FOR THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTED ACTIONS

THIS IS IN NO WAY A GUIDE FOR CORRECTLY REHABBING AN INJURY

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING 

I have finally decided to go public with a recent serious injury I've had after getting to the point where I'm confident I will be making a full recovery in plenty of time for the events I've had planned for the 2014 season. Now that I know I have nothing to worry about, I think its time to share.....

I suffered a complete rupture of my right achilles tendon on 

Dec 20th, 2013. 

I really didn't want the news to get out because I didn't want my sponsors to worry about me being able to compete this year. Last year set some things up for me to have a really great 2014 and there is just too much on the line to take it easy. My first NPC Physique competition of the season is scheduled for March 15th and my first photo shoot for my new Muscle Club Apparel sponsor is the week after.

I honestly didn't even think for a second about pulling out though. I knew I had enough knowledge and experience to be able to work around this injury as I have others in the past even though my surgeon told me there would be a 6 month recovery period and that I should cancel my season.

I argued with him enough to piss him off I think,
LOL and I let him know nothing was going to stop me.

He proceded to tell me there was nothing I could do about it but to just accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to run, let alone compete. 

Nah bro!!! You don't know me very well!!!!!!!  Hahha

I decided I would write this blog for others to follow along with my progress.

I wanted to provide a real life example of what determination and dedication looks like and also as an inspiration for others dealing with other issues in similar situations.

I really wanted to show people that nothing can stop you.

Where there is a will there is a way!

Enjoy. I hope this serves to help someone in some way.

Dec 20th - DAY OF INJURY

WHAT HAPPENED??????

There was a burning building.....I could hear screams in my neighborhood and I could smell the fire as I was completing a 20 mile run around my neighborhood. I frantically searched for the  burning house and after sprinting towards the noise I could see someone in an upstairs window waving for help. I rammed the front door down with a few solid hits from my shoulder and raced into the burning building to save the two children upstairs before heading into the basement to save the babysitter. She was quite heavy and I tripped on a stair ..........OK...Ok....hahaha... JUST KIDDING!! :D I was told I needed to come up with a better story than what really happened! LOL

In actuality I was messing around with a dog. I went to juke it and fake it out as explosively as I could as it was going around a table and I went to one side way to hard and then *POP@! I heard the snap as I hit the ground. Damn that sucker hurt! I laid on the ground for a few minutes catching my breathe and wondering how bad I had just messed myself up. I finally stood up and went to take a step ....and beside the sharp pain the foot just felt really funny as if nothing was really there to support it. I knew right away I hurt my achilles really bad.

My friend got me some ice and tried to convince me to cancel our diner plans but I convinced her I was fine. We bought some crutches from Walgreens and then went to dinner to meet up with her friends, propping my foot up on the ice bag. :)

Things don't look too bad in this picture but I knew something was wrong. Here I am pointing out where the achilles severed. 

12/22

Of course I had to injure myself RIGHT before flying home for Christmas! Delta actually hooked me up though. As I was slowly limping to the check-in counter, one lady asked me if I needed a wheelchair. I guess there was no hiding my gangster swagger! LOL

I was all ready to take my sweet time hobbling to the gate but I decided to take her up on it! They took my bags for me and wheeled me to my gate, going to front of every line. VIP Baby!! They even let me keep one of my shoes on!! Wow! To top it off, they let me board first and gave me all 3 seats to myself. I was actually comfortable and slept the whole way. DELTA ROCKS! 

12/23

My Dad arranged for me to see a friend of his at the hospital who performs surgeries for professional athletes in the area. It didn't take him long to cancel the MRI and confirm that I had completely severed my achilles tendon. I knew it! He advised me to have it surgically repaired immediately. I let him know I had a competition as early as March that I was not going to miss. He told me that would be impossible and to cancel the season. I told him I would send him a picture of myself from the stage! :D 

12/26
Actually doesn't look too bad...

1/2 

SURGERY

I don't get into politics. I feel its a waste of time. However, I do think I love Obama right about now!
I cancelled my health insurance years ago thinking it was a waste of money and here I am needing some serious work done. My father sent me to the government website to enroll and in a few minutes I was on my way to full coverage! :) Not a single question was asked about pre-existing conditions! Nice! I had to enroll in the most expensive plan available but in the end I will be saving money and will be covered 100% after these deductibles are met. I applied a few days after Christmas and was told I would be active January 1st! I went in for surgery on the 2nd!!!!! Talk about about cutting it close! I was a little nervous it wasn't going to come in time and would be stuck with the full bill, but I took my chances and booked the surgery as soon as I could anyway, knowing that I could be out of pocket. Wheeeeeew!

1/5

I knew I wouldn't be able to just sit around and let things atrophy. I went in today and lifted legs! I found the perfect machine to allow me to hit my glutes, the rotary hip machine! YESS!!! I am still in this! I was able to go as heavy as I wanted on that machine and took it very very light on everything else.

Leg Ext

20/15/10

Rotary Hip 

15/12/10

Partial Rack RDL superset w/ Leg Press

20/15/12

1/8
Here is where that warning kicks in!

1/18 

I decided to venture out to the mall today with no boot. Had to be extra careful to walk slow but made it through a few hours of walking around. It did became very painful in the heel area and I really looked forward to putting my foot up, but overall I think it was good for me to start stretching somewhat and begin to resume normal walking.

I intend to be walking pain free in a month from now, pretty much by my birthday. 

I take that back....I ended up getting of myself hitting a heavy bag. 

I stepped on my foot wrong and probably tugged on the internal sutchures enough to tear slightly. It's been hurting pretty bad since then and I just hope I didn't compromise the surgery.

That taught me a lesson! Put the boot back on before doing anything strenuous!!! :O

1/21

I decided the stitches have been in too long and it almost seemed like my skin was healing over one. Not good! Soooo.....I decided to take them out! LOL 
I found a pair of scissors and managed to pry one out without too much blood. It did hurt. After 20 minutes of internet searches for "home removal of surgical stitches without tool," I think I'm going to let the pros handle this. Hahahah

1/22 (almost 3 weeks post surgery)

Went to the doctor today and had his assistant remove the stitches with the tool. Ahhhhhhh MUCH BETTER! Most didn't even hurt at all. A few did, but nothing like my home removal job! I actually went to a walk in clinic instead of seeing my surgeon's office to make it quicker and I assume I saved some money too. Not sure. Also not sure if 3 weeks was too soon, but hey it sure seemed like it.

1/23

No boot at all. Took stiches out yesterday.

Started "rehab" at the gym today.

Did 4 sets x 20 of seated calf presses with 20 then 40 pounds being very careful on the negative.

I'm happy to say I think I'm on my way! I went the entire day without the boot. I'm still walking slow and with a limp. The tendon feels very tight still but not as much as yesterday. I am going to predict I am able to jog in 2 weeks! :) We shall see....

Rehab Day 1 (3 weeks post surgery)

I have also been using an electronic muscle stimulator to help speed my recovery and help prevent atrophy in my calf muscles while I am unable to workout like I used to. 

This is the RX-8000 unit I received from StimRx.com.

1/24

Today walking seemed quite a bit easier. I am moving much quicker now with little to no pain as long as I take my time and watch my step. Very encouraging! I hope to be using the elliptical in a week or less. :D

Electronic Muscle Stim for PAIN Management and MUSCLE RECOVERY

Electronic Muscle Stimulators at www.StimRx.com can be used for many uses.
This video shows a real life example of someone putting it to the correct use for the management of pain and for recovery of an overworked muscle.

ACL Rehab with StimRx Powerstim 15R EMS Unit

Yano Anaya, Atlanta Personal Training Director at the Atlanta School of Massage recently came to visit to begin treatment with one of the units at StimRx. As he decribes in the video, Yano recently had ACL surgery on his left knee which left him immobile. The atrophy in his leg can be clearly seen in this video documenting his first use of the RX-8000, 16TP and 15R Powerstim units. It will be exciting to see how Yano progresses through his rehab with the help of Stimrx to get him back to his old self again. This guy is a beast in the gym and I really wish him a speedy recovery! 

StimRx Electronic Muscle Stimulation machines will get you back into action!

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW

Electronic Muscle Stimulator Studies

• J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Nov;25(11):3218-38. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318212e3ce.

  Electromyostimulation--a systematic review of the influence of training regimens and stimulation parameters on effectiveness in electromyostimulation training of selected strength parameters.

  Filipovic A, Kleinöder H, Dörmann U, Mester J.

  Source

  Muscle Function Laboratory, Institute of Sport Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany. andre.filipovic@gmx.net

  Abstract

  Our first review from our 2-part series investigated the effects of percutaneous electromyostimulation (EMS) on maximal strength, speed strength, jumping and sprinting ability, and power, revealing the effectiveness of different EMS methods for the enhancement of strength parameters. On the basis of these results, this second study systematically reviews training regimens and stimulation parameters to determine their influence on the effectiveness of strength training with EMS. Out of about 200 studies, 89 trials were selected according to predefined criteria: subject age (<35 years), subject health (unimpaired), EMS type (percutaneus stimulation), and study duration (>7 days). To evaluate these trials, we first defined appropriate categories according to the type of EMS (local or whole-body) and type of muscle contraction (isometric, dynamic, isokinetic). Unlike former reviews, this study differentiates between 3 categories of subjects based on their level of fitness (untrained subjects, trained subjects, and elite athletes) and on the types of EMS methods used (local, whole-body, combination). Special focus was on trained and elite athletes. Untrained subjects were investigated for comparison purposes. The primary purpose of this study was to point out the preconditions for producing a stimulus above the training threshold with EMS that activates strength adaptations to give guidelines for implementing EMS effectively in strength training especially in high-performance sports. As a result, the analysis reveals a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between a stimulation intensity of ≥50% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC; 63.2 ± 19.8%) and significant strength gains. To generate this level of MVC, it was possible to identify guidelines for effectively combining training regimens (4.4 ± 1.5 weeks, 3.2 ± 0.9 sessions per week, 17.7 ± 10.9 minutes per session, 6.0 ± 2.4 seconds per contraction with 20.3 ± 9.0% duty cycle) with relevant stimulation parameters (impulse width 306.9 ± 105.1 microseconds, impulse frequency 76.4 ± 20.9 Hz, impulse intensity 63.7 ± 15.9 mA) to optimize training for systematically developing strength abilities (maximal strength, speed strength, jumping and sprinting ability, power).

  
  

  J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Nov;25(11):3218-38. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318212e3ce.

  Electromyostimulation--a systematic review of the influence of training regimens and stimulation parameters on effectiveness in electromyostimulation training of selected strength parameters.

  Filipovic A, Kleinöder H, Dörmann U, Mester J.

  Source

  Muscle Function Laboratory, Institute of Sport Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany. andre.filipovic@gmx.net

  Abstract

  Our first review from our 2-part series investigated the effects of percutaneous electromyostimulation (EMS) on maximal strength, speed strength, jumping and sprinting ability, and power, revealing the effectiveness of different EMS methods for the enhancement of strength parameters. On the basis of these results, this second study systematically reviews training regimens and stimulation parameters to determine their influence on the effectiveness of strength training with EMS. Out of about 200 studies, 89 trials were selected according to predefined criteria: subject age (<35 years), subject health (unimpaired), EMS type (percutaneus stimulation), and study duration (>7 days). To evaluate these trials, we first defined appropriate categories according to the type of EMS (local or whole-body) and type of muscle contraction (isometric, dynamic, isokinetic). Unlike former reviews, this study differentiates between 3 categories of subjects based on their level of fitness (untrained subjects, trained subjects, and elite athletes) and on the types of EMS methods used (local, whole-body, combination). Special focus was on trained and elite athletes. Untrained subjects were investigated for comparison purposes. The primary purpose of this study was to point out the preconditions for producing a stimulus above the training threshold with EMS that activates strength adaptations to give guidelines for implementing EMS effectively in strength training especially in high-performance sports. As a result, the analysis reveals a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between a stimulation intensity of ≥50% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC; 63.2 ± 19.8%) and significant strength gains. To generate this level of MVC, it was possible to identify guidelines for effectively combining training regimens (4.4 ± 1.5 weeks, 3.2 ± 0.9 sessions per week, 17.7 ± 10.9 minutes per session, 6.0 ± 2.4 seconds per contraction with 20.3 ± 9.0% duty cycle) with relevant stimulation parameters (impulse width 306.9 ± 105.1 microseconds, impulse frequency 76.4 ± 20.9 Hz, impulse intensity 63.7 ± 15.9 mA) to optimize training for systematically developing strength abilities (maximal strength, speed strength, jumping and sprinting ability, power).
• In 2011, a study revealed that EMS may enhance pitching performance and recovery in baseball. Without EMS, pitchers need to find a balance between resting and active exercise. With EMS, blood can continuously flow into the muscles, reducing the risk of exhaustion. There are other studies that show positive effects of EMS on athletic performance such as helping athletes stay warmed up without fatiguing the muscles, while the validity of these claims have not been confirmed. There are coaches that use EMS training on elite athletes who compete in the Olympics.
• 2002 Oct;82(10):1019-30.

  Russian electrical stimulation: the early experiments.

  Ward AR, Shkuratova N.

  Source

  Department of Human Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia. a.ward@latrobe.edu.au

  Abstract

  Russian forms of electrical stimulation became popular to a large extent as a result of the activities of Kots, who claimed force gains of up to 40% in elite athletes as a result of what was then a new form of stimulation. He did not provide details of his published work, nor did he give references. Russian electrical stimulation became popular despite the lack of research in the English-language literature. No studies published in English examined whether the "10/50/10" treatment regimen (10 seconds of stimulation followed by 50 seconds rest, repeated for 10 minutes) advocated by Kots is optimal, and only one study addressed whether maximum muscle torque was produced at an alternating current frequency of 2.5 kHz. The few studies that compared low-frequency monophasic pulsed current and Russian electrical stimulation are inconclusive. This article reviews and provides details of the original studies by Kots and co-workers. The authors contend that these studies laid the foundations for the use of Russian forms of electrical stimulation in physical therapy. The authors conclude that there are data in the Russian-language literature that support the use of Russian electrical stimulation but that some questions remain unanswered.

Electronic Muscle Stimulators

I have decided to create a blog to share what I have been learning about Electronic Muscle Stimulator (EMS) units. I have been fascinated with these machines every since my physical therapist used one on me for a dislocated shoulder I had. It seems as if there is some very interesting history behind these machines and still a lot of unanswered questions about their effectiveness. I decided I would find out once and for all what the truth is. There are a lot of topics to discuss, so I will be breaking down my research into different posts. Some of these posts will include EMS for strength, recovery, and rehab. I will also be writing about TENS and pain relief and some new and exciting uses I have discovered.