Coming to a screeching halt

[Cobalt]

The past 2 months have been nothing but a stress fest for me. My place of work getting shut down, me staying behind at the building to deal with all the property (army facility, I'm civilian), then being relocated to a new facility.

I've been dealing with so much, but managing to make it. I started work at my new job 2 weeks ago (I'm a mechanic), and they put me on a machine without proper training. Now, 2 weeks later, I'm waiting on an orthopedic surgeon to contact me so that the tops of my middle and pointer fingers on my left hand can be cleaned up because the machine smashed and ripped them up.

Needless to say, gym is out of the question. Typing is bad enough with 2 less fingers. So, I've been totally out of the gym for 2 weeks now and I'm losing my mind. Is there anything I can do to try and keep my muscle? It'll be a while before I'll be grabbing anything with my full left hand, months easily. I'm already down 4 lbs from the sudden stop.

Or should I just suck it up, take 100% time off and come back when I'm healed up?

[weekend]

seems like you could do legs and presses... unless youre missing that much finger just legs

[campcoll88]

2 weeks is plenty of time...to lose dem gainzz

planks and their variations if you can manage it without too much pain. You could possibly do some pulling movements with straps. for legs use machines; if you cant mess with plates you could try pistol squats, single leg squats with a bench, or air squats. Work on jumping and increasing your vert.

Bodyweight and calisthenics type movements that dont involve the hand or moving too much iron may be your safest bet for now. If you cant pull or push but can hold a plank then utilize isometrics and squeeze the shit out of all of your muscles and focus on breathing and contracting everything really hard. Isometrics could be your new best friend.

Work on foam rolling and stretching and become a uber-mobile automaton. You may lose some size but you could maintain some strength and gain mobility and balance.

[weekend]

heavy leg press for sure, squats dont seem out of the question how im imagining, squats alone will keep all your mass on for at least a month imo... dont need finger tips to do dips do you?

[JM1000]

Work on some cardio for a while! Had to stop 2 months few years ago. Lost some muscle but it came back quickly when I got back to the gym!

[BoneDaddy]

Speaking from experience, there's a lot to be said for some time off. The body has some dedicated healing time and your CNS thanks you! I know a lot of people will throw out muscle loss, but I think if you eat right it wont be that big of a deal. Besides, muscle memory is a god send, at least in my personal experience.

[markam]

If the company is truly negligent for putting you on a machine without proper safety procedures, legal advice should be sought. The accident could have possibly been far worse, and something should be done to help prevent further actions. I'm not advocating the popular 'sue for anything' approach. My Father lost his thumb when he was working on a machine without proper guards, and there were many other unnecessary accidents that could have been avoided.

[olddawg]

yep, leg day, and other exercises where you don't need to pull, you can push on a machine like a press likely just don't close your hands, lighter weight, higher reps. Pulling exercises, look for straps that go around your wrists and they have a hook on the other end so the hook can latch onto the handle and do the pulling. if you can't find them, make them. There is always a way Cobalt, don't let your own psyche get your down. Get up, brush yourself off, modify and move on. Hope things get better for you

[longBallLima]

not sure how hurt your hand is, or if you have a cast on, but it seems like you could do mostly anything that doesn't involve gripping.
machine chest presses, shoulder press and such? and as noted, plently of legs, abs and all that

[DJM]

Speaking from experience, there's a lot to be said for some time off. The body has some dedicated healing time and your CNS thanks you! I know a lot of people will throw out muscle loss, but I think if you eat right it wont be that big of a deal. Besides, muscle memory is a god send, at least in my personal experience.

^^^^^this

[Cobalt]

My doctor said to not even touch the gym until I see my ortho and they can better see the extent of the damage. I'm not in a cast, but the fingers are wrapped and I can't use them to type. The ends are still open wounds because the machine cut/ripped the flesh, so it isn't a simple matter of stitching them up. The ortho will end up having to amputate some of the finger to close it up.

It also crushed the bone at the top of the fingers, and they removed it at the ER, so the remaining flesh above the top knuckle has no structure (no bone or finger nail). The fingers will be usable once everything is operated on and closed up, but for now they are just a mess.

I'm thinking that I'm just going to suck it up and take some time off, maybe hit the legs once every 7-10 days just so I don't feel bad. I think my biggest fear is not getting back into it because I have no timeline for when I'll get fixed. My appointment for a consultation with the ortho is still 5 days away, making it a good 3 weeks after the initial injury. Years ago, I had really been into it, and just dropped off one day and didn't get back into it for a year. I really lost a lot of strength during that time and got fat. It just scares me that it could happen again.

Such is life though, just makes it more interesting I guess.

[burlyman30]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. These times happen. I've had countless periods of time off. Injuries too numerous to count, illnesses, ungodly work hours... all of those have taken me from the gym for extended periods. But I eventually make it back. The iron bug never really goes away. It just hibernates occasionally. Stay connected in here and with other gym-oriented people and that helps you return back to the gym rather than forgetting all about it.

[longBallLima]

My doctor said to not even touch the gym until I see my ortho and they can better see the extent of the damage. I'm not in a cast, but the fingers are wrapped and I can't use them to type. The ends are still open wounds because the machine cut/ripped the flesh, so it isn't a simple matter of stitching them up. The ortho will end up having to amputate some of the finger to close it up.

It also crushed the bone at the top of the fingers, and they removed it at the ER, so the remaining flesh above the top knuckle has no structure (no bone or finger nail). The fingers will be usable once everything is operated on and closed up, but for now they are just a mess.

I'm thinking that I'm just going to suck it up and take some time off, maybe hit the legs once every 7-10 days just so I don't feel bad. I think my biggest fear is not getting back into it because I have no timeline for when I'll get fixed. My appointment for a consultation with the ortho is still 5 days away, making it a good 3 weeks after the initial injury. Years ago, I had really been into it, and just dropped off one day and didn't get back into it for a year. I really lost a lot of strength during that time and got fat. It just scares me that it could happen again.

Such is life though, just makes it more interesting I guess.

sorry to hear, buddy. hopefully, your acknowledgement will serve as extra motivation for you not to let it go once you're able to hit it again. all the best

[xxiv]

Such is life though, just makes it more interesting I guess.

interesting is one way to put it.....
Like others have said this is just one of those unexpected events that throws a monkey wrench into the gears of our plans, the important thing to do is not lose focus. You could use this time to work on your diet and cardio.
good luck.

[Scope75]

interesting is one way to put it.....
Like others have said this is just one of those unexpected events that throws a monkey wrench into the gears of our plans, the important thing to do is not lose focus. You could use this time to work on your diet and cardio.
good luck.
X2

When my leg was broken and I had a junk ankle I switched up my diet and did all I could be while I was out and I'm very glad I did that because I never let myself get out of the zone.