Any Way To Modify the 5x5 Due To Injury?

[stevet]

I've been reading Meso for a long time now and I'm a little embarrassed to say that this is my first post. So here's my question: I'm interested in returning to the 5x5 program (we did it in high school football), but will need to make some modifications due to an injury and subsequent surgery.

Without going into too much detail, I suffered an injury in childhood that eventually required surgery. Since the surgery I really can't squat or deadlift much weight. I guess my concern is whether I'll be able to get a decent workout without the squats & deadlifts. I know both of these are very important exercises in the 5x5. Are there any decent substitutes for either of these movements?

I'm 38 y.o., 6', 225 lbs. and having been working out on and off for over 20 years. I've been working out consistently for the last 3 years and I've made some good gains thanks largely to the information that I've gathered from this site. But I know my gains have been hampered by the avoidance of certain exercises. Any suggestions? Please...

stevet

 

[Thickneck]

What are you doing now for those bodyparts ? Was your surgery on your knee's or on your back ?

 

[stevet]

I feel a little self-conscious about discussing it, but actually I had to get a penile implant. It works well, but the problem is that I actually broke it doing a lift. The strain of my muscles pulled some of the tubing apart and I had to have a repair surgery just three years after having it first put in. As you can probably imagine, it's not a pleasant procedure plus it cost me nearly $10,000 and a major battle with my insurance company to have it repaired. So now my leg routines are pretty weak: presses, extensions, curls, lunges. I have large, muscular legs naturally, so it's not too bad, but I know the squats and deads strengthen lots of large muscles and I'm missing out without them.

Steve

 

[Thickneck]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe throw in some heavy barbell row and some extentions. What about real wide squtats and sumo deads ? Sounds like your doing the best you can.

 

[stevet]

Thanks for the suggestions, Thickneck. I'm not familiar with Sumo Deads. I'll look into it.

 

[stevet]

Actually, I just found some good Sumo info on Phreezer's "How to Deadlift" post. I may give it a try, but I'll start very lightly.

 

[jakesm1]

I don't mean to be nosy, but I'm curious about the implant. You mentioned tubing, how does it work?

 

[stevet]

No problem. I consider myself lucky to live in the 21st century so that I can have such a technological miracle. I'd be screwed (or not screwed actually) without it. A reservoir of saline is implanted in my lower abdomen. Thin tubes run from it up into two narrow tanks in my corpora cavernosa - the two chambers in the penis that normally fill with blood. There's a small pump inside my scrotum that I use to pump up an erection. It also has a release valve so that the saline flows back into the reservoir. It's a closed system and the saline solution simply flows between the tank in my abdomen or my penis. Instead of filling with blood, my penis fills with saline. It's pretty amazing. (The implant, I mean, not my penis.)

 

[Kayz]

No problem. I consider myself lucky to live in the 21st century so that I can have such a technological miracle. I'd be screwed (or not screwed actually) without it. A reservoir of saline is implanted in my lower abdomen. Thin tubes run from it up into two narrow tanks in my corpora cavernosa - the two chambers in the penis that normally fill with blood. There's a small pump inside my scrotum that I use to pump up an erection. It also has a release valve so that the saline flows back into the reservoir. It's a closed system and the saline solution simply flows between the tank in my abdomen or my penis. Instead of filling with blood, my penis fills with saline. It's pretty amazing. (The implant, I mean, not my penis.)

Kudos to you for getting this done and being open enough to talk about it. I saw an episode of Dr. 90210 in which this procedure was performed on an older fella who still was humping away like a rabbit. He didn't respond to Viagra/cialis so he had the penile implant and it worked like a charm...very impressive. The guy was actually on the show having it repaired for like the 5th time becuase he was humping so hard so much he keeps breaking it.

As far as the workouts go, I'd just experiment with a variety of motions/lifts and see what works and what doesn't. Also, maybe talk to your doctor and see if he/she has any recommendations.

 

[jakesm1]

I'll second what Kayz said, thanks for the info. So you can get it up anytime you want? Sounds like the ultimate cure for deca dick! Maybe I should get one.

 

[stevet]

Thanks for the support, guys. I had a similar experience to the guy you saw on Dr. 90210. I went through a year long series of trial and error experiments with my urologist - caverject, viagra, an incredibly painful procedure called a cavernosagram (you don't want to know), venous ligation surgery, and finally the implant. The reason the medicines didn't work for me was because my problem wasn't blood inflow, it was outflow. The vein that's supposed to close off to allow blood to fill the penis was ruptured. We were finally able to see this because of the cavernosagram, so the next step was to attempt to tie off the rupture with the venous ligation surgery. Unfortunately, the surgeon said the damage was too extensive and the operation was a failure. The final option was the implant. It works well and yes, Jake, I can get it up at anytime. I'm fortunate to have it, but if I had the choice I'd definitely prefer to be all natural.