Mahler's Minor Mishap

[Mahler]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. This morning I was replacing a 50-pound hex dumbbell on the rack and it fell, slamming my fingers between it and the sharp edge of the rack. It hurt like hell, but I pulled my hand away thinking to shake it off and move on to the next set. I went to pick up the dumbbell and my hand was covered in blood. I had sliced through the fleshy part of my index finger and later discovered that I had severely smashed my middle finger as it began to swell and turn black and blue.

I went upstairs and rinsed for several minutes under cold water. The cut was fairly deep and my wife questioned whether or not it might need stitches. I kept it under cold water a little longer until the blood flow lessened, applied Neosporin and pulled it together with some butterfly bandages. It hurt, but didn’t soak through the bandages.

The funny thing was that all the while this was happening, I kept worrying about whether or not I would be able to finish my workout and how this would affect deadlift day on Friday. Go figure. So, I went back downstairs and finished my workout. Dumbbell rows, dips, pull-ups and dragon flags, using only three fingers of the right hand as best I could. The pull-ups were pathetic.

I am concerned how this will affect my grip, since I cannot close my index finger at the moment and I have a deadlift routine of 10 x 3 x 320 scheduled for Friday.

But, I think how trivial this is compared to some of the real injuries many of you have sustained and yet managed to bounce back strong. You are my inspiration.
Whatever happens Friday, I can move on.

[Bytsi]

Ouch!!!! I'm sorry you did that. I know I think exactly like you did - how will this effect my workouts!!?!?!? It sounds like your W might be right, and maybe you should get that finger looked at...

I'll give you the advice I always got (and never really took) -- better to miss one or two scheduled workouts and let it heal right than to do further damage. Maybe focus on legs or core or even pushing exercises instead of what you had scheduled...

Even though it is "just" a finger. If it is broken and you keep using it, it won't heal right and it'll be more painful in the long-run than letting it heal... Take the word of someone who's got achey parts from not letting them heal...

[GG300]

To quote my non working out young friends "Dude your crazy". Even though it is not an overuse injury if it doesn't work right let it heal, start working on your bench or something.

Good Luck

[liftintexas]

John, so sorry, man. That doesn't minor at all. that sounded painful to say the least. I hope the injury heals quickly.

And it's odd, speaks to your/our commitment, when I have any type of injury or even have my sleep interrupted, all I think about is how it may impact my next workout!

[Simon C]

Bad luck Mahler, but hey after years of smashing the iron, it was bound to happen atleast once, lets hope it's the last.

Good on you for finishing your workout too! I think you know what to do about this Friday John, get in the gym, give the deadlifts a shot, and you'll know pretty quickly if they are a go or not, if not, move onto something else.

I think he means it's minor in the grand scheme of things, he'll be fully recovered and back into it full steam within a few weeks - if he lets it affect his training at all that is.

[RacerBill]

How can you communicate without that middle finger???

Seriously, though -- I'm sorry to hear about it. Hope you heal quickly.

[Jean-Paul]

The big question is, did you take a day off from your training as a result? My guess is NO... Mahler doesn't miss workouts!

BTW, am I the only person who is seeing that weird formatting error on Mahler/Bytsie's posts?

[Simon C]

Originally Posted by Jean-Paul

BTW, am I the only person who is seeing that weird formatting error on Mahler/Bytsie's posts?

Uhhhh... yes? what is it? tell us!!

[liftintexas]

Originally Posted by Simon C

I think he means it's minor in the grand scheme of things, he'll be fully recovered and back into it full steam within a few weeks - if he lets it affect his training at all that is.

thanks for clarifying, simon.

[ninja]

chop it off

(sorry to hear about the smash. Would straps help? I tend to think not really, but who knows)

[pjb923]

Originally Posted by Mahler

... So, I went back downstairs and finished my workout. Dumbbell rows, dips, pull-ups and dragon flags, using only three fingers of the right hand as best I could...

I wouldn't have expected anything less from you.
Take care of that hand and you'll be good as new soon enough.

[K-Court]

Sorry to hear, John. Be sure to heal properly. Workouts can be modified to compensate for your injuries. Believe me. You may not be doing DLs on Friday but I have every expectation you will be at the gym.

[Frank.S]

im with nick, straps would probally help you out on friday (and, i wont even laugh!).

sorry to hear about the injury, today was a bad day for injuries. my girlfriend hurt her arm benching and i almost took off my own head, also benching.

[Karen P]

Sorry to hear about your injury Mahler. I hope it doesnt't affect your lifting. But you surely need to take it easy for a while, don't you think? You definitely have to repect the body and let it heal when it needs to heal. I know its hard for people who are used to pushing through the pain but when it comes to real injury, it's about listening to the pain, so be careful! Get well soon!

[Terry Monk]

When Mahler injures one finger, he simply grows a new one on demand.

Sorry to hear this my friend. I'm sure you'll be still be hitting the DL's. You're not a man, you're a machine.

[RedWifey]

So sorry that you hurt your finger.

On the evening that we found out I was prego with #1, I squashed my index finger between two db's as I was benching. I ended up loosing that fingernail totally, but it was a great night anyway! So...

quit yer whining!!

[diamondpete]

John

Sorry to hear about that! good job on finishing the work out.

[kfisherx]

Oh no! That sounds so painful and I can't believe you went right back at it. What a stud. It might be time to find those lifting straps.