My Road To Recovery After A Weightlifting Injury
As told by Jason Bourgeois, former patient of Therapydia NOLA physical therapy and wellness clinic.
Last March, I tore my left quadriceps tendon (see injury below). I’d had an old injury that caused some scar tissue build-up and calcification. While doing some routine training, that scar tissue finally had enough and ruptured.
The Injury:
After getting the news from the doctor in the Ochsner ER, I figured my weightlifting days were over. After surgery, I connected with Jonathan Burke, a physical therapist at Therapydia NOLA. I wanted to work with him because of his background in CrossFit. It was important to me that my PT understand what I was trying to work back to.
Seated Bike in April:
Airdyne in May:
Putting In The Work
We first worked on gently restoring passive range-of-motion (ROM) on my affected side. When we reached the first set of ROM goals, we then focused on the kinetic chain – ankle, hip and lumbar spine – and restored strength to each of these areas. During each treatment session, I worked one-on-one with Jonathan. Therapydia’s individualized approach to physical therapy really sets them apart from other PT clinics.
After several months of hard work, I was able to squat for the first time at the end of May. I worked with Jonathan to restore my range of motion and movement patterns during that time. We set the goal of getting back to 80% of my previous lifts in one year.
First Squat (May):
Squat 135lbs (June):
Nine months to the day from my injury, I exceeded my goal by a significant margin and completed a Snatch 286 lbs in December:
I honestly did not believe I would get back to that kind of weight in such a short time, if ever. Working with Jonathan helped me immeasurably. He understood what I was going through, what I wanted to accomplish and helped me get there. He pushed me when I needed it and restrained me when I wanted to go too quickly. I cannot recommend Jonathan Burke, DPT and Therapydia NOLA highly enough.
