#145 I’m On Fucking Fire Today

Back in late 2019, I ruptured my supraspinatus. 

It was so bad that I couldn’t even do a push-up off my knees. I couldn’t drive my car home.

I tore my labrum in my hip in 2010. 

I never got it fixed, but I came up with Lunge & Learn and squatting every day… and it all went away. And then I thought I tore my labrum in my shoulder, thinking it was no big deal. Well, when I got the MRI, it turned out to be a big deal.

The doctor told me it was completely ruptured. I was told that this type of injury required a major surgery. The surgeon, a friend of mine and member at CoryG Fitness, told me that I would be down for 8-10 months after this type of surgery.

Lifetime Decision

I haven’t missed a week’s worth of workouts since I was a sophomore in high school. 

If you aren’t familiar with how I operate, the level of consistency I expect out of myself is off the charts. That doesn’t mean that every day is fucking rainbows, but the reality is that I couldn’t even conceptualize being down that long.

Here’s the thing… even though I couldn't do a push-up on my knees, even though I couldn't hang from a bar, and even though I could barely bench 10-pound dumbbells, something told me that I could come back without going under the knife. This was despite my surgeon telling me, “Corey, after 12 weeks, the tissue will be dead, essentially rolled up, I can't fix it".

I was faced with the decision to do with it or without it. 

Not to mention that there was no guarantee of my mobility coming back even with surgery, nor would it be as strong as before.

What Happened Next

I went with my intuition. "Fuck it, I'm an outlier, I expect some next level shit out of myself. I can fucking do it".  

I went home. Two weeks after I made that decision, I signed up for a bodybuilding show. I did the bodybuilding show with Zach Matheny, one of the 4:00am crew homies.  

I won the physique category and earned my pro card. If you look back, you can see I was super diced, but my shoulder was flat. I never went over 15-pound dumbbells during my entire prep leading up to the show. I proved to myself that I could still do something elite.

What About Heavy Lifting?

Supporting heavy weight on the main lifts is an entirely different animal. 

I tried and tested out a bunch of different things, and went spoke with a lot of smart people in the strength world. Matt Wenning, Louie Simmons, Dr. Priano, Dr. Serrano, Tony Ramos, George Halbert, and Mike Wolfe. I’m talking about some true experts. I wanted to bench 300+ pounds again.

To give you an idea, my best competition bench was 350 pounds in the 198 class. My best competition bench in the 181 class was 320. Through all the trial and error, I’m optimistic that I can bench 315+ in the 181 or 198 class again.

It's All About Small Wins

Even through the pandemic I was able to make giant leaps with endless reps on the dumbbells. All these reps helped increase my strength and stability with everything surrounding the rotator cuff.

It gave me the confidence to go after weights again. Today it paid off and it felt amazing. I proved to myself once again that I can do something this difficult. To my knowledge, I’ve never seen someone come back from an injury like this and do what I’m doing.  

There weren’t any examples or templates to follow. The only thing I could do was trust in the hard work I put in. I pulled it off, and now I can teach it.

I Don’t Know How to Quit

I don't know how to fucking quit. I don't know how to fucking stop. I show up and I fucking win. Will I win today? Maybe not. Will I win tomorrow? Maybe not. 

It took me 400+ days to get that win. I won today because I kept showing up. I don't know how to not show up. I don't know how to not push. I'm not entitled to any timeframe. I'm not entitled to any lift, but I knew it was possible. And I fucking proved it.