Shoulder Rehab Template or Beginner Template Post Surgery

Hello,

Im a 36yo male, 6’2", 210 lbs, 36" waist

I am a former powerlifter with bests of 540/320/620 (at a much higher BW) and I stopped lifting in 2017 and got into racing triathlon. In March of this year I crashed my bike causing a Grade 5 ac separation and had surgery to repair it. I am 14 weeks post op and have been seeing a competent PT and I have about 95% ROM back.

I decided I want to go back to lifting barbells and get strong again as I have no desire to train for triathlon currently. My goals are to get strong again while keeping a decent amount of conditioning ie: what BBM recommends in the templates.

Would you recommend the shoulder rehab template or the beginner template to begin? I was thinking the beginner template would be a better choice since I know what caused the shoulder pain and I have been cleared and encouraged to lift normally by the PT. I also have essentially no work capacity when it comes to lifting weights.

If using the beginner template would you make any modifications to the pressing exercises ie: dumbbell pressing to work each side separately? I have done 3x10 pushups, barbell benched 3x10 with 75lbs, and pressed a barbell overhead all with minimal discomfort or pain. The PT has cleared me to do all barbell/resistance training using pain as a guide and said I cant hurt anything outside of another significant trauma.

Also, I gained some body fat post op - probably 2-3" on my waist. At my waist size would you recommend maintenance calories or a slight deficit as I return to training?

Thank you for your time

Hi @TND ,

Those are some impressive lifts! I think the Beginner template would work well here for getting you back into strength training after the layoff. Including some unilateral pressing work (single arm dumbbell pressing, landmine pressing, etc.) would also be beneficial to address any side to side differences on the backend as you alluded to.

In regard to your waist measurement, see here