Unilateral training while recovering from surgery

Hi All,

Approximately 4 weeks ago I ruptured the distal biceps tendon in my right arm doing some preacher curls. I have had surgery to repair the tendon approximately 2 weeks ago and am currently undergoing rehab with a physio.

I have strict instructions about what I can and cannot do while I recover and can’t perform any upper body exercises using my right arm at all for the next 4 weeks and minimally for the next 2-3 months.

I’m currently considering unilateral training using my left side, eg bicep curls, shoulder press, dumbell rows, while rehabbing my injured arm. I hope to maintain strength/muscle mass on my left side as best I can, as I naturally have a slight size/strength bias in my arms/shoulders towards my right side. Would this likely result in too much of an imbalance and am I better off not performing any upper body exercises at all while I rehab?

Im 39 years of age, have been training for 10 years during which time I have followed both powerlifting and hypertrophy programs. I was in week 3 of the Hypertropy II program when the injury occurred. I am currently recovering well from the surgery and have nearly full ROM in my right arm but obviously cannot place any significant load on the tendon.

I’m currently considering unilateral training using my left side, eg bicep curls, shoulder press, dumbell rows, while rehabbing my injured arm. I hope to maintain strength/muscle mass on my left side as best I can, as I naturally have a slight size/strength bias in my arms/shoulders towards my right side. Would this likely result in too much of an imbalance and am I better off not performing any upper body exercises at all while I rehab?

No, you would be better off training as you describe here. Not only will you be better off from it, but there is known to be a limb cross-education effect whereby you’ll end up stronger in the left side after all this from having done exclusively right-sided training, compared to if you hadn’t done anything at all.