09 Apr Life After a Major Injury

By Danny Bellmore

We all know how it feels to have that nagging injury and it’s almost a right of passage in the sport we choose. What we do about the injury and how we respond to a setback, is what sets us apart from other athletes.

[wa-wps]

I have been plagued by a major back injury that dates back to 1992 and has taken on varying degrees of intensity and treatment. I had my first two back surgeries before I even began my career in powerlifting in 1994.  Just two years into my powerlifting venture, I had another back surgery. The third surgery came with a significant warning that the next intervention would be a fusion. The intervertebral discs (multiple lumbar levels) were continuously rupturing and there was virtually nothing left between successive vertebrae. In 1999, the inevitable happened while I competed in a push/pull contest and everything came to a screeching halt. During my last pull, I felt a pain in my back that was all too familiar. I couldn’t move my right leg without an incredible amount of pain and in order to make my way home, had to cut my deadlift suit off my body.

This injury set me up for a 3-level lumbar fusion. While I felt primed for surgery and rehab, I was not prepared for how much the fusion would change my day to day life. After going through the fusion, deep depression set in, but I never stopped, I just refocused. I wanted nothing to do with lifting or training anymore. I began building and customizing Harley Davidson motorcycles. I did not want to see another weight again…the same weights that left me barely able to walk. My brother moved into my house and set up a complete gym in my basement. I refused to even go down there to help him train. I didn’t make that choice out of jealousy, I just did not desire to be part of it.

In 2010, a good friend asked me to handle him in a meet that was about two weeks out. I really had zero desire, but he was down and out and needed the support. I showed up to the meet helped him get ready. I watched one lifter after another and by the end of the day my competitive spirit came out and the fire was lit. I was confident I could still compete at the highest level, but respected the long road I had in front of me back to the platform. I had spoken to my wife and informed her of my decision to return under the bar. Her response, in a laughing manner, was that I was too old and washed up.

I had talked to Chris Wiers and asked if I could start training with the crew he had going. Chris was on board with me rotating in, and my return continued. The long road back was a bumpy and rut filled passage. The shear pain alone was unrelenting, but I knew I had to stick it out if I wanted to keep going. Every time I squat, to this day, I still have the same back pain as I always had. I slowly became desensitized to the pain, give it less attention, and that has made the sensation easier to buffer.

There are people that train with me, and have trained with me, and would tell anyone that asked that there is nothing wrong with my back. I don’t whine about my pain and don’t prefer to discuss it at all, so that makes it less severe. I just look at my pain tolerance like this: I’m not a total pussy like most and I find complaining about the pain won’t make it hurt less. Lift more, complain less.  – NEWSFLASH –  the guy with the most battle scars does not always win. I never found any great enjoyment out of bragging about my injuries. I have had over 12 surgeries since I started powerlifting…and not a damn thing to brag about; in fact, I find it quite embarrassing.

The inner strength is driven by how you come back from, and respond to, these injuries. That is where you can hold your head the highest and be proud.  Perseverance is what defines you as a person. Chirping from mom’s basement on the internet or in the gym does not define you. Rise up.  

Want to know more about how to keep your back healthy? Pick up copy of Dr. Stewart McGill’s Back Mechanic and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.

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Danny Bellmore

Danny has been involved in powerlifting since 1994. The first swing at a career was short lived due to a major back injury in 1999 that resulted in a 3-level spinal (lumbar) fusion. At that point, he took a 10-year break. Avoiding the gym all together because his body, and back, just never felt right. In 2010, Danny went to handle a good friend at a local meet. That experience re-ignited the fire within and he was back under the bar, never looking back. Danny established an elite total at my first meet back in 2010 and then accomplished a win at the 2012 APF Masters Nationals. Through his win at the APF Masters, he was training using the Conjugate Method, but he wanted a change. He needed a change. Danny reached out to a friend who stated that Brian and the Samson Barbell crew had it going on. In the process of connecting with Brian, he has endured a few setbacks. During our initial discussions, he had torn my rotator cuff and labrum, along with a separated AC joint. The surgery did not "take" and just nine months later, he was back under the knife for a "do-over." During the healing process, he had lost feeling and strength in my right arm. Being pig headed, he waited and waited. My choice to remain stubborn backfired, and I was back in the OR for another spinal (cervical) fusion. Now healed, and a few years under Brian, Danny’s total has moved to 1871 @ 165. He doesn’t like to predict or talk about goals, but he wants more, and feels like he has more. Plans now are to compete at the Senior Nationals in Jacksonville, Florida this June.

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