[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/07\/weightlifting-rehabilitation-sports-med\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/07\/weightlifting-rehabilitation-sports-med\/","headline":"How One Weightlifter Got Back in the Game","name":"How One Weightlifter Got Back in the Game","description":"After a shoulder injury sidelined his training, Mike got back to weightlifting with the help of UPMC Sports Medicine. ","datePublished":"2016-07-20","dateModified":"2022-12-07","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","name":"Sports Medicine","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/sports-medicine-regions","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/sports-medicine\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Weightlifter.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Weightlifter.jpg","height":527,"width":791},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/07\/weightlifting-rehabilitation-sports-med\/","about":["Sports Medicine"],"wordCount":330,"keywords":["athletics","shoulder injury","sports injury","sports medicine","UPMC Sports Medicine","weightlifting"],"articleBody":"Mike has been a competitive weightlifter for the majority of his life. Growing up in Pittsburgh, he won several major competitions, including a junior national championship in 2011.After college Mike competed professionally in Colorado Springs, Colorado when he injured his shoulder. After seeking local medical attention, Mike received a cortisone shot and continued training. While this treatment allowed him go on, his injury did not heal and continued to bother him.After moving back home to Pittsburgh to continue training, Mike sought treatment from Albert Lin, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at UPMC Sports Medicine. Dr. Lin evaluated Mike and diagnosed him with a rotator cuff injury and recommended surgery.\u00a0Before surgery, Dr. Lin included Heather Christian, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, in the evaluation. That way, Mike could start his rehabilitation as soon as he was ready.After a successful surgery, Mike started attending physical therapy with Heather at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. During his first visit, he and Heather went through the movements needed to return to weightlifting, tailoring his rehabilitation to focus on those areas.“Mike’s excellent outcome and return as an Olympic [style] weightlifter was truly a team effort. In addition to a successful surgery, Mike’s dedication to the rehabilitation, his overall positive attitude, and Heather’s careful tailoring of a personal regimen that would be compliant with our postoperative restrictions were equally important in bringing him back to elite form from a potentially devastating injury,\u201d Dr. Lin said.\u201cIt was a privilege seeing him all the way through to his complete comeback.”With the sport’s aggressive overhead lifts, weightlifting requires a greater range of motion compared to other sports\u201cMobility and stability are also important to a weightlifter’s performance, so Heather customized my exercises to help me focus on those areas,” Mike said.After approximately four months, Mike was feeling good and was cleared to return to training. He is now pain-free and back to competitive weightlifting."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2016","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"07","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/\/07\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How One Weightlifter Got Back in the Game","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/07\/weightlifting-rehabilitation-sports-med\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]