Broke my jaw, not my spirit

Hey guys, I’ve been lifting for 3 solid years and at the height of my lifting I was at 170 lbs at 6% bodyfat, ripped as hell and i’ve always been a hardgainer so i’ve fought for every pound. Anyway, at a hockey game 3 weeks ago, I caught a stick to the face which fractured my jaw, which is currently wired shut making solid food consumption impossible. Well during the last 3 weeks, i’ve lost 15 lbs! I’m literally shrinking and I’m drinking everything through a straw and lifting is bad for my jaw since it triggers the muscles. I need all the help I can get, I wanna try to turn this around by bulking up the next 3 weeks I have to have my jaw wired. If I do next to nothing for the next 3 weeks and take in 4,000 cal a day do you guys think I will gain some of my size back? What do you recommend for me to do, how can I get in that many calories through liquid? Please help, I’m rapidly shrinking!!!

Hey, sorry to hear about your setback.
The best thing advice I can give you is to keep looking forward towards resuming your training. Like you said, your spirit isn’t broken and that’s all that matters. The lost weight will come back quickly - don’t even worry about it.

Meanwhile, get some decent protein powder and/or meal replacement packs and suck a few of those down every day. That will help you out but the real kicker will be when you get all fired up once you’re back in the weight room.

BTW, watch your carb intake - you don’t want to get 15 lbs fatter.

Good luck bro!

Sorry about the setback. I would seriously consider a good protein powder and start making some protein shakes! Also some good MRPs’ (meal replacement packs). I wish they had some of this stuff when my jaw was wired shut for six weeks when I was 18. That was back in 1984 - all I had was peanut butter and potato/leak soup to keep me satiated. And not being into dairy, man, I suffered. Anywhoos - in your protein shakes, I’d add peanut butter, bananas - maybe even ice cream occasionally. How about getting a juicer, too? Fruit smoothies? Buy a case of V8. Good luck.

I’ve divided my intake into 4 shakes. All the shakes contain 4 cups of milk and an mrp powder, the balance I’ve been filling in with things like flax seed oil, peanut butter, etc. I’m just wondering if I lift medium, not too heavy but not light at all if I can gain some muscle back?

Would Androsol or MAG10 be useful here? I would think they would at least preserve some of your muscle mass. Email Berardi.

Sorry to hear about your fractured jaw. Don’t worry about the weight you’ve lost. Like everyone said, you’ll gain the muscle back. As for my advice, I would just take the next month off. If you’ve been training balls to the wall, a lay off would do you some good. Good luck and get well! It sounds as if you would put the weight on taking in 4,000 cals a day, but that weight would probably be fat. I would imagine that it would be harder to lose that fat than it would be to put the muscle back on.

Take a break, let your jaw heal. You will lose strength, you will lose size but it will come back fast when you are able to get back in the gym. I weaked my knee a yea ago and lost a ton of leg strength, I basically had to start over in the squat at 135, but i am now back up to 385 so just be patient. The worst thing ou can do is reinjure your jaw and set yourself back even more. keep your protein and calories up but don’t get fat, that will just be one more thing that you’ll have to fix when you get better.