Fighting through injury to secure greatness.

The 2012 New Zealand Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (NZIFBB) Open Champion Kenny O’Malley has suffered a large distal bicep tendon tear in his right arm. The injury occurred when he lost weight off his back and attempted to catch it in his hand.

He told Maori Television:

“I had a dumbbell on my shoulder and it was a freak accident, it slipped off my shoulder and I tried to re-catch it again.  When I re-caught it- that’s when I tore the tendon and bicep and it ripped down.  It was an ugly accident, it’s something I didn’t expect to happen but it happened.”

Since the accident he has been forced to take some time off from the gym and adapt his movements so he does not aggravate the injury.

“What was a bad accident has turned out to be positive.  Now I am taking better care of myself, shifting a bit more focus onto the rehabilitation.”

Radiologist Dr Peter Gendall of River Radiology told O’Malley that his tendon would require surgery.

“Three quarters of it has torn, there is only a quarter still attached, but the specialist said when I went to see him that the part still attached to it is still strong and will hold.”

O’Malley said he will hold off on the surgery to compete at the NZIFBB Pro/Am at the Victoria Conference Centre in Auckland this weekend:

“Just for now I’m going to hold on, there is a bit of pain but I’m going to just handle it”, says O’Malley, “I already started something and can’t walk out halfway and leave something unfinished.”

At 35 he has actually decided to switch to Men’s Classic Physique, a switch his brother made last year.

“We always have these talks about what’s best for one another- he has been a big influence for me shifting to Classic as well because we have never been competitive against each other.  We just want the best for each other.”

We wish him the best as he heads into the final stages of preparation.

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