Shoulder Pain

[Brixtonbulldog]

I experience serious pain in my left shoulder when doing pressing movements, especially when bench pressing and doing weighted dips.  I thought it might be my rotator cuff but I did some exercises especially for my RC and didn't have any pain.  I'm startin to think it's my pec where it joins the upper arm bone. 

What is it most likely?  What do I need to do to let it heal?

[Stubborn]

Go to the Injury Board, DANIMAL. BWAHAHAHA!!!

[thewickedtruth]

I had this same problem recently and I solved it with some aggressive stretching. One of my good friends who is a physical therapist suggested stretching numerous times a day and taking some time off to see if maybe it was just tightness in the muscles and not tendonitis or inflammation of some kind. Turns out he was right and if I can find the website for the stretches suggested then I'll post the link. If you can do rotator cuff exercises with alot of weight and zero pain then it's not a rotator issue at all but something else. You aren't one of those "I don't believe you really need FOM" people are you? If you are, maybe FOM is something to consider doing instead of building a very thick but also very tight muscle from missing out on the stretch you get from lifting too.

[Brixtonbulldog]

I had this same problem recently and I solved it with some aggressive stretching. One of my good friends who is a physical therapist suggested stretching numerous times a day and taking some time off to see if maybe it was just tightness in the muscles and not tendonitis or inflammation of some kind. Turns out he was right and if I can find the website for the stretches suggested then I'll post the link. If you can do rotator cuff exercises with alot of weight and zero pain then it's not a rotator issue at all but something else. You aren't one of those "I don't believe you really need FOM" people are you? If you are, maybe FOM is something to consider doing instead of building a very thick but also very tight muscle from missing out on the stretch you get from lifting too.

I've been stretching it pretty good now for the last few days but the pain hasn't dimished at all yet.  Good advice though and I'll keep stretching.

I definitely want all the FOM I can keep... I like to remain somewhat athletic all around.

[thewickedtruth]

Like I said, try doing some rotator cuff exercises to see if that causes any pain. If pain is prevalent throughout the movement then obviously it's the cuff and time should be taken off to let it heal up before starting a program to build it back up to begin lifting again. If there is no pain at all you might want to consider a week or two off before going back into the gym.

[JasonH]

I had the same problem a few years back with my right shoulder. It took about three months to heal properly and I think it was a muscle tear rather than the rotator cuff itself. I contiinued going to the gym during this time but it hampered all my chest and delt workouts and I had to use very light weight on a lot of chest exercises for a long time. Gradually it got better and the tear healed - I even got back up to full strength eventually but you've got to be patient.

[Brixtonbulldog]

I had the same problem a few years back with my right shoulder. It took about three months to heal properly and I think it was a muscle tear rather than the rotator cuff itself. I contiinued going to the gym during this time but it hampered all my chest and delt workouts and I had to use very light weight on a lot of chest exercises for a long time. Gradually it got better and the tear healed - I even got back up to full strength eventually but you've got to be patient.

I'm thinking if you had stopped training chest completely it would have healed faster.

I made up a new workout routine minus chest.  I figure I'll take about two weeks off and then see where I'm at.  Most likely I'll end up taking a month off for chest.  If not better enough to train my then I'll go see somebody.

[thewickedtruth]

You might be better off skipping chest and shoulders all together and not just your chest in this type of situation don't you think?

[Brixtonbulldog]

You might be better off skipping chest and shoulders all together and not just your chest in this type of situation don't you think?

Thought about that but my rotator cuff feels fine for now.  Upright rows, overhead presses and laterals all feel normal. 

[JPM]

See if  this helps.  Try using a Pec Deck and give the pressing chest exercises a rest, to judge if healing comes any faster. A Pec Deck is where the elbows are directly on the pad's. That's where you want the force of the exercise to be. Not those make believe pec decks where the hands are gripping a handle, out and away from the body. In any event, keep the level of the elbows inline with the upper chest. You will still work the pec's (probably better) while avoiding the stress of any injury (hopefully) you may have in the shoulder area. Wear heavy sweats to keep the area warm. May also want to rub a light heating lotion to the area to bring warmth and a ready blood supply to the region, before and after working out. Good Luck.

[Brixtonbulldog]

See if  this helps.  Try using a Pec Deck and give the pressing chest exercises a rest, to judge if healing comes any faster. A Pec Deck is where the elbows are directly on the pad's. That's where you want the force of the exercise to be. Not those make believe pec decks where the hands are gripping a handle, out and away from the body. In any event, keep the level of the elbows inline with the upper chest. You will still work the pec's (probably better) while avoiding the stress of any injury (hopefully) you may have in the shoulder area. Wear heavy sweats to keep the area warm. May also want to rub a light heating lotion to the area to bring warmth and a ready blood supply to the region, before and after working out. Good Luck.

Awesome .. will do.

[haider]

Thought about that but my rotator cuff feels fine for now.  Upright rows, overhead presses and laterals all feel normal. 

Upright rows are a hazard to the shoulders. Might wanna skip those in your routine also. Laterals and presses will do the job just fine IMO. fucking zionist

[Brixtonbulldog]

Upright rows are a hazard to the shoulders. Might wanna skip those in your routine also. Laterals and presses will do the job just fine IMO. fucking zionist

I decided to keep training shoulders since I'm alomost 100% sure my rotator cuff is fine.  Stupid sand black.