Thread: training around shoulder injury

I pulled my left rotator cuff a few monthes ago. I tried to work through it and I only aggravated it. I could still some back work. But it healed up pretty quick(three weeks) when I stopped all shoulder and chest work.
watch upright rows make sure your shoulder width or wider...I never go heavy on that movement anymore.
Up the growth if you have access...

Almost all bodybuilders hurt their shoulder at some point so don't be frustrated, with a little patience things can go well soon.
1- take 3-4 days off
2- do not do anything that hurts especially front raises for shoulders , i have stopped doing these years ago after my injury.
3- when you start training again (after 4 days) warm up well and use lighter weights with reps and slow movements, you can achieve sometimes better results like that
3- avoid any sudden movements when lifting , slow and smooth
stay like that for 3 weeks and progressively adjust your workout accordingly until you are fully recovered.
do not take chances and aggravate your injury
just avoid any sudden moves and anything that hurts in the gym and any simple task outside the gym.
hope you feel better soon

Originally Posted by dieseljimmy

I pulled my left rotator cuff a few monthes ago. I tried to work through it and I only aggravated it. I could still some back work. But it healed up pretty quick(three weeks) when I stopped all shoulder and chest work.
watch upright rows make sure your shoulder width or wider...I never go heavy on that movement anymore.
Up the growth if you have access...

dam love uprights aswell shoulder feels a bit better already il get the wife to massage me every night

and not on the growth.... yet!

Originally Posted by bjg

Almost all bodybuilders hurt their shoulder at some point so don't be frustrated, with a little patience things can go well soon.
1- take 3-4 days off
2- do not do anything that hurts especially front raises for shoulders , i have stopped doing these years ago after my injury.
3- when you start training again (after 4 days) warm up well and use lighter weights with reps and slow movements, you can achieve sometimes better results like that
3- avoid any sudden movements when lifting , slow and smooth
stay like that for 3 weeks and progressively adjust your workout accordingly until you are fully recovered.
do not take chances and aggravate your injury
just avoid any sudden moves and anything that hurts in the gym and any simple task outside the gym.
hope you feel better soon

i would die if i could no longer ever do the lat raise movement really hit the front delt beautifully... iv been lifting with great form but recently i was pumped and went for 225lb on the military press standing only got it half way up im not sure weather this is when i done it but i never go that heavy on standing ilitary press also went heavy for me 308lb on machine bench and was repping it quite easy which is crazy cause i could not rep it like that on a barbell? i never trust the weights on them machines nothing like good ol free weights.... yeah il just have to lay off it and do lots of light work on chest gonna go do back now see how i feel.... ahh look at the bright side il be hitting legs alot more ha.

^^ take it easy for a while like i suggested don't try to go heavy, take advantage of this "injury "situation and turn it into a favorable one: changing your training for a while can give very good results, you will find lighter weights and slow controlled movements very rewarding.

Get to the ortho and get it checked out.
If it is a rotator cuff it can be extremely serious. More-so the longer you wait.
There's a lot of great advice to be had on IMF but when you're dealing with an injury nothing can take the place of a genuine medical diagnosis and opinion along with treatment options.

Take care of yourself.

i hope its nothing serious i went and done back and bis earlier and gave me no problem atall infact it was the other shoulder starteded hurting when i was doing reverse grip curls on the cable machine :/ i will go get it checked out on the weekend legs tomoro then day off il rest up eat good and get my girl to massage me every night...

and bjg funnily enough recently i have changed to this kind of training lowered pretty much all the weights i use on isolation exercises and gone totally and purely for as perfect form as i can its funny seeing ppl look at me and i can tell there thinking wtf i can lift more blah makes me laugh but its made my mind muscle connection 100 times better of course i need to go heavy now and then to get pure strength up but for me training the way i am im training more effeciently and im hitting the muscles i intend to hit.. i love it

for instance im on a cable machine doing curls or tricep pulldowns and this guy comes up next to me puts way to much weight on i can see him using alot of momentem swinging his body weight into the movement and using mainly his delts lol he then will SLAM the weight down and almost give me a look as if yeah i just lifted twice what u lifted.. haha im thinking to my self dam i used to be that guy when i started out.

how ive changed as a bodybuilder.

i proceed to hit the muscle i intended to with my form as perfectly controlled as i can finish up with a great pump and im on my way.

i always have heard the phrase form then weight but always ur ego creeps in and before u know it shit form ect.. but like i said sometimes u just wanna go nuts and try a 1RM and whatever thats cool but yeah i definatly make my form my top priority these days.

^^^here you go ........try one arm biceps preacher curls with cable ( i move an inclined bench or the preacher curl bench to the cable machine and do curls with one arm) do them slowly feel the biceps contracting and expanding ...then at the end do the same but reverse curl with lighter weight.
going heavy ALL THE TIME , increasing the weights and getting stronger is fine from time to time but it is a double edged sword: you get motivated to go heavier and heavier , your ego pushes you etc...however, sooner or later you will get injured. This is not bodybuilding..this is bodyhurting. i increase my weights from time to time , then back off ..then again ..slowly but surely.

Is it towards the front part of your shoulder? The first time mine started hurting was awhile back when I was first lifting heavy and didn't have the best form

Originally Posted by longworthb

Is it towards the front part of your shoulder? The first time mine started hurting was awhile back when I was first lifting heavy and didn't have the best form

yeah but it feels fine today im taking day of as ive hit back bis, chest tri,s already so il do legs tommoro and see about shoulders day after getting nice massages of the misses helps and also if im lucky i get a happy ending to which is even better

Just try to take it a little easy on the shoulder for a few weeks. U dont want a reoccurring injury later

I'm still worried it could be a rotator cuff.
Does it click or pop at all?
How do push-ups and pull-ups affect it?

As difficult as it is to do, I suggest laying off or drastically reducing weight on any movements that aggravate it. I experienced a similar situation but with my elbow where one of the heads of the triceps ties in. Got relief from ART and some chiropractic but as soon as I stressed it, was right back at square one. After 3 weeks of going extremely light, concentrating on strict form, and staying away from any movements that aggravated the injury I'm healing up and able to increase weight again. It's tough to "back off" but in the whole scheme of things a few weeks is not that big of a deal. Good luck.

Glad I found this thread...thanks for the good info. I have run into this same problem...mid cycle...and was just going to keep pushing through it with a little pain reliever assistance, but will definitely back off a bit, lower the weight and review my form. Thanks

Please just take care of yourself.

If you're able to I really do you suggest seeing the doctor.

I hope everything is going to be alright.

Keep us updated.

Originally Posted by Paranoid Fitness

I'm still worried it could be a rotator cuff.
Does it click or pop at all?
How do push-ups and pull-ups affect it?

yep well it kind of clicks with front delt raises or pops lol im not quite sure could definatly feel something there with mainly this movement and most of them pain i was getting was on the negstive part of the movement like i said i done chest the other day on the machine incase something went wrong and could only feel it on nagative iv took a extra day of and im about to go train legs now.

on flys and stuff i was using light weight with alot of pain so i just stopped all together and went to tris did some pull down under hand over hand ect and felt fine infact got nice doms in my tris for next 2 days i havnt put any pressure on shoulder sinse il do legs today was planning on shoulders tomoro then day off but im wary dont want to make it worse like someone said its hard to back off but i feel its best in this case...

plenty of food and rest and massages from my girlfriend is in order its hard to back of especislly as im mid cycle and loving the strenght! grrr dam it!

I second the notion of seeking professional help. But ice and mobility,soft tissue work and ibuprofen would be in my repertoire as well. You need some "yin" to the "yang" ... or vice versa, whatever...

chest day today and i wanna go heavy!! my shoulder feels fine but im scared now il fuck it again fuck sake!

hmmm prediciment...

When it comes to shoulder pain, the older you get, the smarter that you have to train. If you start doing something and it starts to really hurt, the best thing to do is stop. I have an arthritic left shoulder and there are times that I just have to lay off for a while. It's also funny that I have stopped doing most direct shoulder work and just do some isoation work with chest (side laterals) and back (rear laterals, shrugs, etc..) and my shoulders actually have gotten bigger. Since I have done this, my pain has been much better managed... If you haven't gone to get checked out, I would definately go that route so you know exactly what you are dealing with.

Tore my left shoulder muscle 5 weeks ago. The weird thing was I didn't feel it until the next day. Its been sore for weeks. But stupid me I went and tore it again 2 weeks ago. So, yea I've been doing nothing but leg, shoulder and cardiovascular until this things heals completely. My friend tore his once and said it
took almost a year to heal!!! Now he's back benching 315-345 Raw again. It sucks getting old Bra.

Originally Posted by Paranoid Fitness

I'm still worried it could be a rotator cuff.
Does it click or pop at all?
How do push-ups and pull-ups affect it?

why do you ask this?

my shoulder will pop/click on occasion - are you stating this indicates an injury?