[Easy_C]

Well, everyone, I hate that it's come to this..but I"m in a bit of a spot and needing ideas.


Sometime ago, back in March, I began noticing that I was experiencing pain in my left shoulder when working out. It be an unpredictable pain in my left shoulder....and bench presses in particular would start to flare up with a dull yet stabbing ache that would intensify as I went on, and continue to cause me mild discomfort after working out.


Fast forward until now. I've been largely leaving it alone since July when I figured out it was a chronic problem, as I have gone through a series of examinations and scans to figure out what the problem was. It's an impingement: the bone pokes too far down going over the front of the shoulder, causing a "pinch" that in turn causes inflammation and irritation.


Needless to say my muscle mass in the chest has dropped considerably with no working out. Fortunately I have been given a set of exercises to control the problem.....but that's only half the solution.

I need to re-start my gym routine. I also have to do this in a manner that will allow me to keep working on my chest, without moving in the manner that irritates a shoulder impingement. Would any of the blokes on this forum have experience with this, or better yet have a background that would help inform me about how to build and maintain muscle mass in my chest without aggravating my shoulder enough to cause complications?

[LeeEnfield303]

I had a shoulder impingement from a lifting injury as well. I ended up having surgery to correct it and Im glad i did. It took about 3 months or so before i could lift again but my shoulders been pretty much trouble free since then. I do have to pay attention to the overhead press though.

[The Lizard of Oz]

You should do the stick exercise that I posted about before. Watch the video and read the thread in my post below, and follow the instructions precisely.

I recommended this exercise to forum member Blackwell who had a very similar injury, and he recovered from it very swiftly and completely by following these instructions to the letter. You can ask him about it.

(03-28-2014 08:58 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

I want to emphasize once again the immense benefits of the rotator cuff stick exercise for general shoulder health and for both healing and preventing shoulder injuries.

I used to get more or less serious rotator cuff tweaks all the time from bench pressing and other movements. Now I never do and it's entirely because of this exercise.

I do sets of 50 of these -- yeah it sounds like a lot but you want to always be coming in a little with your grip as the set progresses. However, you don't need to start with 50. Do these religiously and your shoulders and rotators cuffs will be thanking you every day.

Here is a great thread that describes the exercise in detail, posted by the guy who basically invented it (the great Dante):

http://www.intensemuscle.com/showthread.php?t=6997

And this is the absolute best video demo on how it's done. I posted it before but I'm doing it again because this demo is so good:

[RichieP]

Trigger point therapy / Soft tissue therapy.

I also second rotator cuff exercises and dropping the bench press entirely for healthy shoulders.

[Truth Teller]

Incline pressing, at either 45 or 60 degrees.

More overhead work.

[NewMeta]

I have the same issue, here are some things I do to manage it:

1) Massage balls - you can get these in sets of differing hardness, I use the hardest one, put it against the wall and lie on the ball and massage the area that gives you the most issues. I noticed using the computer (my mouse hand) aggrevates this alot so I end up doing this like 4-5 times maybe even more a day. As many times as you need to do sort it out.

2) Sports massages - Find yourself a decent physiotherapist that can release the muscle, they can do wonders.

3) Shoulder dislocations - Someone above already posted this excersize, increases mobility in the shoulder really nicely.

4) Skin the Cat - You can do this on a pull up bar, look it up and try get as deep as possible in this position, think of it as a nice stretch.

5) Handstands - This is advanced shit but I recommend you start taking up handstands, they work the small stabilization muscles in your shoulder which can help strengthen it overall and prevent future issues. This is a long term goal you should work at over time, start doing against the wall, learn a free standing hand stand, then learn to tidy up form (straight hips, pointed toes and good hand placement). Planche work also counts, so progressions such as frog stance (and variations of frog stance, notably used a lot in Yoga for poses), tuck, advanced tuck etc...

6) Deload/rest week every 4/5 weeks or at the end of whatever training cycle you do. If you hammer your shoulder with bench week in week out something will give and you will end up having to stop for like 1-2 months like has happened to me before.


It will likely never go away, I've had this issue since dislocating my shoulder 2 years ago and I constantly work at it. Doing the above helps keep my shoulder healthy though so I don't have to take long recovery breaks cause ive fucked it up something bad.

[kbell]

See a shoulder doctor first, get x-rays and if you can afford it MRI if the doctor recommends it. You will probably need physical therapy for several months. I got an impingment in both shoulder the left much worse by bringing the benchpress all the way to the chest. This is put a lot of pressure on the shoulders so you will have to do bench presses to when your elbows are 90* and the bicep is parallel with the ground.

My bicep tendon is either torn or inflammed although it better than it was before seeing the doctor. Too many bicep curls and incline benchpresses really flare it up. I can't do that stretch that lizard posted since it puts too much stress on the tendon. And have no desire to do handstands. hopefully it will resolve it self but will have to be deal with muscle loss until you can lift without pain.

I do daily exercise for the rotator cuffs and scapula muscles in the back which help stabilize the shoulder joint. The PT therapist showed me which ones I needed to do. They can be quite painful at first.

[StrikeBack]

There are a million things you can do to work around your injuries. I had a serious shoulder issue as well, but I could work around it.

For your immediate issue with chest work, I recommend chest cable flies or pec deck flies - whichever doesn't hurt.

[Matelot]

The only definitive way to correct your issue is surgery which can be done via arthroscopy. They will clean up any cartilage damage and then check your ROM whilst viewing the inside of the joint. They can then debride any bone that is causing the impingement. Physiotherapy can alleviate pain by strengthening the shoulder stabilisers but ultimately you'll need surgery to remove the bone.

[barnbarn2k]

A lot of people like to do flat bench work. Same with military presses. Flat benching heavy, and military presses are easy ways to mess things pecs and the shoulders. Do your front shoulder presses standing, flat bench is ok for lighter/higher reps, but once a person goes heavy use dumbells, not a barbell, and do incline or decline.

[Lagavulin]

You say you've had a series of examinations and scans. What kind of scans? Have you had an MRI scan?

There's a shitload of things it could be in your shoulder, and every physio you see could have a different opinion. Bite the bullet and get an MRI done - it's the only way to know for sure.

I had a similar issue a few years ago, a sharp pain in my shoulder prevented me from any heavy pressing or overhead lifting for 2 years. I tried rest, rehab programmes, working around it, I saw various physio's, who each told me I had a frozen shoulder / calcification / impingement / problem with my ACL... I eventually saw a top London shoulder specialist who gave me a steroid injection from the front of the shoulder, then another from the back when the first one didn't help, he then came to the conclusion that I had a torn rotator cuff and referred me to another specialist for an MRI scan - by this time I was happy just to get a prognosis so I could get it fixed and move on. The scan cost me £500 plus £125 for the consultation, and surprisingly it showed only wear and tear in the joint common for an active guy of my age (mid thirties). It turned out that every physio and specialist I saw was wrong - because without an MRI all they can offer is an opinion. I was actually disappointed that the MRI wasn't able to show a definitive problem with a definitive solution, however the specialist was able to put together a focused rehab programme based on what he saw and 3 months later I was pain free. You can work around a lot of injuries but shoulder and back are tough ones - see somebody and get it fixed. Workarounds should only be short term if possible.

If you know for sure it's an impingement, then as has already been pointed out you will need an arthroscopy. No surgeon will operate without seeing an MRI so you're going to have to get one anyway, may as well get it over with.

For working around I found that pushups worked pretty well, keep the rep range moderate and your rest periods short. You can also do drop sets on a chest press machine to burn out your pecs without overloading your shoulder. It's better to err on the side of caution and and keep the weight lighter and the reps higher.

[Chevalier De Seingalt]

(11-18-2015 10:38 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

You should do the stick exercise that I posted about before. Watch the video and read the thread in my post below, and follow the instructions precisely.

.....

As a long-time swimmer/surfer/weightlifter I've had numerous shoulder issues over the years, MRI's have never shown rotator cuff tears or impigement thankfully, but every so often I get really bad inflammation and pain that knocks me out of commission for a while.

I had another flair up in early November and saw this post. Watching the video I was convinced doing this stretch would dislocate my shoulder or rip off a tendon, but I've been doing it for the last several weeks in addition to my normal stretch/exercise routine and the results have been a significant improvement in my rate of recovery from what it normally would be.

[Thomas the Rhymer]

Besides the excellent exercise recommended by Lizard of Oz, I'd also recommend doing floor presses instead of bench press.

You can use either dumbbells or barbell. Either way, start off with an empty bar/handles and build up the weight slowly.

Here's Scooby explaining how to do dumbbell floor press. Personally, I think it's better to just exercise one arm at a time when doing dumbbells, because then you can focus more carefully on the form of the movement.

[obrero]

Shoulder Impingement is a broad term and can refer to several different impingement syndromes.

Typically in our western society we are thinking of anterior shoulder impingement, which is what occurs when the biceps tendon is being squished by the acromion region of the scapula. This is caused by poor technique when you bench press as well as poor scapular mobility and stability. Specifically, the scapulas stuck in a forward rotated position.

Scapular mobility and stability can be improved by scapula pull ups, scapula push ups, scapula dips, scapula handstand pushups, scapula rows, where you keep your arms straight but move your scapulas to resist the force that is acting upon them by your body weight. This is effective "rotator cuff strengthening", as well as mobility Do 3 sets of 7 of each of the above exercises as part of your warm up. It will probably be difficult at first but after several weeks will become easy, but still necessary. Look up how to correctly perform these exercises on Youtube.


Correct Bench Technique to minimize anterior shoulder impingement:
1. Elbows in! Your upper arms should rub against your lats. for the entire movement! Keep your elbow pits rotated toward the top of your head, keep tension by trying to "bend the bar" by rotating your arms outward, for the whole movement, from unracking until you rerack the bar.

2. Grip: grip the bar just slightly outside of your shoulders. Your thumbs should just touch the outside of your shoulders when the bar is on your chest.

3. Chest puffed out, shoulders back! Hold this scapular position through the entire movement. This keeps your scapulas engaged and from moving into a poor positionm which will impinge your shoulders.

You will probably have to decrease the weight that you bench to accomplish these things, that's okay, a healthy body is more important big bench numbers. A lot of the bodybuilder meat heads favor a super wide grip bench, which may serve them well if they have excellent scapular stability.

These two things will improve your athleticism and positioning while you bench, as well as with other exercises.

[samsamsam]

Today I realized I probably need to stop using the bar and just go dumbells. I had less soreness/pain doing inclines today the issue is going to be doing heavier weight. I don't want to do crazy swinging to get the weight to the right position to do the inclines. Anyone make the transition to dumbells because of shoulder issues?