1ntense

Well, my back is probably my strongest body part, chest is by far the weakest as I also have long standing injuries to my outer chest just under the arm pit on both sides.

I presume this is why it is weak and takes longer to recover than any other body part.

Well I went to the see the physio yesterday, she moved my arm around, asked me to push and pull in different directions and got me to do several rotator cuff exercises with no weight.

After the session it felt worse than it did beforehand, its still worse today so Im unsure as to whether it maybe hasnt healed enough. Im thinking that it may need more time for the swelling to go down before I carry on with any exercises.

Hackskii - She gave me the bending over and moving my arm clockwise and counter clockwise movement and also the finger crawl up the wall, while I do get pain whilst doing these, it feels like a good type of pain until coming down the wall. During this part of the exercise I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder, maybe I should try only the crawl up the wall and miss out the downward part?

Chris4Pez - I agree, avoiding injury is key along with consistency in this game. One wreckless injury can put you out or training one or more body parts for months if not years. The risk can be greatly minimized by warming up properly, though in my case there wasnt much I could do as I had failed at the bottom of my 5th rep on shoulder press with no spotter and a typical home bench set up (not just a bench but one with the leg extension part at the end) Obviously I couldnt just drop the weight as I would have damaged my bench, therefor had to lower one side to the ground then the other. This placed too much stress on that shoulder which ultimately lead to my injury.

From now on I will always do rotator cuff exercises before I train delts and take care to ensure they are adequately warmed up before my heavy sets.

On a positive note, I have a sports massage therapist coming to see me next week who was recommended to me by a very respected and knowledgeable bro from another forum. I have no doubt that he will be a big help to me and Im very grateful for his help.

For all those that read this thread, do your best to avoid injury by ensuring that you warm up thoroughly as injuries are very depressing and can have you out for a long time.


1ntense

hackskii

Those two exercises are to help you keep mobility and also minimise scar tissue.
I would do them.

The pulling and pushing you were doing was to determine the extent of the injury and or diagnose that it is in fact the rotator.
Judging by the exercises she gave you then it is your rotator.
but once those exercises become easier then you will be able to add some more, then down the road you will be all fixed up.

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Scott


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1ntense

Thing is though Hackskii, is that im getting a very sharp pain whilst doing some of them.

ie the finger crawl up the wall, very painful. I can do the bent over and rotate arm one without any pain tho.

Would you advise sticking to that one or do them both and others I was given even tho my shoulder seems to be worse now and also the fact that it is giving me sharp pains?


Thanks

1ntense

hackskii

Reason why it is hurting is because it is creating a kind of impingement thing.
The weight with rotation is causing more of a traction thing.

Just do the finger crawl till you feel it start to hurt then go just to that and let it sit there for a minute. Remember where that was and see if you can see if there is less pain after a while.
It wont heal over night.

Once you do those with little or no problem, then we can add other things to strengthen your rotator.
Right now we are not strengthening it, but allowing for mobility, circulation to increase healing, and to keep scar tissue from forming.
Later we can work on strengthinnig that up.
You will be fine.

Most all rotator injuries heal on their own, with the exception of a full tear, then that would require surgery.
Shoulder surgery is nothing like knee surgery as the shoulder is a compound joint, it has way diffrent ranges.

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Scott


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1ntense

Seems to be getting better, been utilising the finger crawl up the wall and the rotating arm movement with no weight.

It felt good enough to do the overhead broomstick movement today, so I implemented that which I hear is very good for rotator cuff injuries.

Hackskii - Ive heard the term impingement before but not sure what it means?


1ntense

brett the heart

ive damaged my rotator cuff. been in trouble for about 9 months now really hurts aches all nite .ive now switched to dumells only on the chest no bar work.incine dumbelle flat dumbells wide grip dips and decline feels much better. did try flat bar bench the other day but pain shot straight through the shoulder.

crazycacti

Out of interest, how much rear delt work do you do? Do you do a lot more pushing exercises than pulling?

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johnnysletter

Word of advice from someone who's already made the mistakes.

Any muscular skeletal injury that causes sudden loss of motion, intense pain, sudden and significant loss of strength, popping or tearing feeling from lifting heavy weights should be sought with diagnosis from only one type of person.....................

1.Orthopeadic Surgeon (Specialising in the area involved) £200
plus
2.Ultrasound £40-80
3.MRI Scan £200-400

Completey rest the limb involved in a sling until you see a surgeon.

I know of a lot of people who have been misdiagnosed by physios and GP's alike and as such made have had there made sitiuation made worse or been left untreated.

Weightlifters and bodybuilders often mask injuries with muscle bulk and strength. Some conventional methods of diagnosis are often less apparent or useful within this group of people as the above normal strength of compensating muscles masks the injury.

Tendon injuries are best sought to have surgical repair within two weeks or even 2 days in some cases due to the amount of retraction.
Waiting longer than this decreases you chances of recovery and allows for increased scar tissue formation and adhesions to surrounding tissues making surgery more difficult to perform.

Pain from injury = stop moving

A physiotherpists role is too increase movement. It comes as no suprise that you have experienced pain during physio and are unsure of what to do. This is actually a very common problem that people present in clinics.

The decision to undergo surgery, particulary athroscopic rotator cuff repair is relatively easy to make once you have experience.
The risk of infection, nerve damage etc are relatively minimal.
Recovery time is 12 months plus before decent weightlifting begins for the involved repair.
Cost of surgery is around £3-4000

Most people avoid the injury due to work and length of rehab.

Having had open surgery for a complete pectoralis major tendon rupture recently I can say that any pain and stiffness from surgery during the first weeks is worth dealing with when you begin to realise how much the strength the surgery gives you back.

With regards to injury avoidance.............

I used to constantly do heavy free weights for 1-6 reps which got me took me from benching 70kg one year to 110kg the next. So no doubt LOW REPS = PURE STRENGTH but is also = HIGH RISK.

Colleague at work can now no longer jump or run properly following mislignment of knee caps from heavy lifting.

Friend of mine completely ruptured long head of bicep and now has only 50% strength long term.

My dad ruptured tendon in his lower back from heavy lifting. Took over 2 years to recover and still suffers a lot of problems.

Point is next time you go to deadlift or bench press for x1 rep max know that the quick gains you may get from it are nothing compared to the amount of risk and long term injury you may suffer.

Surgeon once told me that if it wasn't for stupid people (huh like me) or elderly people he would be out of business. I'm beginning to think he's right.

I'd give anything to be injury free right now.

Seeing guys who only use technogym machine equipment for mid range reps and don't venture into the free weights room now makes sense to me.

I used to balance a 20kg plate on my head and performing neck exercises while hanging of the end of bench. Sounds stupid, but thats the mentality that surrounds you when you get involved with certain ego and steroid lifters.

If your constantly lifting very heavy with free weights for 1-4 reps, you need constantly good form. That can add up to your form being tested 100's times per year with little room for error. Couple that with an ego and steroids you'll be asking for trouble.

Take it from me, next time you see the 10 stone weakling sticking only to machines for reps of 10, know that he's at least in long run he's likely to be better of than the guy who thinks it's a great idea to throw on a bench shirt on and try to 200. It's better to finish the race slowy and safely than not at all.

hackskii

That is one damn good post, and filled with good ol common sense.

I have an injured shoulder, that is the sole reason of ego lifting, to this day I have exercises that I do to to help this but also I have to work around my injuries. I would love to be injury free, but then id probably go back to some ego lifting......lol

Dont get me wrong, I love to lift, always have, but the gym at my work brings alot of my friends that want to lift more than me, half the time they cant but some can and this pushes me a bit past what I would normally do in a workout for proper stimulation.

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Scott


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john62

Other exercises
(a) against a wall (1) Elbow in, push arm into the wall at 90 degrees
(2) Press fist into the wall and hold under tension
(3) Stand with back to the wall and press elbow into the wall. Hold under tension.

(b) using the door (1) put one foot one side of the door and press inwards
(2) put one foot one side and press outwards

(c) using therma band - Hold band high and pull downwards across your body

(d) in the gym - Again the 90 degree inwards and outwards motion using cables.

Post recovery. Just take it slowly, build up supporting muscles. Respect your injury and don't think you can do everything you did before it.
After my operation I pulled it again, but just live with it now. Watch out for pressing large weights above the head. This is when the rotator cuff must under its greatest stress and vunerability. I built up strength slowly doing seated presses where I could control the bar more. Now I'm back to pressing my own bodyweight on military presses.
Pulldowns behind neck or behind neck chins again I miss because they place more strain on the rotator cuff.

hackskii

Definitely avoid behind the neck movements.

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Scott


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