Shoulder Pain, Advice Please

bzbnmom

bzbnmom

Cathlete
A few weeks ago, I finished Xtrain/LIS-90 rotation at week 11. I just couldn't do the final week 12 because of a pain in my shoulder. Somewhere around weeks 9 & 10 I noticed a little pain while doing standing dumbbell presses, nothing serious I thought, but in week 11 I had more pain and diminished strength in many of the upper body exercises (shoulder, chest presses & flys). :( So I have now moved on to a Horizontal Conditioning/Cathe rotation using no heavy weights, except I was going to incorporate some back work in there. I want to include circuits, metabolic conditioning, muscle endurance, kickbox, Yoga Max, well you know ... EVERYTHING except heavy lifting.

I'm really worried though, I intend to start my very first round of STS, possibly the 5.5 month rotation in September. I really want to do this!

So, do you think it is ok to do the above workouts as long as the specific exercise doesn't hurt? Almost none of them hurt. I wouldn't do any db presses at this point. Or do you think I should give up all UB (or just shoulder) exercises using weights? What about HoCo, boxing, and yoga?

You see, my shoulder doesn't bother me in everyday life and even the 1st week of my new rotation was great. I even did Muscle Endurance (sitting out on an exercise or so). But will this prevent or postpone healing? I'll do whatever it takes to start STS in September.

Anyone have any experience with something like this? Any advice would be appreciated. Any personal experiences? Anything. I'm determined to do STS.

Two years ago I injured my (other) shoulder water skiing, went to a sport med doc, had PT. Both places told me I didn't have to stop exercising. But I did quit exercising, because it didn't improve, for 2 YEARS! I'm not sure at what point it healed. And then I started Xtrain/LIS which is where my new story starts. I will not be seeking professional help. Just your help. :D

BTW, XTrain/LIS was awesome!
 
When I get this type of injury, I rest the area that is in question but I don't stop exercising all together. I've recently strained my hip flexor. With that I stopped doing my horizontal conditioning and spinning. It was a light stain, so I did the rest period for about a week. I then felt like I could add spinning back in. But I didn't add horizontal conditioning back in for several weeks. My hip flexer is a weak spot in me to begin with, so it seemed I really needed to take some time to strengthen it before I was able to do a rotation with spinning and horizontal conditioning.

That was a long story to say that, for me, I need to figure out what type of workouts I am able to put together to not stress my body too much. I was not able to pair STS with horizontal conditioning in M1, but I can now in M2.

The rotation you are planning doesn't sound too taxing. But if a particular move hurts, you probably shouldn't do it. You may also want to see a doc to have it checked out. They would be the expert on if you can continue with your planned rotation.
 
Hmmm....It might be an injury to your rotator cuff? I am prone to that. You might see a physical therapist, there are some helpful exercises they can show you to strengthen it and prevent future injury. They are usually done with tubing. I notice my shoulder flare up if I don't stay on them, so I try to include the exercises weekly now. The therapist can also give you some treatments to speed up your heeling ( deep heat ultrasound, etc). I'd for sure get it checked out so it doesn't get worse. I did end up finally having a cortisone shot, but my job put constant strain on that area which made healing difficult. The tubing exercises keep it in check for me now. Best wishes on your recovery.
 
Sorry, I missed the part about not seeking professional help. Here is a list of rotator cuff rehab exercises: external rotation, internal rotation, scapular retraction, Scapular Pull down, Scaption, adduction, abduction, extension. Ii think he had me do 3 exercises , 2 sets 20, 3 times per week until it got better. Now I just do once per week, 2 or 3 of the exercises, 2 sets 20. If you think it may be your rotator cuff, You could maybe YouTube them? I do think a PT will work with the goal of getting you back to your full training regime, though.
 
lol ... the reason I won't see a professional is that they couldn't help me the first time with that little twinge that wouldn't heal. I could dig up my old exercise sheets and do those, but the exercises were so "light" that there seemed to be no point in doing them. The Physical Therapist gave me 2 different tubings, but I ended up using my husband's (dk blue) which was a little heavier, but still felt light. I assume these exercises are supposed to be extremely light?

So, I'm getting the idea that I should do light strengthening exercises rather than nothing. Thanks for idea of checking out YouTube. Maybe alot of those exercises will even match up with Travel Fit. :p
 
Hi, Do you have XTrain? Try the 100 rep challenges for scarecrows. They might help. Cathe also had rotator cuff exercises in Slow Heavy, 4 Day Split Kickbox (it's the band bonus---one of my favorites), and some other DVDs that are not coming to me right now.

Best wishes. I hope you heal quickly!
 
Hi. The resistance is lighter, but you should still fail around that 20th rep. I tend to superset them using medium to heavy bands, and do the scapular retraction on the pull-up bar. I really don't like doing the exercises, but I structure them in so I do them weekly. Now it takes me about 10 minutes. You might need to do them 3 times per week for a couple months until you strengthen that joint, and then drop to once a week to maintain. I think what happens is if the shoulders are trained heavily, but the rotator cuff muscles are neglected, a muscle imbalance happens. The muscles pull up on the shoulder joint and that's why the pain happens. The rotator cuff muscles keep the joint where it should be? Something like that anyway. If you can ice it that would likely help too. I loathe icing, but I do it while I am sitting and reading to my kids.
 
Does it hurt with both hand positions on the overhead press (ie palms forward and/or palms toward head). Do pushups aggravate it? Where exactly is the pain: top of shoulder, front, side, rear...?
You can probably pinpoint exactly what you did to avoid doing it again. I over extended on chest flys a long time ago and had to modify my workouts for a couple of weeks by keeping moves shallow and avoiding the real "ouchie" moves. I also did the ibuprofen thing and iced it. You might be able to find the trigger points for that area on the internet and do some self massage.
Whatever you do, DON'T exercise that area through the pain! STS will be there for you in September....I bet by then you'll be ready to rock it!
 
You've all given me some important things to think about. Thank you so much!!! I tend to like to test myself before I give it enough time. Not this time! STS is a very strong motivator for me. For now, I'll do Horizontal Conditioning as my only upper body work DVD (as long as it doesn't bother me) along with PT exercises; and concentrate on cardio hiit, core, and legs.

I will not pick up a dumbbell ... I will not pick up a dumbbell
... I will not :p

Happy, happy, summer everyone!
 
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