PDA

View Full Version : Chronic Pec/shoulder strain



j2thestring
04-30-10, 4:17 am
whats good fellas,

How I got hurt:

About 10 months ago I was finishing up a chest routine with some incline presses on the smith machine. The bench I worked off of was at a fixed angle where pressing made me use way too much of my shoulders and not enough chest. At the top of the last rep, I ended up getting a sharp pain in both rotator cuffs and in the armpit area on either side. it was enough to make me end my workout early. That same night I checked in the mirror and there was no swelling or anything but it still hurt pretty bad. And from that day I was not able to bench without pain and temporarily gave up on working chest altogether.

The recovery:

I finally went to see a sports doc and was diagnosed with an intermediate strain in my rotator cuffs. From there I was given two choices and decided it was best to get some physical therapy done. It was that or stick a needle in my arm to inject dye for an MRI and I wasn't going to do that shit. I've been adhering to my routine with an elastic band and a series of movements for about a month and a half now. I also discontinued all upper body workouts and decided to take a long needed break. It's been a 45 days since I had a true workout and I'm going to give it another 3 weeks till I go back.

My question:

I was wondering if any of you elite lifters have ever dealt with shoulder pain for a long period of time. And if so, how long did it take to heal? and what you did to correct it? I'm worried I am never going to heal up right or be able to bench again.


Please offer me some advice guys,
Joey

Powerfreak
05-01-10, 12:26 am
I have dealt with some kind of shoulder pain for years. Sometimes it can get pretty bad.
I don't remember what exactly I did to cause the problem.
I have also suffered several minor pec tears, mostly near the tie-ins.Ain't a whole lot to be done with that,\. Thankfully it hasn't been anything major.
As for the shoulders, I try to keep any shoulder work light. I get the majority of my shoulder work from the bench press itself.
I always (now anyway) start my training days(every trianing day, no matter what the lift for that session is) with some light rotator warm ups and stretches.
I find that on my bench days, after my rotator warm-ups, if I take my time and slowly increase the weight duing 5-6 warm-up sets prior to reaching my first "working" set, that I have plenty of bloodflow through my shoulders and the pain is greatly reduced, if not completely gone.
I would discontinue doing any incline work on a steep incline. If you don't have a bench that allows adjustment, just don't do it. It is not worth further injury.

Time will heal most things. Just don't push befor you give your body a chance to recover.

I also tke ANIMAL FLEX every day. This seems to have helped quite a bit. I swear by the stuff.

Good luck,

Brian Weston

BigChrisF
05-01-10, 1:44 am
I am in support of the thorough warm-up. A lot of younger lifters ignore this, and sooner or later it will catch up to you.

Another important aspect that is often neglected is recovery work. Stretching, foam rolling, softball/tennis ball rolling, massage, contrast baths/showers and the like. It can seem a little tedious, but in the long run it works wonders.

j2thestring
05-02-10, 11:32 pm
Great advice guys, keep it coming.

I have some deep tissue massage scheduled with my physical therapist in about a week. Im going to wait until about the 20th to start lifting again. Hopefully I will be able to get through a chest routine without that aching in my shoulders that ive had for so long. If not, I will come back and investigate some other options for recovery. An MRI comes to mind. Has there been anybody else with this kind of injury and if so, how long did it take for you to recover?

Thanks for all the good tips fellas,
Joey

j2thestring
05-02-10, 11:32 pm
bump