I was lifting bench press seven weeks ago when I felt a funny sensation in my left shoulder. It was more of a tingle than a sharp pain. I was finished out my bench press set. The only time I really felt pain that day was I tried to do dumbbell lateral side raises. At that point, I called it a day and went home.
I took a couple weeks off lifting, and the pain I felt when I lifted a weight out to my side gradually went away. I still, however, feel a mild pain as I do normal activity throughout the day (i.e. putting on a jacket, reaching over head, even turning a steering wheel).
The pain seems to be more affected by the position or movement of my arm, rather than the amount of weight I’m lifting. The pain hasn’t increased or decreased with time over the past seven weeks, and remains constant whether or not I lift at the gym.
Has anyone had shoulder pain similar to this? Or does anyone know what the underlying cause might be? I’m wondering if I need to take more time away from the gym.
Sounds like your Rotator is plain wore out. Same thing happened to me (way back) but I kept pushing and am forever living with shoulder issues. Advice?
Give 'em a rest. This sounds crazy (and sad) but ditch benching, at least for a while. Barbells lock you in and irritate a bad rotator cuff. Go really easy on lateral raises also. I can’t even do them anymore. Felt bold just this week, did some reps with the left arm, ok, switched to the right and POP, there she is, ouch! No more.
Look into dumbbell presses. From what I understand they are just as productive for pecs. I’ve personally seen bigger gains since using DB’s. DB’s allow more freedom of movement and you can tweak your press so that it doesn’t hurt. Then get away from front/side lateral raises and dips. Oh man, don’t do dips…what you have left will be ripped clean out of your shoulder.
Take a rest! If you hurt yourself and require surgery, you will be out for a long time. But if you take a rest right now and let it heal, you could be back in a week or two. Don’t make it worse! Let it heal!
[quote]midgethearsexb wrote:
Take a rest! If you hurt yourself and require surgery, you will be out for a long time. But if you take a rest right now and let it heal, you could be back in a week or two. Don’t make it worse! Let it heal![/quote]
Thanks for the suggestions guys.
When I said I took a “couple” weeks off in the original post, it was really like 4 or 5 weeks off already. The thought of taking even more time off is depressing! I managed to set up an appointment with an orthopedist, so I’ll write back with what the doc says after I see him.
The key thing is to avoid any movement that you feel pain, I had something similar, I make it a rule to stop whatever move I am doing and do something else if I feel pain and work around it while I think about how I hurt it and why.
I spent a few weeks working around the issue and currently am on a week break other then sticking to phase I of the Cosgrove, Waterbury shoulder workout listed below. I think after I finish phase I, I’ll have my shoulder back.
It is humbling, but you know I’m getting used to feeling manly using 5,8,15lb weights
Below are 2 other threads with similar rotator issues.
