T Nation

Confused Please Help

Beginners
#1

I recently went to the chiropractor to have a pain in my shoulder looked at, she found a giant knot (developed over a high rep 8 week workout) in my shoulder blade , it rubbed it, ultra sound and as a result I have lost strength in my left arm. I have gone from a completion bench press of 270 to 135.

I warm up as usual with 95 for 6-8 reps the jump to 135 for a few, then try 185, and my right side is normal but my left side feels like I have been training all day and I can’t get the weight off my chest, is this normal? my chiropractor said there is a lot of scar tissue that needs to heal is this true, I have a competition on the 21st of December.

If anyone has had a similar experience please advise. Thanks.

#2

Puts you in a tough spot, really. If you would have asked before the chiro visit I would have recommended one or the other, treat and take care of your obvious problem in your shoulder, and skip the competition, or hold off on that chiro visit until after the comp. Its gonna be very hard for anyone to say what the best route is for you now. Best bet might be to look at a competition some time later and get that shoulder taken care of.

#3

#1: Get better

#2: Competition.

You are weaker now. Just get back on your program and do your best for the competition. At the meet, you will meet people that have been in your situation. Talk to them.

And yes, it takes time. No two people are the same, so no one can give you a definite answer.

#4

[quote]david6660 wrote:
I recently went to the chiropractor to have a pain in my shoulder looked at, she found a giant knot (developed over a high rep 8 week workout) in my shoulder blade , it rubbed it, ultra sound[/quote]
Was there any more detailed diagnosis other than “a knot”? Was a nerve pinched or any other damage done to smaller shoulder structures? And how do they know it was from just the 8 weeks of high rep work? Were you training with crazy intensity or volume for those 8 weeks?

That sound pretty serious. Did you explain to the chiro, or any doc, that that limb’s function has been dropped by a measurable 50%? That’s the kind of thing that I’d hope they prioritize. Is the strength loss noticeable in other exercises too?

Scar tissue is usually built up over time. There are some steps you can take to help the healing process (tissue quality work like ART, foam rolling, concentrated mobility work, voodoo band flossing, etc), but a lot of it depends on exactly what the issue/injury was.

In just two weeks, I wouldn’t expect things to change drastically from where you are right now, so it’s up to you whether you want to compete or not. Like JFG said, though, it could be a great chance to pick the brains of other lifters and see if you can find someone who’s been through something similar.

#5

Thanks everyone for your input, had I known I would have a loss of power I would have waited on the ciro visit, stopped benching in hopes of recouping some strength, if I don’t then I will drop out of the completion and just deadlift. I really appreciate all of the feedback, I am 53 and just started powerlifting after a lifetime of bodybuilding ( I never got the body I wanted so I switched) thanks again.

#6

P.S. this is a result of 100 reps workout for 8 weeks.