Shoulder Injury

I took 3 weeks off because of a shoulder injury, and when I went to the gym to test the water last night it did not feel like my shoulder had gotten any better. It will be another 2 ½ weeks until my doctor can see me to give me a referral. I have still been working legs and I am able to do a little triceps work. Does anyone know of any upper body exercises that do not put much strain on the shoulder?

Is the pain felt in the front of the shoulder or the side or the back. I have had shoulder problems for 15 years. I tried different chiropractors with overall good results but it took different Chiropractors to deal with different issues. Once I had pain in the front of my shoulder, and as has been stated on this forum in the past that muscle imbalances can cause injuries, I began doing rowing exercises with barbells and machines to counteract all the stress placed on the front of my shoulders by bench press type movements and the pain went away. In 1986 I had a sharp burning pain in my clavicle that would not go away and would be aggravated by the slightest shoulder exercise and went to a Chiropractor and she fixed it with a snap of the neck. I was amazed. She said a nerve was being pinched by a cervical vertebrae and the adjustment fixed it. After years of bad lifting techniques and failure to warm up and stretch properly and being involved in some automobile accidents my shoulders and neck told me I couldn’t lift anymore. I found this site and found out about ART and my shoulder, knee, hip flexor, ribcage, and lower back problems are practically gone. They flare up occasionally and I know that after moving this weekend it will happen again so I scheduled an appointment in advance for Monday. I will probably need work on the shoulders or lower back. If you have an ART practitioner in your area I would visit her or him before waiting 2.5 weeks. You can find one at activerelease.com. Good luck.

The pain is kind of in the front when I lift, in the mornings it feels like my trap is tight. I have full lateral motion with no pain whatsoever. There is also alot of clicking when I rotate the shoulder. I started to feel the pain while warming up with just the bar on flat bench so I hurt it prior to that. I have been doing an equal number of sets for both chest and back so I dont think I have any imbalances. I will look into an ART, thanks.

Is the tightness in the trap on the front with the delt or in the back? If in the front that sounds like an imbalance and that you may want to do twice as many rowing exercises as bench exercises or that you may want to really cut down on the bench to just a few sets per week and hit the rowing hard. If the pain is felt in the back of the trap near the cervical spine then using the stretch in Ian King’s guide where you stretch the neck by grabbing one side of your head and moving away from the trap. The entire stretching routine is an excellent routine by the way. I remember reading an article in Muscle and Fitness many years ago where Mike Christian had a routine to build his rear delts. Using much less weight than he would use on standard rowing exercises he would take a wide grip and pull to his neck very slow. He said it built his upper back tremendously. It may help you but just try using the bar at first and if you feel discomfort then stop. Hope that helps.

yeah same mine does that click but the pain in mine is in the lat muscle. Right below the back of the shoulder been getting cortison shots but not working going to see a specialist next week, hope things go well i am so limited now in my upper body work, hurts the most on bench, its got to the point that cant even lift things with my left arm at all so been using my right arm a lot since work in a corporate wellness center

Hey, there, Ejonesunt. I think what happened is that in the course of using the search engine (a very good thing; a skill highly admired in this neck of the e-woods) you replied to an old thread. It’s not really a current discussion.

It seems sooner or later many,(not all) lifters have a shoulder injury due to Bench Pressing.

Count the posts regarding shoulder injuries due to Bench Pressing. Now compare them to the other posts regarding injuries due to Chin-ups or even overhead (front) pressing. No comparison.

many say squating and deadlifting are dangerous. Wrong! Both are natural movements which may be performed under normal circumstances while doing manule labor. Both movements build the body when done properly. Conversely there is no way to place your shoulder joint in such an awkward position and not have it effect you eventually, in most people.

In what situation regarding real life situations would you ever lay on your back, place a heavy weight over your chest, and allow your hands to go down even with your chest? It is one of the most unnatural and dangerous movements that you can do!

Straight bar Bench Pressing along with behind the neck pressing should not be done by most trainees.

I’ve been having shoulder problems too.

I found three excercises for the shoulder in excercise list under FAQ of this magazine. It is labled Shoulder Excercises or search it?

I found them helpul.