Starting Over, Fat, Out of Shape and Feeling Old

[quote]MonroeDavis wrote:
Thanks for the welcome all. I do have a problem I could use some advice on. Bench Press. I just cannot seem to do it without killing my shoulders, regardless of the weight amount. Tried every grip from wide to narrow elbows out elbows in. I just saw a video of a reverse grip was thinking about trying that this week. But in the mean time I only use dumbbells for chest, as the pain it causes my shoulders is way way less.

Any thoughts?[/quote]

From one long time rehaber to another, welcome.

I totally had my left shoulder reconstructed years ago. Rehab was a bitch as I started out with mobility/range of motion excersises and progressed up to pressing a freakin broom handle in as little as two months. Took another month to get a bar up and down for reps. You get the idea, slow and painful. Like you, I had trouble with pressing a bar so I switched to DB’s and using Hammer Strength machines. No pain, no pain. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Can you do a push up without pain?

Look up shoulder dislocates and do them ALOT.

When we exercise for rehab/get in shape/ get back in shape we tend to go back to what we did right before we quit. Thats not good at all. Your routine as you have it layed out is an advanced routine were you decimate the muscle and let it recover over a week.
You would be better off doing a full-body routine 3xweek for about 12 weeks to start and then adjust accordingly.

You can try this:

day 1
Warmups/mobility

sqauts 3x5
bent over row 3x8
bench variation 3x5
lat pulldown/chin up 3x8
military press 3x8
ab work

day 2
warmup/mobility

leg extensions 3x15
leg curl 3x15
chest flys 3x15
1 arm row 3x15
dbell laterals 3x15
ab work

day 3
warmup/mobility

deadlift 3x5
bench variation 4x10
seated row 4x10
barbell curls 3x10
tricep pushdowns 3x15
ab work

Do 30 minutes of fast walking after workouts add 1 more day on the weekend.
Try progressing week to week on your lifts.

Warmups on the big exercises as needed befor you get to your working weight.

Hope this helps

Rick

Thats a good point Fischer, never really thought about that to be honest with you. Pushups are painful at this point, don’t know if its because of my weight, or just because of the shoulder. Get some snapping, and sharp pains when I do them correctly. going to give the above article a try though, and hope for the best.

been busier than hell this week. update is down 3lbs for the week and feeling good. thanks for all the tips everyone

7-1 Long time since I updated but… I have been keeping at it 5 days a week. Push ups are cake now, body is feeling great! Been taking a little bit of all the above advice and switching things up from week to week. Just wanted to say thanks again, will post a updated pic soon.

Only real problem Ive had lately is I put my neck out twice, once doing shrugs, and once doing deadlifts made for a couple of real painful weeks. Seems to be healed and I’m doing way lower weight with higher reps on the shrugs, and gave up deadlifts all together. At least for now.

x2 what brett said about how you look. i get what you mean though about feeling decrepit and getting to the point where you decide to do something about it. mobility stuff is tough. need to do a lot of it myself trying to rehab old injuries to get good motor programs.

glad to hear the push-ups are feeling good. i was going to suggest them, but wasn’t too sure… there are progressions like one armed push-ups and pylo push-ups and clapping push-ups and stuff. not sure that that kind of thing can replace bench, though. dunno.

do you have shoulder problems with overhead pressing / pulling too? or with rowing? i’m just starting to learn about shoulder stuff because mine have just started to feel a little clicky / crunchy / unstable. wonder if there is a way to pinpoint what is going on with it depending on what movements hurt you so you get some dinky little exercise to do that eventually can fix things up…

sorry to hear about your neck. keep on truckin…


Well so far the main shoulder problems I’m having is with the one I have bursitis in. It fatigues so fast during chest, shoulder, and tricep exercises. I just rest longer and push through it but sometimes the ache is just crazy. Weird thing is if I grab something above my head, and pull slightly the pain literally goes away. So not sure what’s up with that.
Here is a recent pic from a wedding a couple weeks ago.

I promise I was just opening the whiskey for the groom next to me. Anyway I don’t know how well the pic shows it but Ive lost Inches and have toned up more than I have expected for the length of time.

good for you dude, all your injuries remind me of a lot of stuff jim wendler talks about and i would highly suggest 5/3/1, it allows for a lot of variety yet still focuses heavily on the core lifts, so those can get stronger while reaching hypertrophy, conditioning, strength. and/or flexibility gains. he also advocates for using sleds and running hills, both of which have made me feel much more athletic and naturally healthier, i also do plyometrics once a week which i highly suggest, just some ideas , best of luck boss