T Nation

Working Through Shoulder Injuries

#1

Well, 18 years of lifting and my age finally caught up to me. I have sever shoulder pain now with all bench press type lifts. Looks liek it's break time from those lifts.

It's going to be a tough few weeks. Any suggestions on how to keep motivated? I'm trying to do other lifts, but I need to take it easy on the shoulder. Any alternative lifts that don't put too much strain on the shoulder?

#2

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#3

Thanks man, I can see this being fairly productive.

http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=280rotator2

I will try it tonight to see if I can do it without pain.

#4

Sounds to me like you may need to go see an orthopedic surgeon. I had the same thing w/ all pressing movements and found out I had an impingement in my A/C joint. I had the surgery to fix it and I couldn't be happier. My bench has increased as well as my squat w/ my new fresh clean A/C joint. To counteract the shoulder pain you can do face pulls and rows after pressing movements to build the rear delts.

#5

Does your pain occur during/after workouts or is it chronic?

Same thing- I got an impingement of the ACH and it hurts like hell sometimes. I was told to strengthen my rotator cuff and the problem should subside. You should also look into anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen and fish/flaxseed oil.

#6

External rotations my man. Why have surgery when you can just correct the imbalance?

Cuban rotations are good too.

#7

I second the external rotations. I've started using them and my shoulder feels better & tighter than it has in a long time. I even flat benched yesterday for the first time in months.

#8

I'm going to get an ultrasound next week, definitely sounds like the same thing you guys experienced. I'm laying off any heavy shoulder work for a while. I hope I don't need surgery, that would suck, first shoulder, next thing I know I'm going in for a hip replacement. Age has finally caught up to me.