Hst With Shoulder Pain

[Jim]

i'm beginning a second round of HST this coming monday, i was pleased with the results i got from the last round, put on a couple pounds and feel really solid- haven't managed that with any other workouts in such a short period of time. in particular my arms feel pumped, but i'd like to pump up my traps and upper back area too while i wait for my shoulder to get better.
i have a supraspinatus issue, so pushing exercises can be difficult. benching and overhead pressing isn't in the cards, but pushups and unweighted dips don't seem to hurt.

my last round went:
-squat
-deadlift
-pushup (2 sets of 45+ each set. basically max every set, every workout)
-weighted pullup (increasing by a couple pounds each week. nearly max for each set, every workout)
-seated row
-barbell shrugs
-upright row
-unweighted dips (max each set, each workout. managed to increase by one or so every workout)
-lateral raise (no more than 12 pounds, would just do high reps)
-rear delt fly (was able to go up in weight with these, didn’t hurt)
-dumbell curls
-tricep extension
-hammer curls
-skull crushers

my new round, which i'd appreciate input on, tentatively goes:
-pushups (same as above?)
-weighted pullups (same as above?)
-bent over rows
-squats
-unweighted dips
-lateral raise
-rear delt fly
-curls
-tricep extension
-shrugs

Maybe incorporate face pulls or remove the low weight lat raise/rear delt flys for upright rows? Any other ideas for chest work that won’t hurt the shoulder?

Thanks!

 

[Old and Grey]

I am glad you got rid of the upright rows. There are a major source of shoulder problems. Do not put them back in.

I would trade the lateral raise for face pulls with a rope and while seated on the floor or mat using the low pulley row as they really help with shoulder rehab. Additionally, they may negate the need for rear delt flyes and shrugs although I personally would keep the shrugs in. If you can, perform the pushups, pullups and shrugs with a neutral grip. i.e., palms facing each other, to put less strain on the wrist and shoulders. You might also consider internal and external shoulder rotations with rubber exercise bands to rehab your shoulder. These exercises totally eliminated my rotator cuff problems. The bands should be done every day.

Triceps extensions are pretty worthless as you cannot use much weight. Close grip bench presses are better or even tricep pushdowns. In reality, your dips will be great for your triceps anyway.

If you cannot barbell bench press, perhaps try dumbell flyes as an add-on for chest or neutral grip dumbell bench presses. BTW, one of my weekly 4 workouts calls for just pushups for chest. Maxing out then doing a few extra sets of 10 reps after 30 second pauses is great for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Good luck.

 

[Jim]

Thank you so much for the advice! I've redone my workout to incorporate all of your suggestions, especially the shoulder rotation warm up, they all make perfect sense.

for a long time i was doing hang cleans with fairly heavy weight, loved the movement. that's a similar movement to an upright row, just an explosive version of it. i wonder if that was the cause of my supraspinatus impingement? they said overtraining caused it and i'm not exactly young, over 40.

I'm going to love to hate the pushup max + 10 reps every 30 seconds, sounds like a great burn. I'll try the dumbbell work, maybe with elbows a bit closer in wouldn't be painful.

Again, thanks for the help.

 

[Jester]

Rack Pulls are the best exercise for traps and upper back in my opinion. Simply can't be matched.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for all of the input! Bent over rows + face pulls + shrugs + rack pulls seems like a lot of attention in the upper back/trap area. With the HST principle of “compounds should comprise the bulk of your routine” in mind (thanks, e-book), I assume should eliminate the shrugs, but are the remaining three exercises still too much? Maybe scale down the number of sets for one of the exercises to a single instead of two sets each?

This has been hugely helpful, thanks again.

 

[Old and Grey]

Based on your original post whereby you indicated 2 sets only for push ups, I assumed everything else was 1 set.

 

[Renky]

I built up a lot of size with just a basic set of dumbbells... As I increased in my lifts, I would buy more weight plates. I found that dumbbells gave me flexibility with performing certain movements like shoulder press and bench press etc. I had pretty good size gain with doing tricep kickbacks too. I since upgraded my gym at home and now focus more on the triceps push downs and some close grip bench press (although the push downs work my triceps the best).

Speaking from experience, shoulder pain/injuries can be a real pain (literally) and I have found that you have to be flexible in your workout style to avoid aggravation.