Getting injuries at low weight

[plumpie]

So last cycle (in which I gained 3 kgs on 3000 kcals) I had to stop doing bench press, because some area around my shoulder started hurting, even though I hold my arms at a 45 degree angle relative to my body and my scapula are fully retracted and down.
After taking a 15-days break, and a 4 weeks break from bench press, I'm now halfway in the 15-weeks and my triceps tendons started hurting benching just 25 kgs, even though I've benched 45 kgs for 5's a few months ago. The place where my deltoids are attached to my humerus (about halfway) also hurt sometimes when doing rows (doing 35 kgs * 15 when last cycle, I was maxing with 40 kgs.)
So now I'm doing: assisted pullups (-40 kgs), rows, and squats (30 kgs including the bar), all 2x15, but I think I'll have to stop doing rows becauseof the mentioned issue with the deltoid-humerus attachemnt. Moreover, after doing just 1 set of squats my heart beats at like 180 BPM and I have to step the second set at 5 reps because my cardiovascular system just can't handle more reps.

I'm eating 3200 cals a day with 90 grams of protein, and my weight hasn't moved for 2 weeks either. I'm getting injuries all over the place, and getting tired doing squats 5 kgs below the weight that I used for 3 sets of 15 reps.
Attached is my weight, I was aiming at adding 2-3kgs/month. I'm 184 cm btw so gaining muscle shouldn't be that hard.
What am I doing wrong, and what should I do now?

 

[Jester]

I kinda want to say 'go see your GP' about the heart beat. Re: niggling injuries - try doing either Incline Press or Dips instead of the flat bench and see where that lands you.

 

[Totentanz]

Well first you have to determine if the pain you are experiencing is real pain or just you being a pansy. You want to be sure about this. If it is you being a pansy and you go to the dr, you will be wasting money. Whereas if it is real pain and you attempt to work through it, you can become injured.

Just fyi... light weight does not mean no risk of injury. Every muscle or tendon injury I have experienced with the exception of one was due to an injury during day to day activities or during sleeping. Only once was I injured while lifting.

 

[Jester]

I also want to add that the 15s after a proper SD (which it seems you did, a day past two weeks) are going to feel *brutal* if you have a full program.

 

[grunt11]

If you haven’t already try switching to neutral/parallel grip (palms facing each other for both your pushing and pulling compound exercises for a while. I find that a neutral grip puts less stress on the tendons of my arms and on my shoulders. Using that grip I was able to work through both forearm tendonitis and a shoulder impingement. Also using dumbbells can sometimes help since they don’t lock your arms in a specific position allowing them to move more naturally.

As for the squats anything to enhance your general physical preparedness like interval training, circuit training or high rep squats will help. Thankfully high rep squats don’t fit my needs right now but when I have done them I always kept a bucket handy just in case I puked even when I was in great cardio shape. So here you might just have to suck it up.

Another thing to consider is your breathing. If your heart rate doesn’t go that high when doing intense cardio then you are probably running low on oxygen because of holding your breath during each rep. You might want to try Pause Squats taking a couple deep breaths between each rep. If your heart rate does go that high when doing cardio then definitely go see a doctor.

Also I would bump your protein intake up to around 160-170 grams/day if you can afford it.

 

[plumpie]

Thanks a lot for your thoughts. The 15's are very heavy indeed, so I'll be making it into 4 weeks of 15's ramping up from just the bar. I'm starting again in 2 weeks (I hope), with the elbow work from the FAQ and after doing rope skipping 5 minutes a day for more endurance doing squats. Next week I'll also make an appointment with my doctor to talk about the deltoid issue, which I very much believe is real unfortunately.
I'm not sure whether I'm really running out of oxygen, or if there's too much lactic acid in my bloodstream, but I'm breathing really deep and hard so enough oxygen should be provided.
I'm already using a neutral grip for pullups and rows, but not for bench press. I'll try doing a cycle with only dumbbell bench press.