rotator cuff

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(naiveguy @ Nov. 09 2008,1:30)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I think whatever I did was quite minor, because I don't feel any discomfort in my shoulder at all now</div>
You might be overdoing it with a 12 lay off then. In my situation, it hurt whenever I raised my arm laterally, and it hurt to bench and shoulder press even light weight. Anyway, you should be able to make your own judgement call now.
 
I would think a good all-in-one exercise, if you can do it, is the muscle snatch. It should provide all the movements necessary to strengthen what needs strengthened. Of course those with severe issues may find it impossible to do it because they lack the ability to use proper form. It would robably be a good maintenance exercise for shoulder health though.
 
I have played with the muscle snatch--I even had a session with a trainer who showed me the elements of the snatch and the clean and jerk. I haven't done the muscle snatch regularly though; maybe I'll give it a try. I have been doing light overhead squats with an empty 45-pound bar as a warm up for all my workouts, sometimes with a bit more weight on it.
 
Make sure you put your shoulders in your ears or you will hurt your rotator cuff... er wait.
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Make sure you put your shoulders in your ears or you will hurt your rotator cuff... er wait.
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Murphy's Law must apply to weight training, too: If an exercise can be done wrong, it will (especially by me).

My shoulder horn arrived yesterday; I'm planning to resume training next week.
 
Skip the snatch. You're asking for trouble.

I agree with Steve. If it's feeling better, a 12 week layoff may be overboard. Give it 2 weeks rest and then ease your way back into it a little at a time... hmm sounds a lot like strategic deconditioning and then progessive load, right?
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">sounds a lot like strategic deconditioning and then progessive load, right?
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Now where I have I heard that before?
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I think I have more or less the same problem to my left shoulder. I'll explain briefly my shoulder history over the last year. Starting october 2007,I begun feeling pain to my left shoulder during incline bench press and later during overhead presses.  I had problems also with chins and rows: I could only perform these exercises with reverse grip. I felt pain also when I was not training (I could move my arm, but in movement like presses and front raises I felt some pain). The only movement I could do without pain was dips. From december 2007 till now I've only done dips for my pecs. The shoulder is better now (I can do chins and rows with &quot;normal&quot; grip) , and this summer I did two weeks of pushups without any pain during and after. Unfortunately in August I tried 2 sets of heavy dbb bench press, with proper warmup: no pain during, but a lot after the exercise. Currently I still feel a light pain in my shoulder after pecs; I can do any kind of chins and rows, dips and lateral raises but no bench press or overhead press. I read this thread and I wanted to give a try to Steve's suggestion: 9 days of SD, and yesterday I tried 3 sets of pushup. No pain during the exercise, but after six hours I began feeling some pain.
I'm a little confused. I hope I was clear when I explained my problems.

What should I do ?

Thank you

Andrea
 
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(mantica @ Nov. 18 2008,3:05)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I think I have more or less the same problem to my left shoulder.
...

What should I do ?</div>
Go see a doctor. Shoulders are too important to fool with, especially if you've had long term pain.
 
Well, did my first workout today after two weeks of sd, during which my only exercise was a daily walk:


squats 15 reps with 190
pulldown, palms parallel, 15 reps, 140
elevated pushups. feet on chair, about 24 inches off the floor: three sets: 26 reps, 10 reps, 5 reps
shoulderhorn 15 reps with 2.5 pounds in each hand
abs
captain of crush gripper

No problems so far; no shoulder soreness at all.
Had to cancel my appointment with a sports medicine shoulder specialist because of car problems, but I've rescheduled for Dec. 3.

Wednesday I'll be repeating the same workout, substituting deads for squats.
 
Here is a way to find out exactly which muscle of the rotator cuff is bothering you.

Here a wiki article for reference and pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraspinatus_muscle

1. Take a tennis ball or some other hard rounded object and place it above the spine of the scapula and against a wall. Roll it horizontally across the entire width of the scapula. This is a relatively small area. Take a look at the picture. If you have pain in this area it is the Supraspinatis.

2. Place the object below the spine of the scapula and do that same as in 1. This is a relatively large area. If you have pain in this area it is the infraspinatis.

3. In the same positioning as 2 roll to the outer edge/off of the scapula. If you have pain here it is either the Teres minor/major or perhaps the long head of the tricep.

4. Bring your arm with the hurt shoulder across the front of your body such that the scapula shifts to the outside of your body and the underside can be accessed with your fingers/knuckles. Probe the area under the scapula for tender spots. If you have pain here it is the subscapularis.

There are also resistance movements which help diagnose/comfirm the palpations above, but I cant think of the them all off the top of my head. However the one for the infraspinatis is checked by placing your arm in front of you with you elbow at 90 degrees making your forearm cross your body horizontally. Grasp your hand and attempt to rotate externally such that your forearm becomes vertical in front of your body without displacing the elbow. Pain with this movement points to as infraspinatis issue.

By doing the palpations above you have learned how to massage your rotator cuff and assist in recuperation.
 
Finally saw my doctor a couple of days ago, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine. He approved the workout plan I'm following (above). But he said he wasn't a big fan of overhead presses and lat pulldowns. He also recommended doing bench presses while lying on the floor. Because my injury seems to have been quite minor--it only hurt for a couple of days at the beginning of November--I may ignore the advice cut out overhead presses. My plan now is to follow my existing routine for another three weeks. Then I'll take a week off, and then start my usual HST routine, which looks like this:

A                               B
Squat                        Deads
Bench                       Standing overhead press
Chins                        Bent-over row
Powercleans             Dips

I'm planning to reduce the weights on the press, bench, and dips by 10 pounds from what I was doing before I hurt my shoulder. I'll also do a few sets of elevated pushups and one set of shoulderhorn work at the end of each workout.
 
<div>
(naiveguy @ Dec. 05 2008,6:05)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I may ignore the advice cut out overhead presses.</div>
Your workout plan looks pretty good. Be careful with those overhead presses. They can cause a lot of rotator cuff problems.

If you're going to ignore your doctor's advise, do so slowly and carefully, starting with light weights and being very much aware of any pain in your shoulders.
 
<div>
(bgates1654 @ Nov. 19 2008,10:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Here is a way to find out exactly which muscle of the rotator cuff is bothering you.

Here a wiki article for reference and pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraspinatus_muscle

1. Take a tennis ball or some other hard rounded object and place it above the spine of the scapula and against a wall. Roll it horizontally across the entire width of the scapula. This is a relatively small area. Take a look at the picture. If you have pain in this area it is the Supraspinatis.

2. Place the object below the spine of the scapula and do that same as in 1. This is a relatively large area. If you have pain in this area it is the infraspinatis.

3. In the same positioning as 2 roll to the outer edge/off of the scapula. If you have pain here it is either the Teres minor/major or perhaps the long head of the tricep.

4. Bring your arm with the hurt shoulder across the front of your body such that the scapula shifts to the outside of your body and the underside can be accessed with your fingers/knuckles. Probe the area under the scapula for tender spots. If you have pain here it is the subscapularis.

There are also resistance movements which help diagnose/comfirm the palpations above, but I cant think of the them all off the top of my head. However the one for the infraspinatis is checked by placing your arm in front of you with you elbow at 90 degrees making your forearm cross your body horizontally. Grasp your hand and attempt to rotate externally such that your forearm becomes vertical in front of your body without displacing the elbow. Pain with this movement points to as infraspinatis issue.

By doing the palpations above you have learned how to massage your rotator cuff and assist in recuperation.</div>
The link you provided does not include the text you have written. Is that yours or have you taken it from somewhere? I seem to be plagued by shoulder problems recently and would really like to find out exactly where my imbalance is. Cheers.
 
My right shoulder is so weak from non use (tendonitis) that I'm having difficulty doing elevated pushups. Is there a way to make them easier? Even regular pushups are a strain and I believe that knee pushups mimic an incline press which is a step in the wrong direction. Would I be correct in assuming that if the resistance is weak enough it would be ok to do knee pushups? What about 1 arm pushups standing with your hand against the wall?

Thanks,

Barry
 
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