Injury Prevention & Help.

[Ronin66]

Hi All.
Cant seem to find any threads on injurys so thought I'd start one.
At the moment my Rotator Cuffs in my shoulders are starting to hurt after my workouts.
I'm a bit of a form nazi so I know its not that. I think I might just need to improve there strength too.

The arnold press is supposed to be good for this so I've added it to my workouts.
However I was wondering if anyone had any over advice on this or any other problems that we could possible look into so we can all prevent other common injurys we might come across in the future?

Thanks
Michael

[OptikaNET]

I don't know if we have any physios on the forum. Prevention is usually the best cure but if you are strict about your form then clearly this is not the issue. Have you spoken to your doctor about this?

Kind Regards
Dave

[Ronin66]

Not spoke to the doctor bud. probably will do if it gets any worse just wanted to know if anyone had any
advice on how i could help prevent it becoming a "real" injury as opposed to it been just a bit of pain after
some of my workouts.
I dont really feel it when I go heavy only when I do high reps which isnt that offten.
But it does say the JEFIT app. that the Aronld Press helps to develop & strengthen the rotator cuff

[OptikaNET]

I'm not sure whether it is rotator-cuff or not, but I have problems around the shoulder whenever I do Dumbell Flyes. As I'm moving my arms to full extension I get an uncomfortable feeling around the front of the shoulder which gets worse for the first part of the movement in towards the chest. The discomfort reduces in the second half of the inward movement.

Kind Regards
Dave

[Ronin66]

Sounds like it might be. though it might be just your individual shoulder machanics. try mixing it up with incline and decline versions and try and improve you shoulder flexibility with some mobility streches and if it helps at all? I'd avoid going heavy, I've heard a full blown rotator cuff problem could lead to surgery. let me know if the streches or different vesrions of flys helps at all though please if you give it a go?

[OptikaNET]

Yeah, I have an alternative weekly chest routine. One week I do flat Dumbell Bench Press/Flye supersets followed by (non-supersetted) Incline Dumbell Bench Press and Incline Dumbell Flyes.

The following week, after Cable Crossovers I do Dumbell Decline Bench Press and Dumbell Decline Flyes (not supersetted).

Regardless of the incline/decline the Flyes always hurt my shoulder when I use a heavier working weight, and for this reason I have avoided working with the heaviest possible weight because I don't think my shoulder can take it. I have been slowly working up to a heavier weight for the bench part of the exercise though. This week (decline) I jumped from 16kg to 20kg successfully. I should probably be working with 25kg or heavier, but I'm wary of recent injuries so I'm taking it slow...

Kind Regards
Dave

[chimarrao.mate@gmail.com]

I always keep external rotation exercises in my routine. Even when they are not prescribed and I am on a routine someone else wrote. Many years ago, I had pain there to, for many (6 or so) months. For starters, try to work back and chest together in the same workout. Muscles get tight when they recover and I find that if I work them on different days, the imbalance in the recovery adds stress to my shoulders. I also find that I can lift really heavy if I tripple set chest, back, and rotator cuff external rotation exercises with 90 sec rests between sets. That give you plenty of recovery between sets for heavy lifts, and since you are working the same joins with only 90 seconds rest, you stay warmed up and safe in the joints. Try it out, it helps a lot.

Arnold press is great, but on your first set you'll likely have grinding in the joint if you go too heavy. Make sure to always warm up at a weight were your shoulders do not grind before going heavy, especially if you are already having troubles here.

Last tip, keep you shoulders centered. On presses, don't raise your shoulders and use your delts, keep your shoulders pinned to the bench. Good luck!

[Ronin66]

Thats some pretty sound advice bud thanks.
I'll keep it in mind during my future workouts.

Michael