Background: Was doing dips 3 weeks ago, felt a sudden sharp pain in my right anterior deltoid as I went up in the second set. Tried to push through it, didn’t get better so I avoided any exercises that hurt for the rest of the day.
2 weeks go by, not much pain just a little discomfort so I assume everything is normal - Wednesday I was doing flat bench and the muscle was killing me, but I figured I could work through it. Went to standing widegrip barbell curls and it was too much pain, had to stop.
Question: Went to the corpsman today and he said I’ve sprained the muscle but didn’t tear it. He’s ordered me not to do ANY upper body workouts for at least 3 weeks, no matter how good it feels. He says I can’t even do squats. So I have two questions:
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Does anyone feel like the corpsman is being overly cautious as I do? I just wanted to check with him that I wasn’t doing irreparable damage, but if I can work through this and it will eventually go away, I can put up with the pain. But I also don’t want to hurt myself so badly that I’m out for a couple months…
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If all I will be doing for close to a month is lower body/abs/cardio, should I stop the protein/creatine/BCAAs? Right now I’m taking one Myoplex Original shake each day, 2 x 1.5 tsp of creatine, and was just about to start taking the BCAAs, but haven’t yet begun.
Any advice would be appreciated, if I need to clarify anything ask away. Thanks for your time.
Lay off it. There’s a hell of a lot you can still do. Legs, core, the other arm with dumbbells and pulleys. Heal, get over it and go on with your life. If you try working through it you will very likely have a chronic condition that can last for years and years. I’m speaking from experience.
You won’t lose much in that arm even if you rest it as long as 6 weeks. I’d say take the 3 weeks off then start physical therapy type exercises for that shoulder for the next 3 weeks before working slowly back into strength and power type movements. Go ahead and keep up with your diet and supplementation.
[quote]avaleriu wrote:
Tried to push through it[/quote]
First mistake…
[quote]avaleriu wrote:
I figured I could work through it[/quote]
Second mistake…
[quote]avaleriu wrote:
if I can work through this and it will eventually go away, I can put up with the pain.[/quote]
You didn’t do a very good job at diagnosing yourself the first two times…I think you should quit b4 you make it worse.
Most people are right-hand dominant, IF that is the case with you, and IF your left side is lagging in size/strength, you can use the time to bring up your non-dominant side, PROVIDED, NONE of the exercises worsen your condition, i.e., if it hurts, don’t do it. For legs, etc., try leg press/any alternative exercise that doesn’t cause you pain in the injured shoulder.
When your activity levels drop, you’ll want to slightly cut back on your total caloric intake, maybe, start with 250cal. per day, and see how it goes. On the other hand, you could increase your cardio work. Just go by your energy expenditure, and play it by ear…
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I like to err on the side of caution but 3 weeks seems a little long for a sprain. Personally I like 2, however I go doubling the amount of time it takes until I don’t feel anything. So if after 1 week you feel no pain, 1 week later you can resume your exercises. You won’t build much muscle hurt anyway.
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You won’t shrink completely in 3 weeks, you’ll just lose about 75lbs of muscle aproximately 3.5lbs a day according to the American College of Scaredtotakeabreakology.
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Nutrients depends on your goals and where you are now, and what you will be doing. Creatine it might be a good time to stop taking it, and start your cycle back when you start doing upper body. Protein, from this site it seems theres never a reason to stop. BCAA’s and protein your body will probably need them to heal anyway.
You never stated why you think you sprained your deltoid. I hope you find that out so you don’t repeat the performance, I understand its impressive but dipping with bodyweight between your legs completely leaning forward is not always best for your shoulders.