Hurt Shoulder Workaround?

Hi everyone,

I am currently following the full body routine from the beyond book and am enjoying it. However, I hurt my shoulder probably about 2 months ago. It was not so hurt that I couldn’t lift, I just have pain when doing pressing movements. So I figured I’d just work through it and it would eventually get better.

However, it has not gotten any better. I figure that at this point, I better change something up before it gets worse or turns into a real injury. My question is: would it be better to cut out all pressing until I heal and just focus on building a strong pull or still press, but just use very light weights with high reps? Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks.

First off, get better. Nothing else matters.

Do what doesn’t hurt. If that means no pressing, then no pressing. Afraid to loose strength or a PR? Who cares, getting better is goal #1.

We can give you alternatives (floor press, incline, decline, rings, etc) but no one here can tell you what to actually do. Your body will though.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply.

[quote]BillM wrote:
Hi everyone,

I am currently following the full body routine from the beyond book and am enjoying it. However, I hurt my shoulder probably about 2 months ago. It was not so hurt that I couldn’t lift, I just have pain when doing pressing movements. So I figured I’d just work through it and it would eventually get better.

However, it has not gotten any better. I figure that at this point, I better change something up before it gets worse or turns into a real injury. My question is: would it be better to cut out all pressing until I heal and just focus on building a strong pull or still press, but just use very light weights with high reps? Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]

Whether or not you should press is going to be determined by the injury and the diagnosis of the injury. It would be better to consult a doctor than the advise on the Internet: do yourself a favor and treat your body as you would a priceless investment.

Thanks Jim.

have you tried mobility or tissue work? I have a long history of shoulder/elbow problems and surgeries. Having chronic and serious issues sucks, so I’m definitely over cautious. Two examples:

My left shoulder started to go to shit late last year. I gave up on everything that irritated it, which left me with very few options. Just weighted ring push-up and some rows. Got a few massages and did some band and DB traction. That helped a little and was able to add swiss bar overhead press. I was lying on floor one day and just started working it through the range of motion and rolling around on it. Hurt like hell but felt better the next day. Did some snow angles on the floor a couple times a day for a week. Good as new. 9 month of no pressing because I had some simple impingement or lesion that was fixed with snow angels.

Now having some issues with an elbow that has cost me even more $ in the past. Having learned a really simple lesson the hard way, make a message appt and had her focus on lower and upper arms, which they never do normally. Tons of tissue issues on my forearms and biceps that I had no idea existed. She sucked, but I’ll be going to back to someone else to really work them over before giving up pressing again.

Get a message or two from someone that knows what they’re doing and will really work it over. Try traction and different mobility exercises. reassess and have someone check it out if necessary.