rotator cuff again

[ZGzaZ]

I did my benching today, upping it 5lbs, and even during my 135lb warmups, my rotator cuff was killing me... I know Louden would agree, but are there others that would say stick to incline as my primary chest exercise?? only thing i worry about is, the incline barbell seems to have much more of a delt recruitment, and i'd like to hit the chest as hard as possible.

 

[Fatty4You]

About two years ago, i got shoulder pains from flat dumbbell press. And i have gotten pain from incline dumbbell, but in general, i have never had shoulder pain when doing barbell work.

How is your back strength? Pain could be due to imbalances in chest/back.

-Fatty

 

[ZGzaZ]

its specifically only the left rotator, not the whole shoulder..and my back strength is my higher than my chest strength.

 

[FatRat]

You are not going to want to hear this advice (I know I didn’t), but I’ll give it anyway then its up to you. If it is definitely rotator cuff:

1) Take two or three weeks off from any exercise which seems to hurt you rotator cuff (or even those that don’t but might be placing it under stress). This will give it a chance to recover and any inflammation to subside.

2) After this, start back with some specific rotator cuff strengthening movements for a couple more weeks.

3) After this, go back to the bench, incline etc. staring off light, and slowly building up to your previous weights.

I know it sucks taking time out, but your strength will come back quicker than you think, and this way you should get your cuff fixed rather than dragging it out and still having discomfort this time in 6 months…

 

[PolishHammer1977]

Are you working your rotators cuffs in your workout as well?
How often during a week to do perform the exercises?

 

[guldukat]

Well, your concern about the incline press nailing your front delt just as hard (or harder) than your chest isn't all bad, of course...most of us probably have somewhat overdeveloped front delts in relation to our medial and posterior heads, but hey--the strength is always nice

I do think you have somewhat of a point, though. In my experience, the incline press hits the anterior delts harder than almost anything else, with the possible exclusion of DB presses. It's pretty simple: it's a less "powerful" movement than a military press, but you're going to be using a hell of a lot more weight, and that'll be more pronounced as one approaches the crazy poundage land of 400+ lbs. inclines.

More weight has the potential of yielding more growth in the delts. ****But**** I think it's a bit short-sighted to say, "Well, if it hits the shoulders that hard, it must be at the expense of the pecs."

In logic, that's the fallacy of false dichotomy--that is, an artifical "either, or" scenario. In fact, because of the increased delt involvement, you could hit your pecs even harder than in a bench press, in spite of the fact that it's lesser weight (but it does involve a much greater range of motion, so that's offset somewhat).

Does that sound conflicting? It is because I haven't made my mind up about the whole thing, either I think your solution should be to try low-incline presses, say around 30-35 degrees.
That should be kinder to your rotators than flat presses, and it'll definitely still recruit your pecs like all get out. So you strike a kind of compromise.

 

[Goldberg]

Z,

I have my shoulder surgery (scoping) scheduled for March 11th. Cant wait now, since I have been going through this since about last June. And, this is the second time this has acted up.

I got a cortezone shot in October, then again in December, along with some therapy and ice, etc.....still the same. So, my Orthopedic Surgeon and I agreed that to go in and "clean it up" is probably the best and only option if I want to get back to a regular training regimen. And, like others, I get so pissed off if I cant go "full throttle" in the gym.

I have a spur in there which causes major pain and discomfort in my right shoulder. I should only have to wait about 4 wks to go back to doing upper body. Even though that totally sucks, since I never quit training for longer than 2 wks at a time, but the tradeoff for no more pain in the rotator is far greater!

good luck bro,

G

 

[argent]

I jacked my RC about a year and a half ago. Since then I warm it up with int. and ext. rotation before every chest workout. No upright rowns, no flies of any kind, no behind the neck. I also moved my bench grip in and keep my elbows tucked. (Knock on wood) I haven't had any real problems since making these changes.

 

[killa in manila]

i screwed up my shoulder about 3 monts ago and it's slowly getting better,when i do barbel curls my front delt kills me
and when i do flat bench as well even when i warm up,but o n incline i can press 250lbs (4 sets of 6-7) and my shoulder is fine ,why?

 

[wateengedoe2]

You are not going to want to hear this advice (I know I didn’t), but I’ll give it anyway then its up to you. If it is definitely rotator cuff:

1) Take two or three weeks off from any exercise which seems to hurt you rotator cuff (or even those that don’t but might be placing it under stress). This will give it a chance to recover and any inflammation to subside.

2) After this, start back with some specific rotator cuff strengthening movements for a couple more weeks.

3) After this, go back to the bench, incline etc. staring off light, and slowly building up to your previous weights.

I know it sucks taking time out, but your strength will come back quicker than you think, and this way you should get your cuff fixed rather than dragging it out and still having discomfort this time in 6 months…

This is some very good advice! A very experienced guy told me lately he would advise people to do rotator cuff excercises while doing only flyes (no benches) and stretching chest really well for a week or 3, 4 and they would never do it, UNLESS he told them, their bench would go up 10 kg or so (after getting back to the previous weight which doesn't take long). LOL, and he was right, when they tried they really did get stronger in the bench. Not only back and chest strength need to be in good balance, but also external and internal strength. Most people (incl. me...) have got too much internal strength (or rather: not enough external strength ). Ideal int. to ext. strength ratio should be 3:2, I have 3:1 and while I do not have problems while benching (yet?), I do have sloped shoulders. I just started out yesterday doing a new routine to fix this. Try this advise (it's meant to be able to build bigger biceps, but will do much good to your posture and bench strength too and BTW, don't you want bigger biceps? ).