Shoulder Injury - Please Help

[RoEy]

Hi all,

Been weight lifting for roughly 4 months now and so far I've loved every minute of it. Well, thats until last week.

I was doing the flat bench press 3rd and final set when some guy came upto me and said have you heard of exhaustion sets, I replied I hadn't so he proceeded to help me do it on the bench press. Basically I did another 5 sets going up to max weight then coming down and doing it until I no longer could. Everything seemed fine and I thought what a great workout but when I got home that night I noticed that both of my shoulders were cracking and popping. Didnt think much about it as I had no pain. I continued to train that week and felt fine. On Monday I went back and did chest and triceps so I did the bench press again. This time I noticed my shoulders were pretty sore, especially the left one. I should have stopped then but continued.

Then the guy showed me another exercise for my chest where I had to lay on a bench with my upper back and get a dumbell and put it over my head with both hands, he said this would work my chest. Everytime I went over my head with the dumbell my left shoulder would click. Should have stopped.....but then it popped and felt like it went out then back in.....no pain whatsoever. Since then Ive had a dull ache and stopped going to the gym all together. I get a tingling sensation in my arm now and it pops and cracks quite a lot. It hurts mainly on the side of my arm just before the top of the shoulder, this is my side delts right? where it hurts my arm dips in a bit, almost like there's not the same amount of muscle on my left as there is on my right. I don't know if my arms always been like this or not.

Anyway, I went to the docs and she said she thinks Ive pulled a muscle in my shoulder and I should take 10 takes away from the gym and then when I go back I need to do light shoulder exercise.

Does it sound like Ive torn something or is it just a strain like she says? I'm gutted, I really am. I was progressing so well but I had to push it too much and was easily lead. He was helping me but I blame myself.

Any advice would be great. Sorry my post is all over the place, just feel gutted. Hope Ive blown it out of proportion as I always think the worse.

RoEy

 

[ramnares]

The exercise you're referring to (with upper back on the bench...) is called dumbbell pullovers. It sounds like you've simply overtrained at this point, particularly with the exhaustion sets. I personally wouldn't simply stop working out but I might do some light sets until the shoulder feels fine again. If it starts hurting more then obviously you should stop and let it heal, but if you stop every time something hurts or pops you'd never get to the gym really.

 

[musclemom]

It's a strain, take the advice of the doctor and rest it, you've probably been recommended to take anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen).

I suspect I know which dumbbell exercise your friend introduced you to. It is very hard on the shoulders and frankly, there are better exercises for your chest that are safer. Getting the dumbbell into the right position is unbalanced and the potential for injury is high. You need to be aware of the fact that you've got a slight weakness in your shoulder and keep the idea of balance and control in the back of your mind at all times when you lift.

At 4 months you are still a beginner. You don't need to get fancy, you don't need to do anything but focus on form and building muscle, tendon and ligament strength and most importantly (and I can't emphasize this enough) DON'T work to exhaustion. Pyramiding, drop sets, all that fancy stuff is for when you've been lifting for a while, want to change things up or NEED to change things up either because you've hit plateaus or have gotten bored. While there is a place for working to exhaustion in certain programs, it's not for someone who's only been lifting for 4 months. Find a good, solid program that focuses on compound movements, and stick with that until you stop seeing adequate progress.

 

[RoEy]

Thanks ramnares. I wouldnt normally stop but I've read so many horror stories on the net with regards to shoulder injuries and just don't want to risk making it worse and really putting myself out for a long time.

It doesnt sound like a rotator cuff injury then? When I shrug my left should I get a bit of clicking like its moving. The doc said the popping noise is gas being realeased from the swollen tendons. Someone said I should build my rear delts up more to help stabilise the shoulder. My arm now has a dull ache and is warm but I can move it ok until I put it behind my head.

Thanks again mate,

RoEy

 

[RoEy]

thanks for the info musclemom! The only thing that concerns me now is the fact that the side of my shoulder where I get pain dips in, almost like a dimple. I don't know if I've always had that or not.

When I lift my arms out by my sides my shoulders and upper arms feel the same but then when they're by my side i get the dimple in the left again. Maybe I'm being paranoid. But my right shoulder does look fuller than the left.

I'm right handed by the way.

Thanks again,

RoEy

 

[musclemom]

thanks for the info musclemom! The only thing that concerns me now is the fact that the side of my shoulder where I get pain dips in, almost like a dimple. I don't know if I've always had that or not.

When I lift my arms out by my sides my shoulders and upper arms feel the same but then when they're by my side i get the dimple in the left again. Maybe I'm being paranoid. But my right shoulder does look fuller than the left.

I'm right handed by the way.

Thanks again,

RoEy

Without seeing your arms it's tough to tell but remember our bodies aren't completely symmetric to begin with, and your dominant hand/arm can be slightly larger. Finally, you've probably got swelling (tingling is usually caused by nerve compression). Rest, ice, ibuprofen.

Believe me, if you had torn something, you'd know. If you had done major damage you'd know. You'd be in a world of pain and/or the arm would not work right (limitation of range of motion, weakness, things like that).

One of the other facets of becoming proficient at weight training is you have to get familiar with your body, what works for you, what movements are better for you to avoid, what is good (normal) pain, what is bad pain, what is REALLY bad pain.

 

[RoEy]

Thanks again musclemom. Very wise words and it's made me feel better. I'll let you know how I get on when I go back.

 

[captainahole]

muscle mom is quite right. Take the time to heal. YOu are to early into your training to screw up a body part and it will haunt you forever if you don't give it time.
She is quite right as well. yOu don't need anything fancy with you so early into training.
Good form and training and nutrition will go along way.

 

[RoEy]

hope this is nothing worse. been in a lot of pain today. arm feels very warm and tingly but when I move I can feel shoulder moving slightly within. Sorry for moaning, just hope it gets better and I can train like I used too.

 

[the_alcatraz]

Take time off and try to get some physio