Ever since my car accidentI back in Feb my right shoulder hasn't been 100%. At first it was just a bit achey and I took took a week off the gym. I then went back to the gym and wasn't working near my max and just trying to get some blood through the muscles with horizontal pressing and after one try (and finding it very uncomfortable), I totally avoided vertical pressing.

The shoulder has been a bit up a down since then, but more recently it's started to feel uncomfortable whilst doing any chest work, even though I'm not going heavy.

I have had some physio and that has been really good with sorting out the trap/upper back pain and the physio reckons the shoulder issue is linked to the trap/upper back pain through some kind of nerve, but I'm not so sure. I think the shoulder feels more like a joint issue. Now, I've never had any form of shoulder injury previously, so I don't really have a clue what to do?

Could somebody please advise me what would be the best course of action to take?

- Is there any sort of scan that should help reveal the problem? If so, what scan and how would I go about getting one?

- Should I train around it? If so, what would you say is best?

If I remember this was a on fault accident so you should be speaking with the Third Party Insurers about rehabilitation. If you have legal expenses cover, you could also contact them as well.

simon m wrote:If I remember this was a on fault accident so you should be speaking with the Third Party Insurers about rehabilitation. If you have legal expenses cover, you could also contact them as well.

Yeah, non-fault accident. I've got a solicitor dealing with my personal injury claim and that's who arranged my physio. I've got one more session left. I've also attended the medical already, but tbh, the doctor was a bit of an ass. Asked me about how I'm feeling, just about, but tbh, was a bit dismissive and seemed like a bit of a paper-pusher. He said 'so it's been just over 3 months now and it seems to be getting better, so let's say you'll be fully recovered in 4 months.'

You reckon I should contact my solicitor and they might be able to help me out regarding getting a scan of some kind?

Yes, contact the solicitor.

I'm surprised you're having a problem, but could be a weakness that you were unaware of

I don't think it's a weakness I'm unaware of. I started off training mainly chest (as you do lol) and became quite strong on it (for my weight and age). At around 19 my PB was 100kg x 5 (without failing) at around 11st 7lbs. I know it's nothing special but I think it shows I have no weakness in that area, it's probably a strength tbh.

I've also been told that my bench form is one of the best some people have seen, so no issues there. Through periods of illness and inconsistency, my strength has not been at that level but before my accident, I was progressing with no issues/pain. Since the accident, I've tried to take it easy but slowly push the weights back up, however, it is causing me some issues. So, IMO, it's probably a combo of the accident weakening the shoulder and the weights not helping.

On another note though, I've been trying to work out how my shoulder got affect by the impact as I got hit on the passenger side and I've been replaying the incident in my head and the only thing I can think of is, I was knocked off course and in the direction of a bollard, so I hard to steer pretty quickly to the left, so that may have tweaked the shoulder?

Are you doing any rotor cuff exercises, could be that simple

I would deffo use rotator cuff exercises to help build up balanced shoulder stabilisers - they can be a bit tedious to do but help no end to strengthen the shoulder joint.

How are you for flat and incline flyes and movements like that?

How about doing a few supersets of scapular pushups and facepulls every time you're at the gym. Nothing heavy, just prehab.
You could also invest in a light resistance band and do band pullaparts during the day. Alot of coaches swear by them for shoulder health.

Cheers for the advice guys. Any links to particular rotator cuff exercises that are good? I can find loads on youtube but can't work out which ones are worth doing?

I used to be okay with fly movements, but recently it has started to feel funny on the right side (only side giving me grief). Also, if I circle my arm, the shoulder clicks.

Y-T-W for me if I have any issues.



Served me well through a Rugby season.

^^ These are very good and worth doing before any session where you've got pressing movements included.

Stop benching. Seriously. It's not good for your shoulders, plain and simple. Sure people with healthy shoulders can do it, but for people with any kind of shoulder/scap/thoracic issues, it will only make the problem worse.

I'd go as far to say, unless your a powerlifter, do OH pressing (once adequate mobility is achieved), pushups (especially with rings) and then maybe DB bench variations.

Work on your thoracic and scapula mobility. Hammer your lower traps and external rotators. Improve internal rotation.

http://www.youtube.com/user/sanfranciscocrossfit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This guy is really good. Search thoracic and scapula in his channel. Specific strengthening exercises are good, but combine with the right mobilization work and you'll be healthy in no time.

I've never had any issues previously with benching and tbh, I feel it in the shoulder more on incline DB press than flat bench. I will look into this guy though, so cheers.

The Y-T-W's, what kind of weight would you recommend?

I used 10kg DBs - but it doesn't matter. The idea is to mobilise the joint and get some fluid in there.

Okay chees. Sounds a bit heavy, I think I'll start with something like 4kg, preferably the pink ones.

Also, had my final physio session today. Made me doubt his credibility a bit if I'm honest. Showed me a cable internal rotation with his right hand and then, facing the same way, done it with the left hand (external rotation) as if it were the same movement...

lol, I started RC exercises with 2.5kg db's and did higher reps - and even found that low weight pumped up the muscles. Now when i do RC exercises I use a 7.5kg and concentrate more on form and speed of rep than weight. Am not progressive any more with these exercises, just using them to keep the area 'conditioned'. When doing them, usually train them three times per week along with either chest, back, or shoulders.

An interesting observation I've found is that when doing RC exercises I normally get a little burst of a strength increase with chest and back exercises shortly afterwards - definitely good to include direct work for them I think whether rehabbing a specific injury or looking at pevention.

I've tried the Y-T-Ws the last few sessions and I really do find they loosen up the shoulder girdle nicely. Gonna stick with them, probably doing them twice a week.