For around 3 years, stemming from a bit of an accident, I’ve had what you could call an iffy shoulder, and while the pain took a long while to subside, it’s started to creep back in now I’ve started training.
Now, I know shoulder injuries are the bane of those who lift, and I also know how serious they can become through ignorance and a failure to acknowledge something is not right. I’m not going to go that route.
I’ve looked into it, and from what I can ascertain, I would say the problem which is clearly deep in my shoulder joint, is a rotator cuff injury. It’s slight, but I’m not taking any chances with it.
For a long time I’ve had slight clicking and grinding in my shoulder, but once it ‘healed’ after a year or so from my accident, it’s not really had any sort of pain, until recently.
Like I say, the pain isn’t too bad, but, it’s certainly there – even when doing something as innocent as lifting a cup of coffee, a small but dull aching pain occurs, and the clicking and grinding has gotten progressively worse, particularly this week.
Maybe the catalyst was when I went bowling late last week. You know how it is, a few friends there, alcohol, all egging each other on to bowl like madmen. It’s fun at the time, but after a few hours I suppose it should be expected that the shoulder is going to take a beating, and the piper will have to be paid. Add to that the fact I’ve been lifting a lot heavier than normal this week, I suppose it’s to be expected.
Either way, the writing is on the wall: I’ve got a slight shoulder problem, and I’ve got to do something to stop it from getting worse, and everything I can to make it better.
Today it was my intention to swerve bench pressing, and instead do some specialist rotator cuff training, you know, just light stuff. But I decided against it. Since the shoulder joint is put under duress every time a weight is picked up, I’ve decided to take the day off from all lifting activity.
Instead, I’m going to take this time to begin performing some rotator cuff stretching exercises, as well as stretching of other body parts. I think as the weight gets heavier, and the potential for injury becomes greater, it’s time to definitely start thinking ahead and doing everything you can to ensure your muscles and tendons are flexible and strong, and there are no weak points. There’s more to it than just lifting.
I think my mistake was, when I first began training, I read that stretching beforehand would take the tension and energy out of the muscles and cause the lifts to suffer… and because of a particularly poor session once, after extensive stretching (maybe overly done), I took this advice to be spot on, and stopped stretching, and simply stuck to my warm up sets. Now, I’m going to go back to stretching. I think it’s the safest bet.
I hate taking time off, especially now. Recently my progress on my arms (which I’m most keen on improving) has seen them come very close to 13” relaxed, which is a milestone for me, particularly as my target for this year is still 14”. But, you’ve got to be smart when it comes to listening to your body. I’ll get there. Slowly, slowly.