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anyone have any experience with this? my doctor recently diagnosed me as having this.
doctor was irritated with my trainer for introducing specific rotator cuff exercises, which he believes caused the tendonitis. he felt that at my age (43), there was no need for me to do those as working them out doesn't really do anything for me. I've been discouraged from doing any weight bearing exercise that involves me extending my arms out, and definitely no overhead pressing atm.
my questions are -
how long will it be before I can resume doing overhead exercises like arnold presses, overhead presses, shoulder presses, etc.? I used to regularly do lat raises and overhead presses but never got injured. that's why I'm thinking the trainer specifically working out the rotator cuff caused the problem.
i haven't lifted for about two weeks now. the pain prevents me from doing anything with my right arm now and that's the dominant arm. how long did it take to heal?
what exercises can I do to prevent a loss in strength as I heal? Sad but true, strength training can be a use it or lose it thing and whenever i go through a major event, i never seem to return to the level I was before the event. last year it was pneumonia that knocked me out for a month. I never could return to that level, I think.
mentally, I feel saddened by this. What the doctor couldn't understand was that weightlifting is my hobby. It's not just for looking a certain way (though that's a nice perk) or helping me with day to day life. I probably work muscles that I really don't use all that often, but do so because it's a total package thing. At the same time, I'm forced to admit that I am a middle aged woman experiencing a fitness renaissance. I feel DAMN GOOD for the first time in a LONG time. Even in my 20s, I was thin but that's it - thin, no muscle tone, not really fit. Then I got fat. But now, I'm in the best shape ever but the caveat is that I'm still 43. It's a fine line when it comes to injury and just because I feel younger doesn't escape the fact that at my age I'm highly prone to rotator cuff injuries, especially since I was never athletic before. I don't think of myself as overly pushing myself but the doctor really doesn't see why I should lift heavy at this age.
I will say that I've had no issues lifting heavy UNTIL I started doing some of those delt exercises other than the raises.
It is hard having injuries but being active involves that risk. Every active person has set backs whether it is injuries, an interrupted schedule, whatever.
I have torn rotators. I have had this issue since 2000, no surgery. I now use the smith machine to do presses (behind the neck is more comfortable than front presses because of the location of the tears) and I can do side and front db laterals - no db presses (unless I go really light and it is not worth it). I had had 3 Achilles surgeries so no running for awhile during those times (but I could do squats on a board - light and then worked up as healed).
Here is what you do until you heal. Take a new interest in shaping up your glutes and legs. Set a goal for how you would like them to look and work them hard. Legs burn more calories than any other body part. You can still do biceps and triceps (you can do a variety of bicep work with your arms at your sides (cable curls, db curls, etc) and triceps work on the cable machine). Slowly work back into the chest and shoulder work you can do as you heal and feel better. Build an upper body routine that uses exercises that you are able to do (bent over d bell rows for back, light seated cable rows, etc). Do these and increase what you can do until you are healed up. Do not push it too early or your tendonitis could turn into a tear. Stay positive and work the things you can. Challenge yourself on those things!
There is nothing you can do about the tendonitis (as hard as it is) and with that said, it is best to accept that you are injured for now and challenge yourself with new things until you heal. And you will heal! In a few weeks/months, you will be looking back.
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The key to healing any type of tendonitis is rest and anti-inflammatories as I'm sure your doctor has told you. I have no idea on the timing as each case is different.
With that said, I'm in my 50s and still lifting weights, and as I get older I hold to one mantra. That is I stick to compound lifting. Targeting one specific muscle or area is great for physical therapy (something your trainer shouldn't be involved in unless he's specifically qualified) and serious bodybuilders. I've been lifting for nearly 30 years, and every time I've gotten tendonitis it was due to specific muscle targeting. No more for me.
Stick to compound weight lifting as you get older and wiser.
anyone have any experience with this? my doctor recently diagnosed me as having this.
doctor was irritated with my trainer for introducing specific rotator cuff exercises, which he believes caused the tendonitis. he felt that at my age (43), there was no need for me to do those as working them out doesn't really do anything for me. I've been discouraged from doing any weight bearing exercise that involves me extending my arms out, and definitely no overhead pressing atm.
What the doctor couldn't understand was that weightlifting is my hobby. It's not just for looking a certain way (though that's a nice perk) or helping me with day to day life. I probably work muscles that I really don't use all that often, but do so because it's a total package thing. At the same time, I'm forced to admit that I am a middle aged woman experiencing a fitness renaissance. I feel DAMN GOOD for the first time in a LONG time. Even in my 20s, I was thin but that's it - thin, no muscle tone, not really fit. Then I got fat. But now, I'm in the best shape ever but the caveat is that I'm still 43. It's a fine line when it comes to injury and just because I feel younger doesn't escape the fact that at my age I'm highly prone to rotator cuff injuries, especially since I was never athletic before. I don't think of myself as overly pushing myself but the doctor really doesn't see why I should lift heavy at this age.
weighted dips.
I have no suggestions on your rotator cuff injury. My shoulder recently started hurting when I do bench presses. I don't know if it is a rotator cuff injury or not. It doesn't bother me much when doing anything except barbell bench presses. I think I may have done it doing weighted dips.
The one thing I have noticed with previous shoulder injuries is that doing exercises where my palms are facing does not cause pain. For example, I switch from barbell presses to machine presses where I can use a palm facing grip.
The one thing I would do is get a new doctor. Any doctor who has such a lack of understanding of working out is not the kind of doctor who I want to treat more for an issue like this. His comments would make me question any of his recommendations.
There is good advice here, however, people saying the doctor gave poor advice and doesn't understand - well, people you are wrong. The doctor most CERTAINLY DOES understand, and gave her good advice! I have had similar injuries as OP, and doctors told me SPECIFICALLY not to do any overhead exercise or extend arms. Sure enough whenever I do, I have problems, sometimes serious.
OP, there are plenty of good exercises you can do and you don't need to go overhead. You should see my shoulders - I am 69 and I have very developed delts and a good back. Lat pulldowns and plenty of seated rows do this for me. Do only compound exercises, especially for now. So you find a new regimen, so what? Sometimes it's better for the body anyway to mix it up. I know what I can't do anymore and it certainly isn't worth it to risk an injury that might sideline me permanently. Please be aware that it could take several months before you feel completely healed. Trying to do too much too soon is a recipe for disaster. One wrong move and it's all over.
First, you need to calm the shoulder down. That is going to mean to simply stop lifting weights for several weeks. The shoulder is the one area that you cannot train around, just about every exercise you do involves your shoulder either directly or indirectly. I am dealing with a little shoulder pain myself and today I thought I could train around it with bis and tris......nope! I irritated it, stupid on my part.
Second, I don't agree with your physician that you need to give up overhead exercises completely. I had this same bad advice from a physician 20 years ago and I only stopped for a short while. Up to this past week I've had no shoulder pain at all. I don't know that this recent injury is from an overhead pressing motion, shrugs, reverse extensions, etc.......hard to pinpoint. But I'm not giving that up.
Once the area has calmed down you can start up shoulder lifts again but VERY lightly.....what I call 'baby weights'.....5lb dumbbells at most. Slowly and surely raise the # of reps and weights until you get full range of motion back. Start incorporating rotator cuff exercises into your shoulder workouts, your shoulders will thank you going forward.
A lot of people have given good advice so far. One thing I'll add is to stop doing shoulder presses with barbells.
Using a barbell locks your shoulders into one 'groove'. Using heavy weights can cause problems because of that. Use dumbbells instead. They allow your shoulders to follow a more natural path since your not locked into one position. You won't be able to use as much weight as with barbells, but it's much easier in your shoulders in the long run.
What rotator exercises did your trainer have you do? Those are small but important muscles. You don't need much weight at all. Five pound weights are all you should be using.
The doctor is my GP of 14 years, I think he means well. We just are on a different page right now.
It's been almost a month of no lifting. I can't really do any arm work because even if my hands are at my sides that still involves the hurt shoulder somehow. I'm almost done with the steroid, but the pain is still there despite this. This sucks.
That sounds like more than tendonitis. It could be a rotator cuff tear or your tendonitis is very severe. Your upper biceps tendon inserts into the rotator cuff tendon (therefore the arm pain). You might consider having your GP refer you to an orthopedic specialist. An MRI can determine what your problem is. If it is a tear, you can choose conservative methods for healing, not surgery. A tear is not the end of the world. They are very common for people in their 40's. Look it up. You might consider supplementing in the future with glucosamine, fish oil and turmeric to lubricate and bring down inflammation. Massage can bring circulation back into the area to help it heal. Tendons have a low blood supply and the massage breaks up some of the adhesions and calcium around the tendons as well as enhances blood flow. I ask the massage therapist for targeted rotator massage. Usually about 3 to 4 sessions brings great relief when I have a flare up.
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