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I'm 41 and last week I worked out 6 days out the week. I'm noticing that my shoulder sockets are sore lately. I also have a knot in my left trap. I hear so many stories about people with shoulder injuries. Is this preventable or inevitable?
No, not inevitable.
People often do damage to rotator cuffs, shoulders and other parts after years of lifting incorrectly.
Improper BB and DB bench pressing, improper incline DB pressing, doing machine bench pressing and machine incline press in any way, upright rows for shoulder impingement, doing BB squats with strong Quads but lack of attention on the hams and glutes.
For many years this damage is being done but the pain does not appear until decades after.
Shoulders do more than we give them credit for... You'll find that out when you injure them.
I think anyone who spends a lot of time in the gym will eventually injure their shoulder(s). I did that about 6 months ago while bench pressing with free weights. It was my last set and I just overdid it that day and should have stopped, but as I lifted the bar and moved it forward to bench position, I felt something in my left shoulder go twanggg. ~6 months later and my shoulders feel normal again, but I've given up most free weight training and do everything possible to maintain perfect form to avoid another injury. For us gym rats, it's a terrible feeling when you get injured and realize you have to cut back if not eliminate working out for a long period of time. That's no bueno! so I believe the answer is do everything possible to maintain perfect form, don't overdo it as you get older and be especially careful with free weights as you age.
Face pulls go a long way in preventing/correcting this issue, along with maintaining external rotation within your movements.
Besides sleeping incorrectly on my side, only upright rows using an overhand grip have caused me problems; as they force internal rotation. The solution was simply switching to an underhand grip, so thumbs face outwards.
Face pulls go a long way in preventing/correcting this issue, along with maintaining external rotation within your movements.
Besides sleeping incorrectly on my side...
I am only now sleeping on my left side - the side with the labrum tear. The shoulder seems to slide forward, but not as much now that I have been steadily working the muscles as the PT directed. On the other hand, sleeping on the good side means the left side slides forward and I have to push it back. This video has a lot going on and perhaps it works, but frankly with all the pillows, I can't do it. (Especially with a cat sleeping next to my chest or on my shoulder watching me.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2-hS6mo7x4k
Regarding face pulls, that is what I was injuring myself with. Perhaps I was doing them wrong, but my PT told me to steer clear and gave me other exercises to do.
Hand under the pillow, on the side you are on; will help prevent extended internal rotation of the shoulder.
Re-training yourself to sleep on your back works wonders, but I found this to be an almost impossible task.
So I settled for an ergonomic pillow that is designed for both back and side.
The above vid has some good tips, problem is; I move around a lot...so difficult to keep pillows aligned at 3AM.
The most high risk exercises in the gym are those involving the shoulder at the extreme vertical angle, when the elbow is to the side and above the top of the head.
Shoulder presses are the worst followed by inclined barbell and dumbbell, lat pulldowns behind the head.. It is kind of unbelievable the twisted knot of muscle, tendons, ligaments, and bursa the shoulder possesses. It's not about proper form, it is just a bad angle of attack for the body.
I have softball shoulders with striations and all I do are various angles of shoulder raises. Keeping that elbow at shoulder level is key.
I remember in high school my football coach and track coach had two different styles of training and thought processes. My football coach was a typical meathead and the track coach was an old guy that has seen it all. I remember my track coach being adamant no one will ever do shoulder presses or squats. Do ANY other exercise but those two particular ones.
For some reason or another that stuck with me from the beginning. Now I'd train with the football coach at the YMCA off season and it always kind of irked him I would never do squats. To paint a picture this guy was bodybuilder level and likely on the juice. It's all about form yada yada yada. To me however it never made sense to put that much pressure on two little bones of vertebrate. Long story short, a few years after HS he had a catastrophic back injury from squatting, lost most his muscle and has been hobbling into the gym ever since lifting baby weights.
Last edited by HansProof; 06-29-2023 at 07:29 PM..
I'm 41 and last week I worked out 6 days out the week. I'm noticing that my shoulder sockets are sore lately. I also have a knot in my left trap. I hear so many stories about people with shoulder injuries. Is this preventable or inevitable?
I'm 68, lift regularly, and have no rotator cuff injuries. I've had some shoulder pain in the past and I've been very careful with my shoulders for decades. This means no DB bench presses or chest flyes, only military presses on a machine with my palms facing, no upright rows, no kipping pull-ups, and avoiding too much range of motion on chest fly exercises on a machine.
I do no upper body warm-up exercises and don't do any rotator cuff exercises.
Most shoulder injuries and impingements in a gym come from improper technique. I might suggest very carefully re-evaluating HOW you perform your movements and doing some research on proper technique. I had a shoulder impingement for almost a year before figuring out that I was causing it.
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