FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Hey Scott,

Here's another injury related dilemma; would appreciate your input.

I've been getting a pop in my right shoulder when I raise my arm; not painful in itself, but something's off as I can feel a strain in my right shoulder when I press; I'm concious of this and have limited the ROM on exercises, and am not locking out.

I've gotten decently strong at MR for dips (+45 lbs to +110 lbs) and machine chest press (mid stack to full stack + more). This has produced phenomenal growth in both my triceps and chest; seems like these exercises work really well for me biomechanically. Problem is, the strength increase over the past year has also caused this tweak in my shoulder.

How do you get around working this issue? I really want to keep doing these exercises. Maybe limit ROM or do more sets/reps for MR?

I'm 22, so one of the perks for me is I can usually work around these issues, and the injuries tend to heal as long as I give them rest. Problem is; the stubborn meathead Gene in me always prevents me from completely pulling back. A big reason why I love intense cruises; I can still train full capacity at least twice a week with them.

Any worth in injecting the rats shoulder with some BPC 157 to heal? I've been trying Dantes old broomstick shoulder dislocates and they seem to help a lot; I just need to not overdo them.

Would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you!

Wish I could do more than play the same old tune here, but really, you'll need to figure out what that pop is in your shoulder, i.e., what structure is popping.

My first guesses would be that it could be a cartilage issue. Secondly, it could be an impingement (supraspinatus or biceps brachii). You'll need to figure out what's wrong before you can go about fixing it.

If the broomstick stretch is helping, in the right measure, that's a good start of course.

Many people with shoulder issues (and other recurring, nagging "niggle-type" injuries) find that they need to do certain pre-hab exercises religiously in order to keep the injury from cropping its ugly head. So, if you can get it under control (some time away from the exercises that give you problem), you may be able to keep it that way (and move to back to those exercises).

So, as always, though, I'd check with a medical practitioner (same sorts of folks as I recommended just a few posts up, including also finding an orthopedist and perhaps an athletic trainer who can help figure out what's going on).

Hope you get it figured out!

(If this helps, I had a nagging pop under my knee cap many years ago that went on for well over a year and kept me from training legs properly. When I finally stayed completely away from doing the things that aggravated it, got the issue under control, I was eventually able to move back to training as I had been. )

-S