Shoulder Pain - Gregory Steiner (1999)

Yes, it's Greg Steiner, Brad's long lost son . . . 

A shoulder injury guarantees that your training will be painful, assuming you can train with an injured shoulder at all. Anyone who's experienced it will confirm this. In my clinic, I treat shoulder injuries and other similar symptoms far more often than anything else among athletes. And often, these strains, tears and bruises leave permanent damage. 

Rob, a big guy who owned a gym in Ireland, came to my clinic with a typical complaint: 

"Something's wrong with my bench press." 

"What?" I asked. 

"I can't bench! It hurts so much. It also hurts when I do overhead presses and barbell curls. I can't even pick the bar up off the racks before squats without shoulder pain." 

What was his problem, other than the idiocy of perceiving that there's "something wrong with my bench press" as opposed to there's "something wrong with my body." 

A case of which came first, the bench press or the ache. 

I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied, and it was a typical answer for patients complaining of the same problem as Rob. Rob had injured his rotator cuff, and he was suffering because of a series of mistakes.

His first mistake was exercise selection. Rob is generally very conscientious when it comes to technique, but his injury was caused by the overhead press . . . [NO, it wasn't caused by the overhead press, it was caused by the overhead presser and the technique he used. Givin' the Press a bad name in a subtle way ain't good!] 

It's better to do bench presses, they don't put as much stress on the shoulder joints as the overhead press. [Bullshit]

The situation was exacerbated by improper technique in pullups, which Rob had been doing for a while. He had followed someone's advice to relax his shoulders at the bottom position to "stretch" the muscles. Oops, this was his second mistake.

Hey, I remember a guy going so far as to recommend dropping into a full, unbraced loose hang on a chinning bar and repeatedly bouncing at the bottom to "stretch out" the shoulders. It's rarely the exercise at fault, it's almost always the exerciser and/or the bozo offering advice for a fee. Money. Quite a deal. We make Earth a hell for it. Ain't we sweet and evolved. 

Rob continued to bench press, even though his strength in the exercise had declined due to his loss of control and stabilization of the bar. At the time, he experienced a "strange sensation" when pressing, causing him to writhe on the bench, trying to engage other muscles to complete the movement. This only made matters worse. 

Ya figure? 

Finally, after even simple barbell curls and returning the bar to the rack after squatting began to cause pain, he decided to see a doctor. But by then, the problem had already become chronic. 

Shoulder problems are common, and too often seeing a doctor is delayed until these injuries (attributed to the athletes themselves) begin to interfere with training. The most common injury is to the shoulder blade, sometimes to the acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) at the end of the collarbone and shoulder. Less commonly, the sternoclavicular joint, where the collarbone connects to the chest, is injured. 

Let's take a look at the RMP first, and if I can't convince you not to injure your RMP in the first place, I can at least tell you when you should see a doctor and what to do if an RMP injury has already become one of the wounds you received in "battle." 

What does a person feel when they injure their rotator cuff, and what is it anyway? Answering these questions in reverse order, I'll say that the rotator cuff is a group of muscles that, in most anatomical positions, externally rotate the shoulder. External rotation of the shoulder, for example, occurs during the movement known as the "backhand" in tennis. It's precisely rotator cuff injuries that punish fools who do exercises incorrectly and teach others to do the same. Baseball pitchers also subject these muscles to tremendous stress at various points in the pitch.

So, what are the symptoms of being so fucking stupid you put poundage increases ahead of your own physical wellbeing, ruin your body's ability to lift more in the future and call this insanity dedication? Well, it starts with being born an idiot, feeling inadequate as a "man" and soon turns into a self-destructive fear-based blah blah blah . . . 

First of all, you should be wary of pain that occurs when bench pressing. The pain is "out there," deep down, and you can't pinpoint exactly where. Pain also occurs when pressing behind the neck. Remember that any press behind the neck or any pullup behind the neck is extremely dangerous, even for healthy shoulders. What's the point of "better isolation" if you could end up with such an injury that you'll never be able to body-build again for the rest of your life.

Also, pay attention to any pain that occurs when you return the bar to the rack after squats, and if your arm feels "dead" afterwards. Barbell curls can also injure your shoulders. When doing shoulder presses, you might feel something in your shoulder catching painfully on something else, and you can "cheat" the pain by turning your arm one way or another. Sometimes, just holding a dumbbell at your side while relaxing your shoulder slightly and lowering the dumbbell a couple of inches can cause pain.

Try this test: 

Lie on your back, arms at your sides, as if you were being crucified. Have a training partner hammer nails, no, wait, don't. Bend your elbows 90 degrees so your fist point toward the ceiling. Then, keeping your elbows still, lower your fists to the floor - first down, then towards your head. 

Chances are, one of these movements will feel uncomfortable at best, and at worst, you won't be able to touch your fist to the floor at all. 

Another test: 

Try crossing your arms in front of your face. Elbows level with your mouth. Elbows higher, palms lower. Check for pain at various stages. 

Finally, the last test: 

Try to reach your wallet in your back pocket, and then try to move your arm up your back. 

So, do you have a problem with your shoulders or not? 

Any of these symptoms could indicate muscle stiffness or a muscle tear. Other tissues may also be damaged. Generally speaking, these symptoms can occur for a few days and then resolve in anyone, but if they persist or you experience severe pain, this indicates a serious problem. 

In this case, too, we need to remember the fundamental and basic rules. And let's finally use these words in their true sense. "Fundamental and basic" should be translated as "indispensable" and not "too trivial to bother with" - regardless of the context in which these words are used and regardless of what we're talking about, whether it's food, breathing, or proper training. 

The main prescription is . . . REST. Even if that means giving up your favorite exercise for a while. Ice, pressure points, and then rehabilitation and preventive exercises like L-flies and lying arm rotations (light arm circles while lying on your back on a bench, with a very light dumbbell). See a doctor if the problem persists. Healing can be measured by a return of strength, an increase in natural range of motion (without writhing or flinching), and finally, a reduction in overall pain. 

Small rotator cuff muscles can cause persistent, mild pain or even prevent you from doing certain exercises. Both of these scenarios can be avoided IF you have the courage and fortitude to do what needs to be done, and to avoid what you know you shouldn't. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!