BenM wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 9:05 pm
MarkKO wrote: ↑Thu Dec 08, 2022 6:00 pm
There's a pretty good chance the shoulder will come good if you completely change how you train upper body.
If you the some two to three months and do NO barbell bench of any kind and seriously, seriously limit DB pressing as well; while focusing very hard on your rear delts, upper back and rotator cuff; you should see pretty good improvement.
It's a hit to take, but it'll work.
It'd be a hit alright. I'm already struggling with how much strength I seem to have lost, not benching at all would be really hard to deal with mentally.
I kinda think it's improving, but it's just super slow, and I'm probably pushing it too hard. I'm intending to taper back a little more on the bench stuff and see if it improves a bit faster without stopping completely, it might not, but we'll see.
It's not super straightforward because I think I tore it up in three separate places. Front delt hurts when I bench, side delt hurts when I do lateral raises or reach overhead, rear delt was hurting immediately after I did it too, although I think that's mostly healed now. So I made a decent mess of it.
slowmotion wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:14 am
Planting your feet flat on the floor would probably stop the legs shaking. Maybe the whole setup would feel more stable too.
Maybe, but I think about 90% of it is that I'm just so detrained, and not used to heavy weight any more. That's a weight I could bench for 10-12 reps on a bad day before I hurt myself. No doubt my setup is not as tight as it could be, though - I've got lazy with it.
You've lost strength precisely because you've tried to keep training like normal, just with a few changes.
It's unlikely to get better with merely tapering back because of how jacked up things have gotten.
My own experience would indicate that your best bet is a complete rework on how you bench AFTER you get your shoulder back to normal, aka pain free.
There's a reasonable likelihood that what you're doing currently will end up with you not being able bench, period. For good. Maybe not in the next few months, but it's coming.
Anecdotally, 300 lbs is round about where your shoulders are going to really start having issues if there are any lacks in technique or component muscles and that's precisely what happened to me and I suspect happened to you too.
While it might be hard mentally to change now, it will much harder mentally if you get to the point where you just can't bench any more no matter what you do.
I'm not saying this to be negative or anything, I've just followed what you're doing and looking back at what happened to me I can see really big similarities.
Benching isn't great for our shoulders at the best of times, but the risks can be mitigated so that they effectively don't exist. Technique has to be spot on, and your shoulders have to be built up to support the technique. For most people none of this matters because they don't do it long enough for the wear and tear to add up nor for the weight to get heavy enough to accelerate the wear and tear.
You've stuck around long enough to accumulate the wear AND get the weight heavy enough for the wear to accelerate.
Your best bet right now would be to spend three months or so (could be more) doing shoulder rehab exercises until none of them are even uncomfortable and you can move your shoulders however you like pain free. Pick two or three per delt, front mid and back. Start super light, like one or two kilos. Lots of reps.
Then couple that with (as long as it is pain free) building the hell out of your middle back and triceps, which should be doable. I've noticed you tend to train pretty heavy (heavier than me, at any rate I think) so maybe change that up for light but focusing on pump and MMC.
Work on thoracic extension, because you'll need it. Learn how to push your chest up high.
Then once you've gotten rid of the pain, which you will, relearn benching. Learn how to chest up and get high on your traps, and tuck your elbows. Learn how to get really, really tight from your feet upwards.
By that stage, you will be surprised how quickly bench strength comes back without pain.
