Anybody have experience dealing w/ shoulder tendonitis?

[abolish the weak]

So I think heavy benching gave my left delt some shitty tendonitis. Actually, I know thats what it is, because I can still move my arm around and up and down, but primarily the frontal part of my deltoid hurts like a bitch under weight. Some exercises are not as bad as others, but flat barbell bench has been exed out for the past few weeks, seems to be the exercise that hurts it the most. Hell, even doing shoulders isn't as bad as flat bench. I've tried some decline smith machine bench, not as bad but I have to stay about 60-100lbs lighter than usual. Incline smith machine press isn't bad until I get to 3 plates/side. Usually machines is where it feels the most comfortable, I've been using some Life fitness free weight machines, range of motion is really smooth too. I refuse to go to a Dr. because I know besides surgery the only thing they'll do is throw me on some shit like Napersons which is basically just fucking Motrin you need a script for. Deca is not an option now as I'm cutting for a show and 6 wks out. Thought about some NPP maybe? Been taking glucosamine like a bitch the past few days, seems to help a little. I've had tendonitis in my knees and elbows before, it eventually went away but I had to change some exercises. My question to you guys would be #1- did it take longer for your shoulder tendonitis to clear up, and #2- how did you work through it. I'd hate to totally neglect chest, maybe just train lighter and do 15-20 reps/set?

 

[OMEGA]

Yes

dont Bench anymore

dont do shoulder on there own day ( stupidest idea I ever seen in the gym)

do traps on back day

give your self time to heal

 

[artificialaspirations]

Yes

dont Bench anymore

dont do shoulder on there own day ( stupidest idea I ever seen in the gym)

do traps on back day

give your self time to heal

Why is that?

I have been combining shoulder/chest day mostly just to save time but was thinking of changing my split.

 

[OMEGA]

Tell me:

How does one expect the Deltoid/shoulder complex to fully recover and NOT get over worked when you do Chest days too?

DO the Deltoids recover twice as fast then other muscles? NO...........

 

[automaticj5]

Yup -- same exact problem I have -- I bet if you do Dumbells instead of barbell it wont hurt -- dont ask why but it doesnt hurt me and barbell kills me... And yeah -- when it first happened I had to take about 2 weeks off chest and shoulders.. and go light on pulldown activity

 

[artificialaspirations]

That is what I figured, but didn't quite understand why everyone splits it out. I do mostly incline work as I don't like the way flat bench makes my chest look. This I feel hits the front delts more than enough. Maybe too much, my shoulders seem to help out with everything from chest to biceps. I have a difficult time isolating anything.

I think the military press has caused my right shoulder (throwing arm, and years of baseball) to get aggravated. Upright rows are very uncomfortable, so I will concentrate on posterior, lateral and anterior raises for the delts.

I will start rotator cuff exercises and keep my arms below my head until things subside. This is a bummer as military press is my favorite exercise and i would hate to lose the ability to bench. Don't want surgery either.

 

[gjohnson5]

The biggest problem I've had benching is the location at which you lower the bar. make sure you lower the bar to sterum or upper abs and not to the chest. The higher on the chest you lower the bar the further harm will be done to your shoulders.

I would suggest changing your form and seeing how it help
Starting this with dumbells is a good idea


And I agree w/Omega that chest/shoulder day is stupid
Give you anterior deltoid / pec delt tie-in time to heal

*edit*
Lowering the bat to lower abs might be kinda difficult...
edited for your convenience

 

[artificialaspirations]

The biggest problem I've had benching is the location at which you lower the bar. make sure you lower the bar to sterum or upper abs and not to the chest. The higher on the chest you lower the bar the further harm will be done to your shoulders.

I would suggest changing your form and seeing how it help
Starting this with dumbells is a good idea


And I agree w/Omega that chest/shoulder day is stupid
Give you anterior deltoid / pec delt tie-in time to heal

*edit*
Lowering the bat to lower abs might be kinda difficult...
edited for your convenience

Even on incline?

I've tried this but it seems a bit unnatural. The range of motion is almost 2-2.5 feet to my upper abs. long assed arms...

 

[fortunatesun]

Lowering the bar to lower abs might be kinda difficult...

Ya, the reason you see some people bringing the bar to their upper abs is because they plan on using a shirt. They want to take advantage of the bounce a bench shirt provides. If you bench raw, then the top of your sternum is your target.

 

[gjohnson5]

That would depend on how much the bench is inclined.

Some do incline barbell bench with a narrower grip and drop the bar low in conjunction with a hard back arch at the bottom

Even on incline?

I've tried this but it seems a bit unnatural. The range of motion is almost 2-2.5 feet to my upper abs. long assed arms...

 

[Hybridtheory2o]

I have the same problems as you do. I have mostly a problem with my left arm delt though. Ive been reading this and my question from reading omega's post and gjohnson's post is this..You guys are saying doing a chest and a separate shoulder day is stupid? What would be the best thing to do then because for awhile now i have been doing chest and shoulders on a diff day.

 

[gjohnson5]

Keep doing what you're doing...

If you actually do rotator cuff , military presses (standing in a squat rack) , heavy dumbells presses , side delts work (dumbell and machine), read delts and then did a chest workout , anyone's strength on chest press type workouts would be hindered

 

[Hybridtheory2o]

Alright wel typically i do a push pull method. Ill do chest on mondays for a few weeks followed by back the next day and then wed ill usually do shoulders because i figure my shoulders get worked the most as a secondary muscle on chest day but i could be wrong so i figured doing them on wed after getting plenty of rest and eating properl i figure ill do alright. I havent noticed any strength goin downhill since i began a good diet i actually had my shoulder power explode last week. Sorry didnt mean to jack the thread lol i just wanted to make sure i didnt have any permanent damage or something

 

[abolish the weak]

Great advice guys, thank you!! I think what I'm going to do for the next 6-8 wks will be chest/shoulders on the same day, that way my delts have a full week in between training to recover. You do utilize much shoulder work on bench, so doing shoulders 2 or 3 days later just does not give enough time to heal under injury. I'm going to lower my sets and up my reps for chest, 6-8 sets total for chest(12-15 reps/set), followed by very light delt work, 5-8 sets total. My shoulders are big, they'll hold their size no problem, even training light as hell. Thanx again fellaz