replacing a few compounds with db's on the sl 5x5 for rotator cuff imbalance

[jaytaylor84]

Hey guys some weeks ago i made the move to change to the stronglifts 5x5 and have been progressing quite nicely.. here is my question tho.. i have a bad rotator cuff.. and have felt like ive always compensated in the past for it.. since starting this program though i've been using dumbbells for just about everything i can along with agressive stretching and shoulder dislocator exercises.. my question is this.. is it generally ok going with dumbbells to replace the bench,bent over row, and overhead press? i have no problem progressing slower with dumbbells if my body is growing stronger in the process through strengthening stabilizers moreso with the db's.. i know however that it is probably stupid to replace deads and squat with dumbbells as these require too much weight to even be a feasible idea. am i right ? please help

 

[zedhed]

IMO you are fine to replace the flat bench and overhead press. But I would not go dbl in your bent over rows, and as you said squats and dead lifts. Or you could (if it dosnt hurt your shoulders) go back to bbl flat bench but then use the dbls for auxilery work. For overhead presses it took me a long time to come back to using a bbl. But I finally managed to do it. Until recently tho it was strictly dbls for overhead presses.

 

[jaytaylor84]

"But I would not go dbl in your bent over rows,"

Just curious why? Well now that i think about it my rotator isnt bothered too much by rows anyway, and im assuming you say keep bb for the mass building quality of rows ?

 

[FlexManning]

"But I would not go dbl in your bent over rows,"

Just curious why? Well now that i think about it my rotator isnt bothered too much by rows anyway, and im assuming you say keep bb for the mass building quality of rows ?

I think db rows would be a poor substitute for bb rows in this program unless absolutely necessary. I mean, Mehdi recommends Pendlay rows which are a totally different animal.

I don't do a strict 5x5 program at the moment but I still use a lot of the ideas. My shoulders give me some problems but I haven't found Pendlay rows to be all that hard on them. I've had to take them out recently since I do chest and back after leg day and my lower back's usually a little too worn out to get enough out of them.

 

[_cato_]

Generally, the more significant the deficit is for you on the exercise, the more stupid it would be to exchange a barbell for dumbells on the same exercise (assuming we are talking about a main lift that you are trying to push). The whole philosphy of 5x5 type programs is pushing a small number of compound lifts which load the entire body (or nearly so).

So, as an example, if you can bench 300 lbs with a barbell, but you can only bench two 50s (for a total of 100 lbs), then you have a huge deficit. If you were to take barbell benches out completely, and substitute them with your DB benching with 50s, you wouldn't be loading your chest, shoulders, and tris, or even your system in general, with nearly the same intensity.

That said, if you have an injury then you should only do what you can handle. Lifting is a long term game. If you can continue to make progress with a DB exercise without hurting yourself then that's obviously preferable to suffering significant pain and possibly exacerbating an injury while using a BB.

As you said, it would be tough to use DBs on squats/DLs, and it's not really clear that it would in any way help out your cuff injury. Rows probably wouldn't bother it either. Personally, I find that there tends to be a pretty significant difference in the way rowing will hit your body if you use DBs as opposed to BB. People using DBs tend to get their lower back/core more involved in actually pulling the weight up, versus BB which tends to force you to keep the exercise focused on the lats/traps/bis. Plus, again, you can probably use more total weight with a BB.