Getting Back Into The Gym
Posted April 25, 2006 at 7:40 AM by Ben Nadel
Trying to get back into the gym again. I have been out of the game for a while do to schedule and a shoulder that seems to hurt on any pressing movements. I suspect the shoulder injury is due to muscular imbalances in favor of the anterior shoulder. So, I am concentrating on heavy legs and back to try to balance out my shouulders. I am going to avoid all pressing movements until things start to feel better.
Luckily, I can do a good amount on back without any shoulder pain. Last night, I did deadlifts for the first time in months. It wasn't too bad at all. I am going to do them without straps to help the grip and overall arm strength. I worked up to about 300 lbs for a two sets of about eight reps. Today, the back feels fine. My lower back is sore and tired, but no pain.
Doing dead lifts last night, I discovered that instead of wrist straps, you can actually use paper towels on the bar to keep the hands from slipping. That is going to prove super useful in the future. I think it sucks up the moisture between the hand and the bar that usually makes gripping much more difficult.
I am tired of my out-of-shapedness. Time to get back in and do something about it.
Reader Comments
Have you tried upright barbell or dumbell rows? This is not a press and may or may not relieve the shoulder strain
@Fred,
To be honest, I have never done an upright row. I shy away from lateral raises and other movements that mimic this motion. My fitness instructor burned the fear of shoulder joint impingement into my head so I do my best to avoid it... I have enough shoulder problems as is :)
Of course, I am not saying that upright rows cause shoulder impingement, I am just saying the motion seems similar.
Lately, though, I have been such a slacker to the gym, I am not in danger of doing anything except becoming more and more out of shape :(
You know that s a nice move. Really...its a great thing to have an active live. I hope I will soon also have time to do that.
J.Mihai
The first thing to do is to identify if you have upper or lower cross syndrome. If you have low back pain and your ears do not line up over your shoulders when standing straight, there is a strong possibility that you have upper cross syndrome. Knowing this, you must strengthen your scapular adductors and stretch your chest.
