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Barbell Making a comeback after injury... with restrictions :-(

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Sunil Nair

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I had a disappointing October this year. Had a surgery for a cyst (in my upper middle back) on the 10th. Was asked not to do any lifting for a couple of weeks. I didn't. But during those two weeks, I sort of aggravated my shoulder pain. My physio labeled it as a Grade 2 Rotator Cuff Tear. Not good news. I've been undergoing physical therapy for the past one week but have been advised to restart training without the BP and OHP by the 20th (2 weeks from now).

So, here's my plan:
1. Get on a 40-day workout program and start with 50%
2. Focus on Squats and Deads only for now

I'm looking for an alternative for BP and OHP that is safe for my shoulders. I think Floor Presses are good but I wanted to validate it here. Another option I have in mind was Decline Presses, but I'm just not sure.

Thoughts? Opinions?

I'm dying to get back into training. :(
 
+1 for @Shahaf Levin’s advice. Just keep things simple. Run PTTP deadlift only. It swings don’t bother you do those as well. It’s only been a month, not years that you haven’t trained. If you are concerned about keeping pressing strength tricep press downs with bands would help. Let your shoulder heal.
 
+1 for @Shahaf Levin’s advice. Just keep things simple. Run PTTP deadlift only. It swings don’t bother you do those as well. It’s only been a month, not years that you haven’t trained. If you are concerned about keeping pressing strength tricep press downs with bands would help. Let your shoulder heal.

Thanks, @ShawnM ... I actually plan to run an SQ, DL, and Swing program. In lines of the PTTP protocol.
 
Do you have actual imaging of your shoulder that an actual medical doctor has used to actually diagnose a rotator cuff tear?

"Actually", I don't have an imaging. But I did consult with an "actual" sports medicine specialist for this. The therapy is under his supervision.

Curious — what made you ask this @Bill Been ?
 
i think many people actually have rotator cuff tears that are diagnosed during imaging. Personally i have been diagnosed with rotator cuff tears in both shoulders (probably from foolish youthful exuberance in judo training) but only my left side really gives me issues. Presses don't cause me pain, but wide-grip bench presses do. Your situation might vary.

I reckon for your case, do the physio PT protocol to build up the pain-free ROM and strength before rushing back to presses/bench.
 
First - follow the advice and direction of your Physio
(you are under medical supervision and they are in charge)

Second - It cannot be missed (in my opinion) that the shoulder (a previous injury if I am reading correctly) became an issue after the surgery for the cyst in your upper back - depending on location of the surgery and depth of the surgery this could be part of the situation - changes to the area due to the surgery causing the shoulder to "complain".
Have your physio look at soft tissue work (if able to depending on the healing of the surgical area).

Training wise - listen to the Dr. and Physio until cleared.
 
"Actually", I don't have an imaging. But I did consult with an "actual" sports medicine specialist for this. The therapy is under his supervision.

Curious — what made you ask this @Bill Been ?

A tear in one of the muscles that comprise the rotator cuff cannot be diagnosed by a "physio" - by which I assume you mean "Physical Therapist" - without imaging. SOME medical doctors (MDs) can do so, but when they can be certain with a simple sonogram, why would they? I'm afraid your physio is outside his scope of practice unless the standards for such things are wildly different in your country.

And Mr. Jones raises a terrific point about the all-too-likely scenario that therethe issue is related to your prior surgery. If so, based on the rough description you gave us of the location of the cyst (upper back in the middle) the "diagnosis" of a "Grade Two Rotator Cuff Tear" (mighty specific without an image) is called even further into question.

Yes, I'm being a bit of a prude about this. No, it will not hurt you to follow the exercise prescription of your physio. It may needlessly delay and set back your training; it may introduce into your noggin the far-from-certain notion that you "have a bad shoulder" which will color your physical existence for the rest of your life; or it may actually be the wrong exercise prescription because it was never actually diagnosed. I'm generally fairly shocked by how PTs go about the process of strengthening a shoulder joint with little band resisted only-in-the-PT-office isolation movements, but mercifully it doesn't sound like that's what you have been prescribed.
 
I had one of the best shoulder docs in the business. He knew right away what the problem was, but he confirmed it with both an MRI and a CT scan.
 
I'm looking for an alternative for BP and OHP that is safe for my shoulders.
Upright rows

Multiple shoulder injuries and surgeries and I used light halos, upright rows and TGUs for rehab after using the bands and pulleys to achieve full range of motion. Slowly increased the weight on all 3 over time.
 
Thanks for your inputs @Brett Jones @godjira1 @Bill Been @Bro Mo and @offwidth
All great points and I deeply appreciate you sharing them.

An update: My should is recovering faster and I'm officially off PT (last week).

For my training, I opted for the 40-day program using SQ, DL and Floor Presses. Smashed PRs in all of them. Introduced BP and OHP a couple of weeks (on the PT and Doc's orders) back and I've been faring well so far. I've lost some power in these two lifts for sure but I believe that's normal.

Next week I'll take a week off and run the 40-day program with modifications again and see how I progress in the BP and OHP.

For now, I'm focusing on taking it slow. And I'm in no rush to break PRs. Particularly for the two upper body lifts.

P.S. @Steve Freides — is there a way I could turn on email notifications for the updates on this or any other post that I follow?
 
P.S. @Steve Freides — is there a way I could turn on email notifications for the updates on this or any other post that I follow?
There are many options available here. For any thread, you can elect to Watch it, and then elect to receive email notifications. You should see a Watch Thread you can click on near the top of every page of any thread. You can also do the same with any forum.

-S-
 
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