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Bodyweight Dealing with a hypermobile shoulder

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mjikia

mjikia

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Hello,

As you can see in the attached picture I have a shoulder that can do something gnarly. I can literally relax my shoulder out of the socket and then put it back where it belongs without assistance from anyone else or even my right arm, just with the power of my mind.

IMG_20200821_110813.jpgThough a great party trick and absolutely painless (even enjoyable, like cracking your fingers) for the first time in my life i've run into a problem. After including the dead-hang pull-up in my routine, I've discovered that after pulling my shoulders down, the initial pull with my arms starts to painfully dislocate my shoulder. I can do a pull-up without the full extension btw.

Now a normal response to this would be to just skip the dead-hang pull-up entirely, but I know it can be fixed, because I could relax my left leg out of its socket as well, but it has stopped because of squats which I did a lot...like a lot (as a bonus Kim Kardashian would be jealous of my butt)

My question is, how can I strengthen my shoulders to address this, since barbell rows and military presses haven't worked (I do them a lot as well) also i've tried hanging, but this hasn't helped either. I thought about just trying this initial pull a lot until it stops hurting, but it hurts pretty bad. What do I do, has anyone had the same problem?

Clarifications: I do not feel any pain whatsoever doing anything else. Multiple doctors over my entire life have taken a look at this and said it's no big deal, it's just a hypermobile shoulder. It started when i was born and in the beginning my parents had to learn how to relocate my shoulder, because 20 trips to the hospital a day got old real fast. I've never had an involuntary dislocation since I was 2 years old.
 
mjikia said:
Hello,

As you can see in the attached picture I have a shoulder that can do something gnarly. I can literally relax my shoulder out of the socket and then put it back where it belongs without assistance from anyone else or even my right arm, just with the power of my mind.

View attachment 11189Though a great party trick and absolutely painless (even enjoyable, like cracking your fingers) for the first time in my life i've run into a problem. After including the dead-hang pull-up in my routine, I've discovered that after pulling my shoulders down, the initial pull with my arms starts to painfully dislocate my shoulder. I can do a pull-up without the full extension btw.

Now a normal response to this would be to just skip the dead-hang pull-up entirely, but I know it can be fixed, because I could relax my left leg out of its socket as well, but it has stopped because of squats which I did a lot...like a lot (as a bonus Kim Kardashian would be jealous of my butt)

My question is, how can I strengthen my shoulders to address this, since barbell rows and military presses haven't worked (I do them a lot as well) also i've tried hanging, but this hasn't helped either. I thought about just trying this initial pull a lot until it stops hurting, but it hurts pretty bad. What do I do, has anyone had the same problem?

Clarifications: I do not feel any pain whatsoever doing anything else. Multiple doctors over my entire life have taken a look at this and said it's no big deal, it's just a hypermobile shoulder. It started when i was born and in the beginning my parents had to learn how to relocate my shoulder, because 20 trips to the hospital a day got old real fast. I've never had an involuntary dislocation since I was 2 years old.
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Wow, that’s interesting!

Well if squats worked for your legs, there must be a way.

How do you react to push-ups, get-ups, bench presses?
 
Molson said:
Ok, and does it help in any way? Providing, you’ve spent the time on building quite a big volume with any of those?
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Get-ups I've only tried. Push-ups I test every couple month to gauge overall upper body fitness. Started with 3, currently at around 25 without breaks, but I've also gained around 15kilos in weight. Bench press, before the quarantine I worked up to 85 kilos from 30. After quarantine I focused on military press and worked up to 60 kilos just to get the 45 plates on the bar (for no other reason than ego) I've now switched back to bench press, but my form has suffered quite a bit so I'm focusing on form with 50 kilos.

Maybe I'm not at the level to switch to pullups?
 
mjikia said:
Get-ups I've only tried. Push-ups I test every couple month to gauge overall upper body fitness. Started with 3, currently at around 25 without breaks, but I've also gained around 15kilos in weight. Bench press, before the quarantine I worked up to 85 kilos from 30. After quarantine I focused on military press and worked up to 60 kilos just to get the 45 plates on the bar (for no other reason than ego) I've now switched back to bench press, but my form has suffered quite a bit so I'm focusing on form with 50 kilos.

Maybe I'm not at the level to switch to pullups?
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Pull-ups want to pull your shoulder out of the socket by default. What happens if you focus on packing the shoulders all the time while doing a dead hang or a pull-up?

With all the meat you’ve packed with that benching and pressing, did you find it change your shoulders at all?
 
Molson said:
Pull-ups want to pull your shoulder out of the socket by default. What happens if you focus on packing the shoulders all the time while doing a dead hang or a pull-up?

With all the meat you’ve packed with that benching and pressing, did you find it change your shoulders at all?
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I tried various tricks like that, switched to chinups, wider, narrower grip, it's going from the deadhang to the pullups that's tough.

Not really, its the same as it used to be. I'm thinking maybe it's the muscles that are hurting and not the joint? Like the muscles are trying to keep the shoulder in it's socket, but it's painful because I'm putting my bodyweight on them and it's too heavy? If so, then maybe it's just a matter of time?
 
Hypermobility can devolve into a pretty serious issue, especially as one becomes more physically active and older.

The chance that it can transition to something like a labrum tear is real.

I'd go see a physio.
 
I concur... I would seek advice from a medical professional. Preferably one who deals in sports medicine and / or orthopedic’s
 
watchnerd said:
I'd go see a physio.
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This.

Also some advice from someone who is NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL ;) :

You may not need to ditch pullups, but if you have hypermobility, you need to focus on ACTIVE hanging, not passive or dead hanging. Dead hanging is used more for people who have tight shoulders (who are more common i think than those with hyper mobile shoulders). You do not want to stretch out a joint that is already lax.

Your rotator cuff needs to work to keep the humerus in the socket (glenoid fossa). If you can't dead hang without pain it's very possible it's not strong enough to do so in that position.

Read this: RETHINKING SHOULDER POSITION IN CIRCUS ARTS - Cirque Physio - Dr. Jennifer Crane

pay particular attention to the section on hanging. You still will need to depress the shoulders when you initiate your pull ups, but when you hang at the bottom, don't go "dead." Instead use the advice this author advises. If pull ups are still painful, SEE A PHYSIO, but you might try just doing active hangs for time, to build up the appropriate strength and proprioception in the active hang.

Oh yeah, and go see a professional too :)
 
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