a few years ago, i had a wee bit of an accident at the gym (that involved my shoulder dislocating and then popping itself back into joint…guess my shoulder thought it was bad idea after all…). i lost all use of my arm for roughly two months, but regained approx 95%, or so the physio (sp?) therapist said. needless to say, in those two months, i lost all the muslce i had built in my arm. now, even thought it’s been a few years, my shoulder simply refuses to bulk up and takes a very long time to even increase strenght…and curiously, the other shoulder, which was fine, is now doing the same. does anyone have any tips on how i can correct this? i’ve been hitting gyms on an off since the injury and presently have been been going pretty hard for the past 6-7 weeks and while i’ve noticed an increase in my arms and chest, the shoulders still don’t want to do anything. any help would be much appreciated…
Just some random ideas about building.
Symmetry is huge. When you’re lifting weights, you use matched pairs. Not a 50 on one arm and a 20 on the other. So the reason why your good shoulder is lagging is probably because you’re training it the same way as the compromised one.
Normally I’d say that you train around your injury, but it seems to be important to you and this is a long term affair.
If you need to strengthen the shoulder itself, low weight, high reps, just like in therapy.
if you are lookign for size, I’d recommend you do some endurance training (4x12) before going into power training (1x8, 1x6, 1x4, 1x2 in ascending weight with sets of 10 at superlight weight after each power set to maintain and work the pump). Power training will be hell on that shoulder if the injury is still there. I would be careful.
Also, what lifts are you doing for the shoulder? Shoulder presses are still the king of shoulder work, preferably with dumbells. I also usually do front and side raises, shrugs and seated shoulder butterflies. It will depend on the equipment you have available to you.
In any case. Let me know how it goes. 
Rob,
You’re lifting but not making any gains? Check that you’re doing the following:
Eating:
(1) You need to be eating at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (per day)
(2) You need to be eating 10 to 12 times your body weight in calories (per day).
(3) Drink LOTS of water. It makes a huge difference.
Training:
Without going into too much detail (I just don’t have time tonight)
(1) For every set you do, your weight needs to be heavy enough so that the 10th or 12th rep ends in failure. Take special care in getting your form down before you do, though (because of your injury). If your form is good, you’ll be okay.
(2) Don’t over-train. Your muscles grow only when you’re resting, not when you’re working out. Therefore, you need to give your body ample rest between workouts. The amount of rest depends on the amount of work you’re doing. As an example, I only train each muscle group twice per week. If I do a workout on Monday, I’ll wait 4 days before I work the same muscle group again. And of course, I work more than one muscle group at a time, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. I do a total of 4 workouts per week, not counting cardio training.
Miscellaneous:
(1) You need to be getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. This is hugely important for the reason stated above (i.e. muscles grow at rest.) Your body makes a chemical (can’t recall the name right now) that’s responsible for repairing your body (bones, muscles, etc), and can only produce the chemical when it’s dark and when you’re asleep.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Rob -
Just to add more food for your thoughts you also might consider another regimen that has proven affective for strength gain. Not for ‘bodybuilding,’ but for strength.
Basically its this - “Lif heavy, low reps and don’t train to failure.” (As in maxxed out rep muscle failure.)
I.e. - for curls - if 100 lbs. is your max amount for 1 rep, then do sets of 8 reps, or 4 reps, each with 60, 70, 80 lbs with a very short rest between aets. This is part of a program that has been found to be very efective for the power-lifter group and some in rehab for muscle loss injuries. The theory is to not max out’ with excessive reps. This maxing out destroys muscle fiber tissue which then has to be rebuilt each time. Thus the need for ‘days off to rebuild’ syndrome. Don’t tear it up and you do’t have to rebuild it.
This is a brief over-view.
Here are some links to help explain this in better detail. Ignore the hype and look at the physiological info:
myodynamics.com/articles/pavel.html
bodybuilding.com/fun/mm2.htm - in particular the 5x5x5 routine for strength gain.
t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=151russ - part 1
t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=152russ - part 2
This should give you a good overview of the science behind this program.
Good luck!
On the topic of weights, I would be grateful if anyone could tell me their opinon on whether the following is helpful for me.
I am slim guy with not much experience of weights, but otherwise not in bad shape. A few months ago got a full bar weight, i.e. for bench press, but I don’t have a bench. I mostly just push it straight up over my head while standing up straight. However the weight is such that I can’t do more than 7 reps at a time.
At the moment I’m lifting that five days a week, usually only about 20 reps per day (I’m lazy). That is enough to feel pain/ache the next day, but I wonder if doing that little is doing any good. Or whether it would be more helpful to get lighter weights and do more reps, at least until I build up more muscle. Feel free to lay into me because know I don’t have a clue about this kind of thing. Thanks.
haribo -
I think if you’ll look at the links I put up for Rob you might get some ideas and answers.
For basic strength gains there is a lot to be said for performing 3 or 4 very basic weight excercises. Dead-lift, Squat & bench and/or overhead press do wonders for building what is referred to as “core strength.”
God luck and be patient.
[quote=“haribo”]On the topic of weights, I would be grateful if anyone could tell me their opinon on whether the following is helpful for me.
I am slim guy with not much experience of weights, but otherwise not in bad shape. A few months ago got a full bar weight, i.e. for bench press, but I don’t have a bench. I mostly just push it straight up over my head while standing up straight. However the weight is such that I can’t do more than 7 reps at a time.
At the moment I’m lifting that five days a week, usually only about 20 reps per day (I’m lazy). That is enough to feel pain/ache the next day, but I wonder if doing that little is doing any good. Or whether it would be more helpful to get lighter weights and do more reps, at least until I build up more muscle. Feel free to lay into me because know I don’t have a clue about this kind of thing. Thanks.[/quote]
It really depends on what your goals are. It seems like a lot of “slim guys” are interested in bulking, but maybe that’s not what you’re after. Some people are looking for strength, and some for the cosmetic/aesthetic benefits (i.e. the Greek statue look). And some do it for general health…
You can do a lot with your bar, but you need to be specific about your goals before we can give you any direction.
I know a little bit about shoulder injuries and weight training, so I’ll pipe in.
After several years of dealing with shoulder dislocations in competetive wrestling, I eventually had a really bad dislocation resulting in surgeries and many months of rehab. It took about 2 years for my shoulder to feel “good” again.
But that was 5 years ago, and today it doesn’t affect my weight lifting at all.
If you are recovered from your injury, you shouldn’t have to worry about your injury at all.
I don’t want to get in any lifting debates today, so I won’t state my opinions on stuff like reps, sets, etc. But one thing that seems to hamper the progess of many people on their shoulders is bad form. In particular, you need to work the complete range of motion without resting at the top or bottom of the motion.
Also, your bread & butter shoulder exercises are military barbell press, dumbbell shoulder press, and lateral dumbbell raises.
DO NOT do any shoulder presses behind the neck. Some people think this is a great excercise because it is difficult, but it is difficult because of adverse biomechanics.
Just on the issue of form and injuries.
- Transition of free weights from floor/ rack etc to exercise position.
Really important to move the weights smoothly into position.
- Smooth movement. Jerky action particularly at the start of a movement is going to stress old injuries and increase the chance of new ones.
There is always a flavor of the month for diet and training routines. That keeps the magazines in business. Some of the basics stay the same.
Just my .02 nt worth.
Stay away from medicine, as that just covers the problems. To rebuild damaged cartiladge, take Glucosamine Sulfate and Condrotin, not from a Pharmacy (low quality) For the muscle growth, to rebuild damaged muscle, Glutamin is best.