Strength training after a shoulder injury should be done with caution. It is the shoulders that usually carry a lot of weight, so secondary injury is easy, especially if we return to activity too quickly.
The most important thing is to properly prepare for return to form – always after consulting a doctor (also sports medicine) and a physiotherapist. If stabilizers or drug treatment are used, it is imperative that the therapy be terminated.
Training after shoulder injury – what is strictly prohibited?
After completing your treatment, you should never reach for heavy loads too quickly. Even if the training was previously carried out with a heavy load, in the first stage you should increase it very gradually.
The most important thing is to do exercises that do not cause pain – it marks the limit of what is allowed and what should be stopped. Even a slight stab is a sign of too much overload. Additionally, each movement should be performed correctly when it comes to technique – wrong hand positioning can dangerously overload the joint.
You should give up, among others with the so-called “Bench press” on the shoulders and chest and pulling the barbell along the body (the so-called deadlift). It is better to conduct a gentle peripheral training, also strengthening the other muscles, and then turn on the “bench press” – first without weight (in order to develop the right movement), and then with a slight load. Shoulder rotator cuff exercises help to get back into shape.
During convalescence, support the body with additional supplementation. It is not advisable to use painkillers before training as your body will not be able to send out warning signals.
Exercise with the weight of your own body
It happens that, despite properly performed rehabilitation, the pain persists. In such cases, if someone is professionally involved in lifting weights, he must take into account the necessity to undergo surgery and implantation, as well as long rehabilitation. However, even this does not give a 100% guarantee of complete symptom relief. It also does not eliminate the risk of recurrence of injury.
However, if you only plan to return to recreational activity, it is worth considering functional training with TRX tapes. The work gives very good results, it is especially appreciated by people with damaged shoulders. With the use of tapes hanging on the bar, you can basically safely work on every muscle and systematically increase the load. It is very possible that the use of TRX will enable a return to weightlifting.
As with classic strength training, the most important thing is not to start too early and from too high a level. Physiotherapist care will significantly reduce the recovery time.