Long head of biceps tendonitis - any tips for getting back into training?

[Max W]

Hey Rip,

I finally decided to bite the bullet and see an orthopedic doctor about some long-term anterior shoulder issues I’ve been having (I’m a 21 year old male). He concluded that I either have tendonitis in the long head of both of my biceps, or a torn labrum in the same place on both shoulders - he said the former was more likely because the latter would be improbable. The injuries were the result of dipping/benching with poor form (pre Starting Strength).

His advice was to take around 6 weeks off from most upper body training, take 500mg NSAIDs 2x daily, and perform a pretty aggressive daily internal/external rotation rotator cuff routine. I definitely don’t mind taking time off if it fixes my damn shoulders, but I was hoping you might be able to give some tips for getting back into barbell training once I get the green light. Should I make training modifications like reduced ROM?

As you can imagine, benching and pressing are currently out, as well as deadlifting (stretches the tendon) and squatting (puts shoulder in awkward spot). So for the moment, the sum total of my workout routine is leg pressing, like a complete dork.

I also saw you talk about doing sets of 25 “90-degree-elbow barbell curls” on a previous post about this issue - they look useful, but how would you go about programming them? How many sets/how many times per week?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

[Mark Rippetoe]

Before you post: READ THIS

[Griffin727]

Hey friend, your issue spoke to me. I'm 26 I hurt both my shoulders at your age and it took 3 different doctors till I got it fixed, orthopedic surgeons to be exact. I had pain in the front and on the side of the shoulder. Yes let the inflamation die down for a few weeks 6 is good. Then start back doing over head press and rows at lighter weight prob 30 percent less then you normally do. Then start linner progess, yes there will be some pain with this but not the point you cant wash your hair in the shower. If other 12 weeks this doesnt work you still have alot of pain and alot of clicking and poping like I did you may have a thicking of the acromion bone or a bone spur on the acromion pinchen the superspantus and long head of bicep. This can also cause labrum issues because the labeum starts getting pulled on by the long head of bicep. I have had both my shoulder surgically done. I had small roator cuff repaire with bicep tenodesis and labrum debridement. This take time to heal. Like a year before you are back to like it never happend. You have to take it slow coming back. Ripptoe has a video on this. I took it slower then he did because I'm a worrie wart. Best of luck it will get better if not sooner then later. An surgery doesnt suck that bad I took zero pain killers. Just sleep in a lazy boy.

[Max W]

Many thanks for the advice! I’ve pretty much come to terms with the fact that I need to grit my teeth and take it slow