Shoulder injury during period of inactivity

[TyphoidYellow]

Hi Coach,

I'm a 22 year old male intermediate following the Texas Method. My bodyweight is 200lbs and my lifts are:

Squat: 385lbs
Deadlift: 475lbs
Bench: 260lbs
Press: 190lbs
Power Cleans: 220 x 3 x 5 (Attempting 225 this week's workout!)
Power Snatch: 165 x 2 x 6 (Just started these - they're fun)

Chief Complaint:

My left shoulder hurts. I'm miserable when it comes to any form of study even tangentially related to human biology, but if I had to be more specific, I'd say it hurts where the top of the humerus meets the scapula.

Narrative describing the mechanism of injury:

The funny thing is my shoulder started hurting during a period of inactivity. I broke my hand (left hand) during a blocking drill for football, and my hand was set in a hard cast for 3 weeks starting the beginning of November 2012. During this time I was keeping up with my conditioning, but I decided to take a break from weightlifting and football - all I was doing were sprints and cone drills. About 2 weeks in I noticed that my left shoulder would hurt when I lifted it from the side - as in that dumbbell lateral raise exercise. It would hurt most when I bent my left elbow, formed a "chicken wing," and then raised my delicious arm from the side.

When my hand was removed from the cast, I reveled in having another appendage with which I could further masturbatory success. But more importantly, I started weightlifting again. I figured that inactivity triggered the pain, so some barbell medicine would be ideal. I deloaded my upper body lifts.

Until mid-December (remember, out of cast since 3rd week of November), my shoulder hurt during the press, bench press, and when I'd fuck around with it, chicken-winging and such. The pain was scaled to the weight I lifted. I could bench 185 with minimal pain, but at 225 it would really bother me. But then, in that second half of December, my shoulder didn't hurt during periods of rest (chicken-winging on days off), it hurt less during bench press worksets, and hurt a medium amount during the press worksets.

Nowadays my shoulder only hurts when I press, and less so after I warm-up, which really sucks because I hate doing warm-ups. I haven't a social life, so I get my young-and-dumb kicks by deviating from traditional weightlifting protocol instead of rebelling against the less metaphorical "man" with drunken peers.

Pain:

4 out of 10 on my first warm-up, and then it gradually decreases to a 3 during the course of my press workout. Or about an 8 if I just jump into my press workset. It does get better in my following sets too even if I forgo warm-ups. Jokes aside, I do usually do my warm-ups. Kind of.

The Pain part deux:

A sharp ache at its worst, a dull ache when it's better.

What makes it better:

Everything except pressing.

Signs and symptoms:

The area looks fine. My shoulders in particular aren't jacked and/or shredded, and this upsets me more than it should, but - fine, my shoulder looks fine.

Conclusion:

I guess given the linear progression in healing i.e. it stopped hurting when I rested, then it stopped hurting when I benched, and now it's hurting less as I press, I shouldn't be worried...but I typed all this shit out, so I'm gonna submit it anyway.

What is going on, anyway? What do you think happened to my shoulder?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think you aggravated the damn thing with your repeated elbow-flexed internally-rotated shoulder flexion. It is not logical that you actually injured it while doing nothing. have you done an anti-inflammatory course?

[AussieMikeInLondon]

Rip, do you recommend to keep lifting through the anti-inflammatory course if the pain is low level - 3 or less?

I have a similar low level pain when pressing. I'm on a course of anti-inflammatory's now - day 4 - (800mg IB, 4 times a day for 5 days) and due to press tomorrow. Shoulder feels good but not sure when I should go back to 3 x 5 as apposed to light 10's. I only feel pain on the front top of the deltoid and the deltopectorial triangle at the very top of the press.

Male - 31, 220lbs
Press 130lbs x 5

[rational]

Chins? Do you do them?

[TyphoidYellow]

Oh, that's not good. I'll cease what I thought to be a trivial litmus test to gauge healing.

I haven't done an anti-inflammatory course, no. I don't really know where to start either. I searched and came across a 5-day high dose ibuprofen protocol. Is that what I should do?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yes. Stop irritating the shoulder with a position that irritates it, take the NSAIDs, and train through it with the exercises that do not hurt it too badly.