How to program SS around shoulder issues?

[manis5]

So I have been following SS for the past few months now, getting my lifts back up after dealing with some back issues for a while. My right shoulder was also a slight issue but nothing to write home about. My goal at the time before I had to take a break from lifting was to hit a 1000lb total. I re-learned all the lifts starting with nothing but the bar and have been taking it really slow.

My back has been feeling better than ever but now my shoulders have been really acting up around the AC joint, particularly my right shoulder. Overhead pressing has gotten to be pretty painful and benching is starting to get slightly more painful (not as much as overhead). My shoulder isn't in terrible pain while pressing but enough to cause concern and I've noticed that they sort of get fatigued easily if I am doing simple things like brushing my teeth or combing my hair.

Squatting and deadlifting don't seem to be an issue but I'm not sure if they can potentially make the problem worse. The only time squatting bothers me is if I take too long during the set my shoulders will start to feel fatigued from keeping my elbows up supporting the bar. My plan going forward is this.

Mon-Squat
Wed-Deadlift/Bench (If I can do so pain free)
Fri-Squat

I have essentially taken out the press and will lower pressing volume to benching 1x a week if it is possible. I guess my main question is how should I go about working around this type of issue? Should I be doing some kind of PT shoulder strengthening exercises after the main movements sort of like the smitty diesel shoulder rehab vid on youtube if you guys are familiar with that or should I be following some other kind of rehab protocol. Im kinda stumped about going about this. Any tips would be extremely appreciated.

[madmaxaus]

So I have been following SS for the past few months now, getting my lifts back up after dealing with some back issues for a while. My right shoulder was also a slight issue but nothing to write home about. My goal at the time before I had to take a break from lifting was to hit a 1000lb total. I re-learned all the lifts starting with nothing but the bar and have been taking it really slow.

My back has been feeling better than ever but now my shoulders have been really acting up around the AC joint, particularly my right shoulder. Overhead pressing has gotten to be pretty painful and benching is starting to get slightly more painful (not as much as overhead). My shoulder isn't in terrible pain while pressing but enough to cause concern and I've noticed that they sort of get fatigued easily if I am doing simple things like brushing my teeth or combing my hair.

Squatting and deadlifting don't seem to be an issue but I'm not sure if they can potentially make the problem worse. The only time squatting bothers me is if I take too long during the set my shoulders will start to feel fatigued from keeping my elbows up supporting the bar. My plan going forward is this.

Mon-Squat
Wed-Deadlift/Bench (If I can do so pain free)
Fri-Squat

I have essentially taken out the press and will lower pressing volume to benching 1x a week if it is possible. I guess my main question is how should I go about working around this type of issue? Should I be doing some kind of PT shoulder strengthening exercises after the main movements sort of like the smitty diesel shoulder rehab vid on youtube if you guys are familiar with that or should I be following some other kind of rehab protocol. Im kinda stumped about going about this. Any tips would be extremely appreciated.

Ok, firstly, you need to get a diagnosis.

AC joint injuries are a pain, I know this from experience, and take it from me it's better to rest up and rehab for a bit, the alternative is surgery, which is a bitch. Furthermore, benching puts a lot of stress on the AC joint, probably even moreso than the press. If it were me, I would stop benching and pressing entirely for a few weeks, load up on ibuprofen and reassess the situation in a fortnight or so. If you are pain free, then slowly increase your lifting volume.

Rehab wise I found some of KStarr's mobility exercises to be helpful, along with foam rolling the t-spine and using a lacrosse ball. IMO resistance band exercises for the rotator cuff are pretty useless for the AC joint.

Again though, I suggest you get a real diagnosis for the injury.

Best of luck

[manis5]

Thanks a lot man I appreciate the advice. Do you think squatting and deadlifting would be an issue? (given the doctor doesn't say I have a serious shoulder issue). Is letting it heal really the only thing I can do once I find out what is going on or should I be trying to strengthen it by taking it through the full ranges of motion with minimal loads?

[Les Hahn]

Like JC said, try to find a way that you can do it near pain free. I would try different grip widths for benching, and if you can't press I would just drop that for now. So you could do something like this (for upper body):

Mon- Bench 3x5, normal SS progression
Wed- Close-grip bench 3x8 (lighter weight too, should be an easier day)
Fri- Bench 3x5, normal SS progression

I would probably throw some extra shoulder rehab work at the beginning and end of the workout. If you aren't doing it, throw in chins and other pulldowns (wide grip, etc.) too.

[boot29342342]

Like JC said, try to find a way that you can do it near pain free. I would try different grip widths for benching, and if you can't press I would just drop that for now. So you could do something like this (for upper body):

Mon- Bench 3x5, normal SS progression
Wed- Close-grip bench 3x8 (lighter weight too, should be an easier day)
Fri- Bench 3x5, normal SS progression

I would probably throw some extra shoulder rehab work at the beginning and end of the workout. If you aren't doing it, throw in chins and other pulldowns (wide grip, etc.) too.

^^^I was going to suggest chins or pulldowns, too (though obviously, you have to start slow and make sure you can do them pain free). It is often the case with musculoskeletal injuries that pushing hurts but pulling doesn't, and vice versa.

[manis5]

Thanks for the replies. I will keep an eye on things and see how I feel. I'll keep benching to 1x a week for a bit to assess things and if all goes well I'll try benching 2x a week. I'm not sure about chins or pulldowns because having my arms overhead seem to aggravate the area regardless of the type of movement. I did some pulldowns the other day and they felt pretty uncomfortable. It's difficult to know how to deal with it because I'm not in any severe pain or anything and I have pretty good ROM for the most part but like Jim Wendler said in the most recent video posted on the SS site I don't want to be the first guy to bench 135, I want to be benching 315+ 3 years from now. It's tempting to just train through it because I feel like I can but I wouldn't want to end up needing shoulder surgery before I even start lifting any significant amount of weight.

[Les Hahn]

Manis, can you do some kind of hammer strength iso row, or seated row. That should keep your arms down, but you can still get the benefit of doing rows.

[manis5]

I have been doing some dumbbell rows without any issues so far. Might add in some horizontal seated cable rows with a vbar attachment too if i can.