For the past 7 months I have had a problem with my right shoulder. It was caused due to carrying a heavy bag (20kg) on my right shoulder for a couple of months.
I first noticed the problem when I was in the gym one day training chest, I could not contract my right pec properly as my right shoulder was burning and I had to terminate the set. This also caused my left pec to become larger than the right.
I laid off of training for a couple of months, but when I went back the problem had not gone away.
I am also having a hard time contracting my back evenly (get a pain in my rear delt) and when I try to stretch my right latissimus dorsi, it feels like I am going to pull the shoulder out of its socket.
My right shoulder has also dropped and is lower than my left. I can also not do dumbbell/barbell pullovers because on the lowering portion of the lift it feels like I will discolate my right shoulder.
Does anyone know what has happened and how I can fix this problem? I can not afford to spend $60 a week on physio's etc.
I really want to get back into the gym, I am 19 and this is the best time of my life to put on muscle mass as I would like to compete in natural shows when I am older, every day I sit at home it feels like time is slipping away, please help!
Well that is just the thing, I've spent over £350 (thats what? $700?) on 3 physios, 1 chiropractor & 1 reflexologist.
They've all said different things:
Physio 1: Do thoracic extensions on a foam roller
Physio 2: Do band external rotations
Physio 3: Try and squeeze your scapula together with rhomboids on both sides (instead of 1 trap 1 rhomboid) - this helped quite a bit actually.
Chiropractor: He just cracked my back every time and charged me an assload of money for that.
Reflexologist: He told me to swing my shoulder around as fast as possible and build up to 100 rotations.
Now i've been doing all of these (except for what the reflexologist told me) and the situation hasn't really changed.
*HOWEVER*-
I went to the gym today to do light weights and see if I could work the right pec and my back here's what happened:
On hammer strength flat bench press, I found that it was the same as usual, my delt was burning before my pec felt anything and I had to stop. BUT, then I did the reps real slow, and noticed my RIGHT ARM WAS COMING DOWN LOWER than my left, I made the right arm stop going down so far and I started feeling my right pec!
I did some flexibility tests on myself just now and found out my right shoulder is a ton more flexible and unstable than my left.
I also looked in the mirror and found that my right side is pulled further back than my left.
So what should I do?
I think I need to stabilize my right shoulder and stop it from being so much more flexibile than my left, and try and rotate my body so my right side doesn't pull back as much.
All those specialists and still not fixed? Damn,that really really sucks!
Did they tell you at least what was wrong with your shoulder?
Perhaps we can help from there, otherwise I have no idea what's causing the pain (increased assymetrical flexibility shouldn't be an issue if it's not too large a difference).
Physio 3 said the bag over-stretched my trap and pulled my shoulder down and back.
There really isn't any pain, just pure discomfort and an awareness that my right shoulder is less stable than my left. My delt burns during the chest exercises like it would if you are doing dumbbell presses or lateral raises.
So basically I need to do exercises to bring my shoulder up level with the other, and rotate my body so my right side is not pulled back further than the left. I need to stabilize it as well.
The increased assymetrical flexibility on the right shoulder is quite a big difference, very noticable, it's just causing instability.
Physio 3 said the bag over-stretched my trap and pulled my shoulder down and back.
There really isn't any pain, just pure discomfort and an awareness that my right shoulder is less stable than my left. My delt burns during the chest exercises like it would if you are doing dumbbell presses or lateral raises.
So basically I need to do exercises to bring my shoulder up level with the other, and rotate my body so my right side is not pulled back further than the left. I need to stabilize it as well.
The increased assymetrical flexibility on the right shoulder is quite a big difference, very noticable, it's just causing instability.
Over-stretched trap? Hmmm...
Are there any positions to put your arm in that lessens the pain? Are you able to stretch your neck either way roughly the same distance (pull sideways on your head trying to touch your ear to your shoulder)?
Well when I stretch my neck (side to side) it is a lot tighter when I stretch my right side.
As for comfortable arm positions, it is slightly more comfortable while I am doing bent over dumbbell rows (same as barbell rows but with 2 dumbbells at the same time)
Shall I just train regularly (to add muscle around right shoulder to stabilize it) and add in rotational twists to pull my right side forward?
I got the ball rolling for an MRI scan today from my local GP.
I am going to start training (try training for 7 months and watch yourself get smaller and smaller, it's very depressing!), I haven't trained for 7 months and it hasn't made the problem any better, so I might as well train to try and improve my posture (which has got worse since I stopped training).
My posture isn't the best:
Kyphosis
Lordosis,
Pronounced forward head posture
Externally rotated humerus (RIGHT ARM)
Internally rotated humerus (LEFT ARM)
Slightly lowered shoulder (RIGHT SIDE) - about half an inch lower.
Knock knee
I believe if I fix the above my problem will be almost non-existant, of course that is easier said than done.
Do you guys have any suggestions to fix these posture problems?
I've lost over 15 fucking lbs since I stopped training, I don't want to lose anymore, the best time of my life to train is slowly fading away.
I'll attach some front/back pictures so you guys can see what I mean about one side being further back than the other -
