Injured Right Shoulder

Hey members, I'm posting this to see if anyone else has had a similar problem and can offer some advice as far as recovery tips and how to ease my way into getting heavy again.

Here we go, so I just recently put decline barbell bench press back in my routine about a month and a half ago. It has been years since I did decline barbell bench press, however, I've kept other decline chest movements in my routine such as dumbbell flys and presses. For the most part, I would go light on my decline presses (225lbs-245lbs) for about 15-20 reps. I get the full range of motion excluding the lockout to keep the tension on my pectorals and I found adding decline to be quite effective. One thing I noticed though was that I had shoulder pains (not fatigue) the rest of the day, especially if I flexed my traps. The pain went away over night. That went on after all of my chest workouts for a good 3 weeks, but I figured since it went away the next day, it wasnt anything major. Then, a few weeks ago, it stayed and I still have the pain. It feels like it is located where the colar bone attaches to the shoulder bone. My doctor said to rest it for 3 weeks and then if it's not gone come on in. I still notice that the pain is more severe when I flex traps.

I cannot do any overhead pressing movements without feeling pain that I would rate a 8/10 (and I consider myself pretty tolerant to pain). I can still do all back workouts except deadlifts, all bicep workouts, only pressdowns for triceps, only cable crossovers for chest, and no deltoid workouts or trap workouts. Even on legs I feel pain when I'm doing squats due to the stretch the deltoids get holding each side of the bar. Has anyone else had a similar injury? Any advice? This is the first injury I've gotten that has limited my exercise list severely over my 4.5 years of training.

First off: I wasn't going to answer this post as I smell BS (either that or internet bragging).
What is your typical ROM on the exercise? I.e. do you take the bar to your sternum or your clavicle?
Where is the shoulder pain?
What type of pain is it?
Prior to this did you get this pain from BB decline or benching in general?
What free arm motions agrievate the pain?
Have you seen a sports doctor? If not why not? What have they said?

At a guess I would say that you have a mild seperation of the shoulder, but that is based on SFA information and severe generalisation.

Either what Tim said or a rotator cuff injury, most likely the susprinatus. This is from what I can tell from your E-stats is that you're most likely benching with poor form. Where is your hand and elbow position? Is your group directly parallel to the acronium? Please answer.

See a doctor, first off. Even if we figure it, there's little we can do. Second off however, the more flared your elbows are through the bench ROM, the more the delts are recruited and the heavier the strain on the RC.

My grip is fine I would say. It's not too wide and not too close. I dont know how else I can describe my grip width through words without getting too confusing. I lower to weight to I'd say nipple range. I pause for about half a second and then press up, but I dont lock out. I stop about an inch before locking out so I keep the tension where I want it. That form should be fine. No bouncing, no random breaks in form.

Decline seems to be where I may have injured it. Due to my short height (5'7), the bar is further back than for most people, so just taking the bar off the rack usually bugs my shoulders a bit. My form on decline is: I use the same grip as regular bench, I lower it maybe half an inch below my nipples, and I go about an inch short of locking out again.

There are no freearms motions that aggrivate the pain anymore. However, I cant lay down on my right side for very long without feeling pain in the same area. I notice when i flex my right trap, I feel the pain. It's not as bad as it was at first, but I'm not complaining about the casual pain, I'm troubled with the fact that I cant do any overhead pressing movements without having to stop due to possibly injuring it further. I called my doctor about a week after the injury because I noticed it wasnt getting any better and she told me to rest it for 3 more weeks and if it doesnt get better then I need to call back. So far I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to call back. I doubt this is a serious injury considering it's not ruining my daily activities outside of training, but I want this resolved. I've taken IB Profin for an antiinflamitory and found it to temporarily work as well as icing it. Should I just keep this up or should I consider calling the doc early?

I would go to the dokter, hes the one with the knowledge.

CRAZY CJ 20 said:

My grip is fine I would say. It's not too wide and not too close. I dont know how else I can describe my grip width through words without getting too confusing. I lower to weight to I'd say nipple range. I pause for about half a second and then press up, but I dont lock out. I stop about an inch before locking out so I keep the tension where I want it. That form should be fine. No bouncing, no random breaks in form.

Decline seems to be where I may have injured it. Due to my short height (5'7), the bar is further back than for most people, so just taking the bar off the rack usually bugs my shoulders a bit. My form on decline is: I use the same grip as regular bench, I lower it maybe half an inch below my nipples, and I go about an inch short of locking out again.

There are no freearms motions that aggrivate the pain anymore. However, I cant lay down on my right side for very long without feeling pain in the same area. I notice when i flex my right trap, I feel the pain. It's not as bad as it was at first, but I'm not complaining about the casual pain, I'm troubled with the fact that I cant do any overhead pressing movements without having to stop due to possibly injuring it further. I called my doctor about a week after the injury because I noticed it wasnt getting any better and she told me to rest it for 3 more weeks and if it doesnt get better then I need to call back. So far I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to call back. I doubt this is a serious injury considering it's not ruining my daily activities outside of training, but I want this resolved. I've taken IB Profin for an antiinflamitory and found it to temporarily work as well as icing it. Should I just keep this up or should I consider calling the doc early?

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My advice, and might seem to be the simplest advice and easy way out...just drop the decline bench man. It's a pointless exercise in my books. Any stimulation you receive from it can be achieved from a properly done flat bench. For some, it may even cause the lower portion of your chest or other areas used in synergist to look odd. Up to you though.

It sounds like a rotator cuff injury. On the web, not much I can say. However, I'd throw in some light internal and external rotations for the RC. Take only a few minutes to do and will help prevent any shoulder injuries due to imbalances in strength as you progress in your career.

Lastly, if ibuprofen doesn't work for the first 2 days, stop. It will work against you if you take it for extended periods of time. Call your doctor when the 3 wk mark hits. If he clears you, hit the weights light. Excessive weight will only cause more damage.

Good luck, and def. let us know things go! Hope that helped.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I got an x-ray done a few weeks ago and the results came back as a minor form of arthritus. The doc said it was from over-use. He said that the best I can do is get into phsical therapy but it will never go away, just calm down from time to time. Right now I'm easing into continuing my regular workouts by going light but I'm taking out decline bench because that seems to have sprouted this issue for me.

CRAZY CJ 20 said:

Here we go, so I just recently put decline barbell bench press back in my routine about a month and a half ago. It has been years since I did decline barbell bench press, however, I've kept other decline chest movements in my routine such as dumbbell flys and presses. For the most part, I would go light on my decline presses (225lbs-245lbs) for about 15-20 reps. I get the full range of motion excluding the lockout to keep the tension on my pectorals and I found adding decline to be quite effective. One thing I noticed though was that I had shoulder pains (not fatigue) the rest of the day, especially if I flexed my traps. The pain went away over night. That went on after all of my chest workouts for a good 3 weeks, but I figured since it went away the next day, it wasnt anything major. Then, a few weeks ago, it stayed and I still have the pain. It feels like it is located where the colar bone attaches to the shoulder bone. My doctor said to rest it for 3 weeks and then if it's not gone come on in. I still notice that the pain is more severe when I flex traps.

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Hmmmm....I'm confused

The Creator said:

Hmmmm....I'm confused

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After I read what you highlighted I really LOL'ed

^^ I think he means neck bone, because it's connected to the shoulder bone, which is connected to the arm bone.