Work thru this pain--or not? I'm a newbie and 50+

[illstudio]

I need some advise. I'm new to this and older…

This January I turned 52 yrs old. Although fairly active, I have never worked out in life or joined a gym. Frankly time is at a premium as Im self -employed.
Anyway In Jan I decided to start strength training and purchased a Marcy MD-805 weight bench http://www.impex-fitness.com/proddetail ... number=284" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I also bought 300lbs of Olympic weights and 40lbs dumbbells. (If I join a gym, I know I'll never go, so this home system has to work for me. I work out 3x a week.)

I've been taking it easy gradually working way up the weights and seeing some modest gains. I mainly want to work on upper body and arms as I always looked like a 90lb weakling, even now when Im over weight. (I could probably stand to loose 30-40lbs ). I want to look good but I don't need to be the Hulk.

Recently Ive been experiencing pain in right shoulder, only the right. It seems to go down the side of the shoulder, sometimes down arm. question is, should I work through the pain, or should I stop for several weeks?
I don't want to lose modest gains in the chest/arms. Can I do exercises to maintain gains w/o putting strain on the right shoulder?

(I do decline, incline, regular bench presses and flys lying o the floor. I also do pulls from the leg weights on the machine. I don't know what they're called.)

Any advise would be appreciated…
Steve

[Boss Man]

You've got issues that need addressing with the Shoulder.

You perhaps have got some kind of development issue. Perhaps that part of the Shoulder isn't being trained properly relevant to other muscles.

You might be using inadequate technique when working that Shoulder, assuming it's a Shoulder based exercise that causes the problems.

I would suggest you have a technique issue that needs resolving, but not being able to know what you're doing that causes it, or being able to see how you do the exercise that causes the problem, I can't say much else.

[ultimatehlth]

Yeah, I agree. This could be an issue that could lead to worse problems. Sounds like it could be an impingement problem. If the pain is bad enough go get it evaluated. After that hire a trainer to come to your home for a few sessions to show you a program that is right for you with correct form.

[swanso5]

more then likely an impingement

1 - drop all straight bar pressing, shoulder and chest and do db's only in a pain free range of motion
2 - for every chest and shoulder rep you do then you must do 2 rowing reps which will mean a decrease of one or an increase of the other or both

also for your rowing movements, pull the shoulder blades back and down and hold them there for the entire set

[illstudio]

more then likely an impingement

1 - drop all straight bar pressing, shoulder and chest and do db's only in a pain free range of motion
2 - for every chest and shoulder rep you do then you must do 2 rowing reps which will mean a decrease of one or an increase of the other or both

also for your rowing movements, pull the shoulder blades back and down and hold them there for the entire set

Thanks!
Forgive me but I assume the rowing reps are on the back end of the machine I mention above? I also dont understand your #2 suggestion. Also what db's should I do for upper body as not to put stress on the problem shoulder area?
BTW: When in pain, the shoulder on very top has a very slight clicking or popping feeling if I feel with other hand. It seems to do it if I make a moderate mock locomotive engine rotation with shoulder and arm.

[swanso5]

- seated rows, standing rows, db rows, chest supported rows, bent rows, face pulls, scarecrows etc
- for db's still go as heavy as you can..if you set up like suggested then you still should be able to lift poain free with relatively heavy wt...be cionservative though if you're not sure
-

[illstudio]

- seated rows, standing rows, db rows, chest supported rows, bent rows, face pulls, scarecrows etc
- for db's still go as heavy as you can..if you set up like suggested then you still should be able to lift poain free with relatively heavy wt...be cionservative though if you're not sure
-

So its the bench presses that are causing the impingement (shoulder pain)?

[swanso5]

it's posture and muscular imbalance that's causing it

straight bar shoulder and bench pressing just makes it a lot worse

[illstudio]

it's posture and muscular imbalance that's causing it

straight bar shoulder and bench pressing just makes it a lot worse

Thank you.
I thought I was paying attention to the posture, but how do I address the muscular imbalance....?

[illstudio]

balance your workouts.

Thank you. explain please... What am I doing OUT of balance when I use equal weights on bb's and db's?

[swanso5]

if you have postural issues then you need to use an imbalanced program so you need more back work then chest/shoulder work and more glute/hamstring work then quad work and a shitload of core stabilisation work

[Boss Man]

Exactly. If you have postural issues or a muscle imbalance, it's probably due to you either working the body evenly, but having existing imblanaces from the off, which theerfore never get corrected, or you have been using a programme or programmes, that provide unequal workout methods, causing certain areas to become dominant over the opposing areas, I.E. bigger Quads than Hamstrings, bigger Chest than Back, bigger Biceps than Triceps.

You should try to get the smae amount of stimulus on all opposing muscle groups, which also means using the same rep speed and numbers, when you do alternate or one handed / legged exercises and also the same range of motion as well.

[illstudio]

Exactly. If you have postural issues or a muscle imbalance, it's probably due to you either working the body evenly, but having existing imblanaces from the off, which theerfore never get corrected, or you have been using a programme or programmes, that provide unequal workout methods, causing certain areas to become dominant over the opposing areas, I.E. bigger Quads than Hamstrings, bigger Chest than Back, bigger Biceps than Triceps.

You should try to get the smae amount of stimulus on all opposing muscle groups, which also means using the same rep speed and numbers, when you do alternate or one handed / legged exercises and also the same range of motion as well.

Ok I try again, using more balance and report back how it goes...