how do you re-condition after a shoulder injury?

[builder206]

Rotator cuff injury. A year ago I gave myself partial-thickness tears at the right subscap and suprapsinatus tendons and a partly torn labrum. The surgeons called the overall injury “moderately severe.” The five sisters’ dating life went dark.

 

Therapy is over and I am rebuilding strength. All well & good. I’m posting to ask others here who have come back from rotator cuff injuries, what did you do to recondition specifically for climbing?

 

thanx

 

[denalidave]

Good timing on this thread for me as I am dealing with some shoulder cuff issues right now. Thanks...

[Crillz]

I never went to get my shoulder diagnosed, but I suspect a minor rotator cuff issue. I really noticed pulling rope through the autoblocked reverso 2 years ago.

 

What I have found, and also heard, is that doing shoulder specific weight training is a big benefit. These exercises will help strengthen the surrounding area and improve blood flow. I have noticed a considerable improvement in how my shoulder feels (how bad it hurts and when).

 

I'm no doc.

[Jon H]

Therabands!

 

Hurt my shoulder a couple years ago and wound up taking 4-5 months off climbing. I had my arm in a sling for 2 weeks, icing it 2-3 times a day. After the sling came off I let it rest for another 2-3 weeks and then got started on a theraband routine. Did about 20 minutes, twice a day.

 

Just tie it off to a doorknob and do every exercise you can think of. Lots of suggestions on youtube. Start with the softest band (yellow IIRC) and aim for high reps... you should be getting 20-30 reps of each movement and this isn't weightlifting, you don't want to go to till failure. Just get a nice warm feeling in the muscles.

 

Interior, exterior, anterior, posterior. Overheads. Flys. Presses. Do everything - it will build your shoulder back up.

 

And when you start climbing again, be REAL careful with open-shoulder moves. NO FULL REACH GASTONS!

 

 

[dennyt]

I've got a repaired left shoulder and an injured but unrepaired right shoulder. Multiple dislocations on each.

 

My routine is:

Pushups, Dips, Pullups

Cable machine: internal & external rotation, posterior rotation, one-armed pull-downs

Free-weights: bench rows. http://www.elements4health.com/images/stories/exercises/onearmdumbbellrow.jpg

 

Don't do the military press, I've heard it's bad for shoulders.

 

See a doctor and a PT for more specific recommendations.

 

Get really good with your feet, half the time I've hurt my shoulders it was from blown feet with my arms in a bad position. Become aware of your "safe" range of motion, and work around it.

[genepires]

try these routines. I do one of these2 times a week for prehab.

 

http://www.dieselcrew.com/how-to-shoulder-rehab

[Jim]

Ditto on free weights and multi-movements, but stretching is important. I had some shoulder over-use issues about 15 yrs ago and went into the PT. She asked if I streched and I said yes, every day. Arms and shoulders - I was like - what?

 

Here's and exercise to try. Place your arms behind your back and intertwine your fingers, palms facing out, thumbs up. Now rotate your thumbs toward your back and keep going. Back then I didn't get far and the PT said it was an indication of "tight' shoulders. Now I can rotate all the way thru so my palms are facing back out again, thumbs up, arms extended. Have had no recurrent shoulder issues.

[genepires]

that doesn't sound possible. are you a noodly rubber man?

[G-spotter]

Therabands!

 

Hurt my shoulder a couple years ago and wound up taking 4-5 months off climbing. I had my arm in a sling for 2 weeks, icing it 2-3 times a day. After the sling came off I let it rest for another 2-3 weeks and then got started on a theraband routine. Did about 20 minutes, twice a day.

 

Just tie it off to a doorknob and do every exercise you can think of. Lots of suggestions on youtube. Start with the softest band (yellow IIRC) and aim for high reps... you should be getting 20-30 reps of each movement and this isn't weightlifting, you don't want to go to till failure. Just get a nice warm feeling in the muscles.

 

Interior, exterior, anterior, posterior. Overheads. Flys. Presses. Do everything - it will build your shoulder back up.

 

And when you start climbing again, be REAL careful with open-shoulder moves. NO FULL REACH GASTONS!

 

 

+1 for Therabands, tons of reps and a proper routine from a PT.