Dsher10’s BodyBlog

Damn! Just when I was making some real progress I had to go and injure my right shoulder! Here I was, doing 300-pound negative benches and 75 pound dumbbell benches, etc, with no pain. But at my back/bicep workout on Friday I thought I would do a little overhead press on a simple machine, and with not that much weight, either (a warm-up). But when I pushed, it felt like an ice-pick had jammed into my right deltoid insert! I have no idea why. I had previously done plenty of overhead presses with 50-pound dumbbells and even 200-pound barbells, with no pain. I went ahead and finished the set carefully, with pain (stupid). The next few days my shoulder was so sore I had trouble even raising my arm in certain positions. This was in the same place I had injured my shoulder about 15-years ago while attempting 145-pound curls. It has been a tender spot ever since, but often nearly completely disappearing.

On Monday, as soon as I hit my first warm-up press with 135-pounds, that sharp pain lanced through my shoulder again, and I had to have my trainer catch the weight. Damn! We spent the remainder of the session (we almost canceled it) working “around” the problem, doing ancillary moves that supported my bench training but did not hurt.

That evening the pain was so bad that I couldn’t sleep. I made an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon/sports physician for Wednesday morning.  He said I didn’t apparently do any serious damage, but may have “de-laminated” my rotator cuff slightly. His advice: take anti-inflammation drugs (i.e., Advil) and give it six-weeks to recover. I can work out as long as I don’t hurt.

So now I’m delayed at least six weeks before I can even think about heavy bench workouts, and I don’t know how the injury may affect my other exercises routines… we shall see. I plan to take off a week for recovery, then use my time as best as possible laying foundation work for the resumption of my benching.

My new split routine is settling down nicely. I am making noticeable improvements in my benching after only three weeks. Yesterday I did a series of negatives, working on controlling the weight, and pyramided up to 300 pounds. That was a “magic” number for me that gave me confidence that I will meet or beat my 315 pound bench goal maybe before my birthday in May. My trainer thinks I might even hit it by March. If so, I have no plans to stop there!

My first “new” biceps workout was a killer! I began with four sets of wide grip pull-ups, than standing barbell curls, ten reps of 60, 70, 80, and then 90. That was followed by one-arm preacher dumbbell curls, five sets of 10 reps with a 30 (each arm), supersetted with hammer curls with 25’s. I finished up with 4 sets of 15 reps with a light 15-pound dumbbell, but I was fatigued enough that I had to work to complete the sets! I was amazed to have sore biceps the next few days! I have been working my biceps for a long time, and didn’t think I could get them that spot- worked, but I did, thanks to my trainer! By keeping this up, I’m sure to make good progress toward my 150 pound barbell curl goal! I may even (hopefully) experience some noticeable increases my biceps size.