Lost all the motivation after a big shoulder injury from being knocked off bike

pyrowill

Hey Guys,

Will try to keep this short but basically it's a I had an accident and lost all motivation kinda story.

I got knocked off my bike after a head on collision with an illegal turning scooter in London. Going through insurance rubbish right now but it's a long process, it's been 3 months and it looks like the long running injury is my left shoulder (and wrists a bit). After an MRI and Ultrasound it looks like I have a case of Tendinopathy/Tendonitus in that shoulder. It's incredibly painful, I can't even lift my left arm higher than 90º to do simple tasks such as a turning off a lightswitch without wincing.

So theres the background. And 3 days before this happened I had just started my new "I'll do it this time routine FFS!!" I really don't want to quit my gym, I hate in gym cardio, so thats out, I can do some movement like light bench pressing as the forward push motion seem fine, but I can't do any kind of lateral raising or overhead pushing. I don't want to go to the gym just to work legs abs and back but I might have to as I really don't want to quit but I'd like to justify the £40 a month membership.

Any tips for a) getting back on this horse and b) wise words to help me realise so what I can't do things at the gym that involve my shoulder (which honestly is a lot) there's all 'this' you can try. I can run and I can cycle (use to commute 40 miles a day), but I've just lost motivation with this stupid injury.

I'll conclude by saying yes I am seeking advice from my doctor, they are just being very slow about it as it goes through lawyers etc and will mostly likely just say physio required.

Thanks in advance.

iofred

Hey, condolences on what happened, but London traffic is a nightmare, even at quiet times ...
I used to have a frozen shoulder, and that makes you realize just how many exercises require shoulder involvement. But as you mentioned, look for toning (more reps) rather than strength (more weight) to keep you going. If your gym has the machines, try them and find you boundaries with a balance between the reps and the amount of weight that feels manageable, I started out with 10 rep sets, and aimed to increase it to 15 reps, upon which I started adding slightly more weight. Not optimal if you are looking for size, but amazing results if all of a sudden you get muscle definition .... obviously just my pennies worth of advice, but it helped me out big time

MeredithDeVoe1

I injured my shoulders last year doing too much Yoga (yes, you read that right) and my rotator cuffs were garbage (dressing and driving were agony). 5 months of PT did nothing for me. I bought Jim Johnson's Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff and within a few weeks started feeling waaay better. If you don't want to buy the book the just take my advice-- do the bands/weights but not more than 3 times a week! My PT had me doing all the exercises every day and I made no progress because I wasn't giving my shoulders time to heal. Now I am doing fine, but have to modify exercises so as not to strain my shoulders again.

Like iofred said, do some shoulder weight lifting but don't be going for the most weight. Again from Jim Johnson's book, do one set of 20 reps with as much weight as you can do 20 reps with. If it's too easy, add weight. Until your shoulders are really good, my advice is stick to 20 reps of each exercise, 2 or 3x weekly.

I have been doing HIIT workouts, but Burpees are a big no-no, as are Mountain Climbers or anything else that puts a lot of thrust on the shoulders. I am seeing fat loss after just a few weeks. Keep in mind I am post-menopausal and have basically NO metabolism left so any progress is a major victory for me! I mostly do lunges, squats, run in place, planking, jumping jacks (be careful with these, I only do one set because of my shoulders), etc.

Setbacks really suck, but if you persevere, in the end you will find your determination to continue is even greater. I am not in the best shape of my life, but the best shape of the past 20 years!

sbrandt37

I had a major shoulder injury many years ago from a mountain biking accident that required two surgeries and took a year to get back to mostly normal, and it will never again be 100%. I have also broken bones doing sports and had many other injuries.

One of the hardest things when training is to take a break to let yourself heal, and to maintain your positive attitude while doing so. Just know that your body needs to heal. Sometimes taking care of yourself means doing less, and this is one of those times.

If the gym bums you out, stay out of the gym for now and do physical therapy until your shoulder is working well enough to start working it again. But if you can run and cycle, then run and cycle! Run and cycle your *kitten* off! Focus on cardio, and set a new personal record!

Just don't let this setback mess with your head too much. Yes, it is difficult, but it is temporary. Do what you can to keep from falling too far backwards while it is healing.