Adapted Stronglift 5x5?

ccsernica

I'm at a point, perhaps past the point, where I should begin some serious weight training, and unless I've misread the forums Stronglift 5x5 is a great program for beginners.

Unfortunately, I have a shoulder injury, with a more serious labral tear and a less serious rotator cuff tear, making the bench press and overhead press impossible with any serious amount of weight. Even shallow push-ups have been a problem. I may get surgery for it later this year, but that doesn't mean I want to slack off in the meantime.

Is there any way to work around this injury so as to still get in some kind of approximation of the upper body lifts?

julie_broadhead

Is there a way you can get a referral to a physical therapist?

SonyaCele

with injuries, i usually direct people to machines, rather than free-weights for that added stability and/or assistance.

ccsernica

Jtalaskamom wrote: »

Is there a way you can get a referral to a physical therapist?

I've been in physical therapy since August, but that's not going to help with a labral tear, which was only definitely diagnosed by MRI about a month ago. My insurance will pay for 60 visits a year, so at this point I've stopped seeing him to make sure I have enough visits available post-surgery. Pretty much all he was doing post-diagnosis was suggesting strengthening exercises I could do. I'm using some of them but I have no real program and I don't think I'm making any progress to speak of.

It's always been very difficult for me to make any gains with weight training anyway.

SonyaCele wrote: »

with injuries, i usually direct people to machines, rather than free-weights for that added stability and/or assistance.

Machines are actually worse for me in some cases, particularly with the overhead press. It fixes my shoulder in a very painful position. That's what sent me to free weights in the first place, back when I was in decent shape about 10 years ago and long before I suspected anything was seriously amiss.

SonyaCele

ccsernica wrote: »

Jtalaskamom wrote: »

Is there a way you can get a referral to a physical therapist?

I've been in physical therapy since August, but that's not going to help with a labral tear, which was only definitely diagnosed by MRI about a month ago. My insurance will pay for 60 visits a year, so at this point I've stopped seeing him to make sure I have enough visits available post-surgery. Pretty much all he was doing post-diagnosis was suggesting strengthening exercises I could do. I'm using some of them but I have no real program and I don't think I'm making any progress to speak of.

It's always been very difficult for me to make any gains with weight training anyway.

SonyaCele wrote: »

with injuries, i usually direct people to machines, rather than free-weights for that added stability and/or assistance.

Machines are actually worse for me in some cases, particularly with the overhead press. It fixes my shoulder in a very painful position. That's what sent me to free weights in the first place, back when I was in decent shape about 10 years ago and long before I suspected anything was seriously amiss.

well obviously dont do the OHP or any machine that cause pain. there are many upper body machines to choose from at gyms.

sgt1372

ccsernica wrote: »

Is there any way to work around this injury so as to still get in some kind of approximation of the upper body lifts?

Speaking as one who has had 2 rotator cuff surgeries (one in each shoulder) who could not lift effectively until the ladt shoulder cuff was repaired and fully healed, the answer unfortunately is NO.

CarlydogsMom

I had an injured shoulder joint (still sort of do) and I had a trainer show me a number of different exercises that were not painful at all. First, for the flat bench, he suggested using the decline bench (head lower than knees). Your arms push more downwards than straight up from horizontal. Worked really well, and now that I am a bit better, I still do declines. The angle really made a different in how it felt to my shoulder!

Instead of OHP, you can: 1) use dumbbells by placing them right in front of your face, with your hands/fingers facing each other rather than outward; 2) cable shoulder pushes where you set the cable at shoulder-height and push the handle outwards; 3) oh, what's it called, where one end of the barbell is on the floor, stabilized (like in a corner) and you lift the other end with one arm, leaning forward and pushing it over your head--the angle isn't straight overhead.

There are others, too. One of the main points of all these compound-lift programs is to progressively increase your weight; and while you may have to do more than one exercise to hit all the muscles one compound lift does, as long as you DO hit the majority, and lift progressively heavier weights, in a safe manner that does not exacerbate your injuries, you should be good.

Look on exrx.com for a huge list of exercises; apps like Jefit also have a wealth of alternative exercises. You should find something you can do.

I figure people may want to respond that "they're not the same thing..." but for the purposes of your average person looking to get stronger and begin weightlifting, with imbalances already existing, I think finding alternatives would be fine.

ccsernica

Thank you all! I'm going to carefully experiment with machines where I know I can adjust them to a safe range of motion, and see what I can get away with. My shoulder will let me know by the next day if I've done anything horrible.