Shoulder/back exercises after a trapezius/neck injury

Thotmilky
Thotmilky Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I strained my trapezius by doing overhead presses incorrectly , nothing serious just weakness in the shoulders if I do anything that engages the traps. I haven't been to the gym in over a month since the injury but it's not getting much better and I don't want to lose too much muscle. Doctor said I should be fine doing chest/legs/arms , but maybe you guys know any shoulder/back exercises that don't engage the trap muscle?

Replies

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,872 Member
    edited March 6
    Good news. Every workout is leg day! :smile:

    Most upper body work uses the traps to some degree. You can probably, hopefully, find alternatives to your current exercises which work for you without aggravating it, but I'd caution against going heavy since if your form breaks down that leads to other muscles pitching in, and you don't want to suddenly engage your traps to help with a heavy weight at this time.

    Here's an excellent vid from Dr. Mike at RP talking about training to recover from an injury. A lot of good, generic advice in here.

    In addition to what he says, you should spend time on rehab. Did the doctor give you any PT recs? I would think, and I'm not a doctor or PT to be clear, so take it with a grain of salt, you should focus on movements to move your scapulas. e.g. stretching arms over your head, using a band (preferably) or broom stick and slowly rotating your arms overhead from low front to low back and back again, light weight with bent over one armed db rows and full ROM, high rep face pulls, that sort of thing. Dead hangs are great for shoulder health generally. Doing some of those mobility movements after waking up would probably be a good idea too.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0NxT_32bc

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