Fitness after an injury?

vfett1018

So I was in a car accident almost two weeks ago. The xrays show I have a mild separation of my acromiom, (I think that's how you spell it), the collar bone and shoulder bone. Anyway this is in my right shoulder.
Well the week before that, I had a torn labral in my left shoulder.
Aside from that I've been good other than the annoying on and off headaches and lower back aches from laying down too long.

Anyway, my question is, Is there anything I can do fitness wise in my arms that wont put too much stress on my shoulders? I know this sounds ridiculous, but most of my gym time is spent on abs, legs, and arms.
I haven't been to the gym since my torn labral, but I'm going crazy not going and really worried about the first time I go.

Any advice would be great.

ME0172

I have bad shoulders and when mine are bothering me I do machines instead of free weights. This helps me a lot because then I'm not having to stabilize the weight and can just do the range of motion with the weight. Works for me anyway.

vfett1018

That makes sense. Thank you, I will try this out and see if it's okay. I usually do free weights, so this does sound like a better idea. Maybe lower the weights a little right?

edwardkim85

preacher curl light weight.

use barbells instead of dumb bells to avoid stressing out the shoulder.

If your gym has training barbells that weigh 15 lbs, or V bars that weigh 25 lbs, use that for preacher curls(bis)


any strain that hurts your shoulder = bad. I say stick to physio... I hurt my shoulder at least 5 times playing rugby and never let it heal properly... 10 years later?

Still hurts at certain ranges of motion and will never be 100%.

1 - 2 months off won't make your arm jiggly or fat. Just stick to the physiotherapist's advice and I say focus more on legs/abs. work on that bootayyyy

vfett1018

Ahhh I was just messaging you edward!
Nevermind thank you for all this. I have been to a physical therapist yet, and the doctor is so scatterbrained and not good at just giving advice, so I am clueless. Hopefully I will get more support on what to do when I go back next week.

And yes, I guess legs and abs will have to be all for the next month or so.

ME0172

Maybe lower the weights a little right?

I'm able to still do the same weight. It's whatever you can tolerate. If have any pain to the injured area then reduce the weight or stop.

cwtchme

As I have osteoarthritis in almost all of my joints, I find exercising difficult. I have recently been referred to my local leisure centre by my family doctor to help me get some of my movement back. They have suggested that I use the hydro gym. I've been on one session and it was brilliant. It's just normal gym equipment in a pool, so the water supports you while you work out. It also gives you that little extra resistance while you exercise.

Willbenchforcupcakes

Just coming back from an AC separation myself - my 5th or 6th. Spent the first two weeks after injury doing range of motion work for my shoulder, and body weight for lower body. After two weeks, I got clearance for very lightly weighted squats and deadlifts (working up to no more than 1/3 of my 1 rep max). After an ultrasound on my shoulder that gave me full clearance, I've been able to do full body, ramping up the weights as I feel I can handle it.

If this had been my first AC separation, would be working with physio. I know what to do, and exactly how hard I can push without injuring it further.

kapoorpk

I would strongly recommend full recovery through rest and whatever any rehab that is officially recommended. You run a risk of prolonged recovery or re-injury with a pre-maturely restarting workouts. Consult your chiropractor on what movements are beneficial to keep the healing on track. Once fully recovered, you will find that not much is lost and that it can be recovered rather quickly.

Good luck!