Greasing the groove - any pointers?

yirara wrote: »

Thanks a lot. Muscle dude seems to be mostly focussing on looks, not strength. Looks is totally not important to me.

Ok, more info: while looking the same, a previously injured shoulder only has 50% of the strength of the other side. And the second asymmetry: some of my muscles are basically atrophic and when doing something that should use them all the other muscles take over and the shot ones sleep on. So I really want to focus more on those two things. Just training standard strength doesn't work. That's why I was thinking going down that route very, very slowly a few times per day.

I've used GTG as a method to improve my max reps in both pull ups and press ups. Lots of sub maximum efforts throughout the day every day. It's both time consuming and sometimes inconvenient, however It did produce results.
I suppose you could use it as a method to correct muscle imbalance, however I believe you would be much better served by really focusing on mobility drills and unilateral training.
Try stick to dumbells or bands instead of barbells and slightly increase the volume on your weaker side during your normal workouts. Example: do a set of seated dumbbell shoulder press then drop the weights pick up a lighter weight and push out a few more reps just on your weaker side. Do one arm cable or banded pull downs, priorising your weaker side, anything that helps you really dial down into the muscles of your shoulder girdle particularly the ones you have damaged. Don't go crazy, it will take time and effort. Always concentrate on the movement and how the muscle feels as opposed to the ammount of weight you can push. Again I emphasise It will take time and effort
Test yourself, compare the Range Of Motion you have in your good shoulder compared to your weaker side. (I was actually shocked at the difference in my own shoulders). You can find tons of videos on YouTube about shoulder ROM. Also take a look at videos on nerve flossing/ nerve glides.

The above method Is what i am currently using to rehab my own injured left shoulder (2 x rotor cuff injuries). I feel your pain

Lastly, i am a fully qualified PT and Exercise Referral instructor, (however I am not a trained physiotherapist or a doctor) so if you havent seen a medical professional or had a proper diagnosis of your injury id strongly advise that you do that prior to any thing else.

All the very best, Glen

yirara wrote: »

Hi there,
yeah, I tried getting further with just using proper weights. But unfortunately no success. Just no improvement at all. That's why I thought it's time to try something else. Mind you, the accident was 1.5 years ago and the second surgery a year ago. I do have a congenital myopathy that hits different muscles at different severity (just been diagnosed), and I do wonder whether some of the involved muscles are among the bad ones. One thing is certain: I'm finally getting a bit better. Will be super slow if it works, but there's a difference between super slow and no improvement at all.

I don’t have myopathy so can’t compare results, but I credit my S&C coach with getting my shoulder muscles working again after a rotator cuff tear. He had me do very detailed - and boring - exercises which went to pain and back again over and over. I hated them. But after two years of pain, weakness and v poor mobility, he actually sorted out the issue in under 6 months (and now I do all the OH stuff in my sport 😀).

I’m sure you’ve seen a range of experts, but I guess the moral of my story is that I had seen 4 different surgeons and had 3 steroid injections. Yet the right S&C sorted me out. So super-slow sounds hugely positive compared to what you had!