shoulder problems!

[aj25]

hi fellow spearchuckers!

About 2 weeks ago i was doing sum straight arm pullovers with a 20kg plate(quite an open exercise really) and durin a rep my shoulders went down to far with weight and shoulders locked,quite stiffly before make a deep clunking sound(right shoulder/bloody throwing arm) i have been tring to do some rehab on it,1 week prior to this i was throwing 50m which was my target for next year!!!!

Then...

last nite...

at...

alexander stadium...

i was slamming the crap out of my med balls. I began to do a floor exercise with the balls where you haveone ball in the middle/lower back and the other ball you lean back then throw! My shoulder then clicked the other way (same bloody shoulder..this is absolutley begiining to get up my arse as im finding it hard now to pull through straight over.) i dont know wetehr this is a good thing or bad thing as it does feel sore a little, possibly beacause of the manipulation.

guys any exercise/strengthning/rehab would be great


1 more thing....if i didnt do any med ball or weights for say...2 weeks so it can heal, and say focused more on track work and core stability would that still be ok???

rite..gotto get back to booking my flight to go watch rocky 6 dec 22nd

Bring back ivan drago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wez]

it sounds a bit like a rotator cuff muscle imbalance, but even if not it might be an idea to lay off it for a while. Rehab could be done with elastic pulling it in different directions with a straight arm. Down to up, up to down, left to right vice versa.

Other people might know more about it, as this is probably the one area i've never injured.

[slinger]

never ever hurt my shoulder either, but tbh i'd go and see a decent physio and ask there advice, it's hard to give advice over the net and really every situation is different, we could ,ake it even worse! and no-one wants that.....

go see a physio.

[mike]

I would avoid doing straight arm pullvers and chose something more specific which allows your arms to bend and therefore the shoulder to rotate as it should. I'm sure you don't throw with a straight arm (if so, why??) so use that type of exercise as specific training. Sequence is straight, to bent, to straight when throwing so try something like that, and bent arm pullovers into straight arms at the end of the pull are the best, I think, as long as your body initiates the movement. You are supposed to throw with a bent arm during the throw, that allows you to pull through the spear more efficiently and faster and better directed.
Plus, it doesn't hurt!!!!

[aj25]

thanks guys will do,,ne elbow strengthning tips at all?!

[Administrator]

HI AJ,

Something I found useful when doing rehab after my elbow operation was some exercises that concentrated on keeping the elbow in a fixed position at 90 degrees. I think they are really exercises for the shoulder, particularly the rotator cuff but I found that they really worked the muscles supporting the elbow isometrically.

Some examples are as follows:

Exercise 1 - Keeping the elbow locked at 90 degrees and focussing on keeping the arm very rigid in that position. Take the cable accross the body with external rotation at the shoulder. This should require for the biceps, triceps and brachialis all to be engaged throughout.

Position 1



Position 2



Exercise 2

Using the same principal this exercise requires the elbow to stay at 90 degrees while there is flexion at the knee joint.

Position 1



Position 2



Exercise 3

The opposite action to exercise 1 - with internal rotation at the shoulder joint.

Position 1



Position 2



Exercise 4

Opposite to exercise 2 with extension at the shoulde joint.

Position 1



Position 2



(In ex. 4 You should be pulling down on the cable - I've just copied earlier photos to show the arm positions)

[aj25]

hi j,cheers bruv,exercises look wicked will try them asap...

without sounding to greedy my elbow(prob tennis elbow) is killing me, ne ideas with that,this goes to ne1 who can help me, because my elbow feels like it wants to snap sumtimes.

[Patience]

Those exercises from James are great. I've spent many, many months doing them. A band is best. Start with a low resistance one and work your way up. Stop as soon as your shoulder starts hurting. As the shoulder begins to strengthen you can repeat these exercises to muscle burn. If you don't have a band, then a dumb bell can be used, but be very careful to move the dumb bell slowly and under control, otherwise you risk further damage to the shoulder as the dumb bell gains momentum.

The most useful exercises I have done for my shoulder have been 2 very simple scapula stability ones.

Lie face down on the floor with your forehead resting on the floor. Your arms are outstretched at either side in line with the shoulder with palms face down (like a cross). Now bend your elbows and move your hands so that they are "above" your head and your hands are in line with your ears and palms are still on the floor.
This is where you really need to think about positioning. Draw your shoulder blades back and down. You should feel a stretch across the top of the shoulders and your shoulder blades should be flat. If you are not used to holding your shoulder blades properly, you will probably feel a "stretch" in the back just below the blades. Now lift your elbows a few centimeters from the floor, keep your palms on the floor and hold for 5 to 10 secs. Lower to the floor and repeat for 10 to 15. You may find that you have to really concentrate on keeping the shoulder blades in the right position as they very easily move to a different position.

The second exercise is very similar. This time you life your hands a few cm off the floor and keep the elbows on the ground. As before, your shoulder blades should be drawn back and down. Hold for the same time and the same number of reps as above.

[Patience]

Oh, and to add to James exercises, you can also pull the band diagonally across your body. Start in position 2 of exercise 3. The band should be secured somewhere near the ground at the opposite foot of the hand you are holding the band with. Now move your arm diagonally across your body but do not rotate at the elbow. Your arm should be in line with your right shoulder with the elbow at 90 degrees and your hand in front of you in line with the floor, Now rotate your arm about your elbow, so that the forearm in still at 90 degrees to the upper arm and perpendicular to the floor.

This site has diagrams of the exercises I was trying to explain. They have a slightly different version of the one above, but it will work too. Click on the scapula stability exercises[/i] and use the "previous" key as that's where a lot of the useful exercises are.

[slinger]

argos, yes argos sell clingy bands at about a fiver for 3 differing strength bands.............worth a shot.

[Patience]

Try www.physique.co.uk
Oh, one very critical point to remember when using the bands is that other people will go on about the colour. "You want a red band for this, a blue band for that", etc. There is no uniformity, each manufacturer produces their own range. I even find physios appallingly bad for this. One physio went nuts at me for using a black band, which in their mind was the strongest, until I brought in my stash of bands. My black was their yellow!

[Patience]

Oh, and another thing - how many of us (or the athletes we coach) spend time on shoulder stability work?
We seem to do an awful lot of plyos and even some "core stability" work. But shoulder stability?
I find that peoples' interpretation of core stability differs. To some it's abdominal work only. I've always thought that some strangthening of the lower back muscles should also be included. And after spending a lot of time on shoulder stability, I would advocate that our core stability sessions should be for all our postural muscles and that includes the ones that hold our scapulas in place.
Or perhaps you are like me, the work which is now rehab work, doesn't get listed in the training plan because it is so much of a habit and is often done outside the main training sessions.

[slinger]

bring out the good old wobble board........stability of all muscles groups, joints etc is paramount.

my wife does jumps into the sand pit bare footed - single leg hops into the pit and holding the controlled landing with a bent leg, also, racking the sand with her feet - doing back flicks, sideways, circular motions, also sideways hops for stability with the same holding the landing in a controlled manner as before, also everything is done in reverse.

this is just an example of stability ex's for hips, knees and ankles......of course regular foot drills, hurdle drills ans such like will pay dividends too.

but it's important to remember that it's essential that this is the type of thing we do in readiness for jumps and other more stressful plyo's as A. it will give you the necessary conditioning to guard against injuries and B. ensure your muscles are used efficiently during your jumps and therefore you'll receive most benefit from them and your muscles.