Some of you may have noticed in my training schedule that I’ve been getting back into the gym lately. In about 4 weeks I will be going back to my orthopedist for my final evaluation and release from physical therapy and (most of) its limitations.
The routine I’ve been doing bears little resemblance to my old routine. At this point in time I’m focused on developing strength rather than hypertrophy. The exercises have changed a lot as well, less compound movements at this point, more isolation, and no overhead lifts. Shoulder exercises have obviously been completely reworked. The old workout was Millitary Press, Front Rows, Upright Rows, and dumbbell Rear Delt Rows. In order to avoid subluxing my shoudlers anymore the dumbbell exercises are out and are replaced with cable column exercises. Millitary press increases stress on the shoulder joint and the joint capsule, the one I just got repaired. This is due to the compressive forces on the joint being greater than the abductor muscles can overcome to maintain proper joint spacing between the humerus and glenoid fossa. This causes various tendons/ligaments to become impinged and causes some other issues.
Now, if your shoulders are totally cool and you don’t have any other joint issues, Millitary presses really aren’t going to kill you. If you have good form, aren’t dicking around, and get plenty of recover you should be fine. However if you have a predisposition to having shoulder issues (me) you probably shouldn’t do them.
Another issue is martial arts. I theoretically could do Muay Thai again, but since I have a predisposition to having shoulder issues this could create problems for me. I’m not quite sure what to do with that, I’ve got some thinking to do and a few more shoulder evaluations before I’ll decide if I will go back to that.