working out with dumpbells

ok - just call me 'j' then.

Or call you Ray. Just don't call you Johnson.

Hi first post - been lurking for a while too.

I have suffered pretty much the same sort of syptoms for the past 12 years since being knocked off a bike by a car and receiving a really bad shoulder injury.

I actually find that the syptoms are worse after a layoff from training due to other injuries. When I have a good routine in place I am bothered little by it. When I have had a lay off for over a month say sleeping in a different bed can throw it out.

The pain moves around - feeling as if it always starts under my shoulder blade but can migrate to the base of my skull or the middle of my back. When I get back into a training routine lateral raises seem to make it complain some at first (my shoulder makes some odd pops when on the lower when I first start doing these each time, for a couple of weeks).

The way I manage with it is to

1) I do lateral and inverted lateral raises nearly every other day with no weights! This is to keep the range of motion good.

2) stretches - don't know how to best describe them but if you look in a good coaching book for diving, say, you will find good exercises on how to stretch out various areas of the shoulders. I also dead hang for a few seconds a couple of times prior to training - this is just a habit of mine but may help by stretching the vertebrea out a little.

3) always make sure you warm up all of your back shoulders and *neck* prior to lifting and such

If it is the same problem: sympathies, as it can ****ing hurt. I have been unable to put a shirt on unassisted some days. If you can get to see a sports physio see what they say. Have you had any upper body injuries?

Hope this helps - I am not a physio or anything but have seen them numerous times in the past to manage this problem. I train for climbing so I pay good attention to the wellbeing of my shoulder joints and tendons.

Yes - same thing here.

When you say 'Diving' - my thought is 'scuba' .. but I presume you mean diving - as in going up a ladder and jumping off a platform into water. Because I know that my scuba stuff doesn't have any info on stretching.

Yes - I've had a few shoulder injuries. Back in my early 20's I screwed up my right shoulder when taking tennis lessons one time. Took a couple months to heal up. Doc (Navy docs) then gave me muscle relaxors, painpills and anti inflam to dope myself up with. Didn't get better till I got the flu and spent a week in bed not using the arm.

Then - about 3.5 yrs ago I was in a car accident. It mucked up my left shoulder pretty bad. So I get the pain in both shoulders - just as you described - starts under the shoulder blade, then it gets into the muscles and gets to the point where I can't even turn my head.

Doc's treatment was same - anti-inflam, muscle relax and pain pills. Take them for 2 weeks. But they knock me out.

I have found that keeping them healthy and strong is the key. Start light or even with no weight on the exercises that give you the problems and build up gradually accepting that their are some areas that you will have to live with making slow gains. Strength training with lateral raises I do not up the weight at all untill I can do 15 with spot on form.

Keep at it

I feel your pain:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T5EB21282

-Scott Johnson 'Always with the excuses for small legs. People like you are why they only open the top half of caskets.' -Tommy Bowen