Shoulder Injury Prevention: Tips and Tricks You Need to Know
You walk into the gym, skip the warm-up, load up the bar... and suddenly the session is over. Your shoulder is complaining. What happened?
Your shoulders give your upper body its stability. They are made up of muscles, tendons, ligaments, the joint capsule and the bursa. You load them most when training arms, back and chest – specifically in exercises like dips and dumbbell presses.
A shoulder can be overloaded, strained or torn
If you have had a tough session, your shoulder may just be overloaded. This pain should pass within 3 to 5 days. It is one of the less pleasant ways your body asks for a time-out. Listen to it, ice the shoulder and generally take it easy. If you can't go without training, do a leg day.
A strain shows up as muscle weakness, numbness, tingling and limited range of motion. If you strain it, cool the shoulder quickly, then gradually warm the muscle over the following days and support it with an elastic bandage. If the pain doesn't go away, see a physiotherapist. You can read about first aid for a strained muscle in this article.
A tear you will recognise immediately. You can't even move the shoulder and the pain will bring tears to your eyes. Here neither icing nor a macho "warm-up" will help. Don't play the hero – see a doctor. They will use an X-ray and an examination to determine the extent of the damage and suggest the right treatment. One rule applies universally, though: rest and recovery will be your best friends over the coming weeks.
How do you avoid injury?
- Mobility and flexibility – The alpha and omega of training every part of the body. For the shoulder, joint mobility is what matters most. Sufficient range of motion and joint coordination guarantee you stability and correct posture. You can read more about how flexibility and mobility make training more enjoyable here >> link.
- Bodyweight first, extra kilos later – If you can't manage regular push-ups, the bench press will be a problem even with a light weight. Perfect the movement with your own body and add load gradually.
- Tucked pelvis, braced core and a straight back – If you don't pay attention to proper technique, you will get injured very easily. Better to start with a lighter weight and focus on good form. At lower loads you may not feel the difference. But if you keep adding weight with poor technique, you will have one foot in the doctor's office.
With an injured shoulder, even reaching for the toilet paper can be agony. Neglected technique, poor mobility and insufficient recovery can lead to long-term problems and even a "frozen" shoulder. That is what you get when the tissues around the joint become inflamed and the whole shoulder loses mobility and stiffens up. Here too, prevention is the best cure. So even at tomorrow's session, don't forget to stretch, use a sensible load and keep your technique right. Regular visits to a massage therapist will also help you avoid injury.
If you want to know how to train weightlifting properly without hurting yourself, read this article.
