SUCCESS! and an issue I can't quite figure out

To skip the good news and get right to my problem, skip to the BUT about five inches down.

So over the last 4-5 months I've gone through this cycle:

1. Going hard, like a powerlifter! Old shoulder problems return.

2. Going carefully, trying to limit every movement before clicks, pops or pangs of pain. Not quite working.

3. Success! Baby steps! Feel like a beast!

As an example of what kind of baby steps I had to resort to, I'm doing sPL and HBP against a wall and, wow, does it feel good. Parts of my shoulder are way over developed and parts of my shoulder are way underdeveloped, it looks like I needed this extreme step backwards to get everything working. I've done wall push-ups before (Convict Conditioning), but i needed the mobility work of GB to get things sliding and turning as they should.

The last few workouts I feel amazing! No clicks! No pops! No pain! Plenty of hard work and sweat, even though I can rep out full push-ups for fifteen rep setss... these fifteen rep sets of wall push-ups are surprisingly challenging because there are parts of my shoulder that are challenged to grow by such a light resistance. I'm getting stronger each week and I feel great.

I'm doing MN, SLS and FL at the regular beginning point and not the baby step point because my body is fine with those movements. I'm doing SL at the first baby step stage that was posted here and it's doing great things for my ability to flex my spine and activate my glutes instead of my adductors.

Very happy with how my workouts are going, body finally coming together like I hoped when I got GB.

BUT

I can't figure out an ultra-baby step for RC. I tried sitting on the ground and doing the motion, but that's still too much weight. There's still popping and pain. I can do the motion without grabbing the rings, but any weight is too much weight.

So the one ultra-baby step I figured out is to statically hold the finished position with a pull-down machine. I'm starting light and REALLY concentrating on flexing the target muscles and so far it seems to be a worthwhile exercise. I can increase the weight easily enough.

Any other ideas? Anyone else have to ultra-baby step the RC/PE1 movement?

Lots of options:  You could try doing RC/PE1 with your bottom on the ground, do partial ROM, put bands under your armpits to take weight off, use a bar instead of rings and adjust the hand position. . .

Have you tried just setting the rings higher? If you set them high enough so that you are almost standing up, then the load will be reduced dramatically. You could either do very short ROM reps of the modified exercise or just hold the top position. Then you would reduce the height of the rings periodically. This is basically the same protocol used in the program to progress standard rows. I personally am using this idea to work towards full bulgarian rows, to good effect.

You could try a regression coach outlined one time for RC/PE1: Static hold at the top of the position (5x60s) then move to slow negatives (5x15x10s). IM stays the same.

Popping and pain?  Here is a baby step: GO TO A DOCTOR.  You shouldn't push through injury.

tex0413 said:

Lots of options:  You could try doing RC/PE1 with your bottom on the ground, do partial ROM, put bands under your armpits to take weight off, use a bar instead of rings and adjust the hand position. . .

Tried doing it with bottom on the ground: no dice. Will try playing around with a bar while sitting on the ground, that might eliminate some of the problem.

KibboKift said:

Have you tried just setting the rings higher? If you set them high enough so that you are almost standing up, then the load will be reduced dramatically. You could either do very short ROM reps of the modified exercise or just hold the top position. Then you would reduce the height of the rings periodically. This is basically the same protocol used in the program to progress standard rows. I personally am using this idea to work towards full bulgarian rows, to good effect.

You and tex both suggested doing a partial rom and I'm a little bit surprised that I never thought of that myself. I'm gong to play around with this and see what I can do. This would be a very easy solution.

Anze Merh said:

You could try a regression coach outlined one time for RC/PE1: Static hold at the top of the position (5x60s) then move to slow negatives (5x15x10s). IM stays the same.

This is what I'm doing with the static holds on a pull-down machine. So far it feels good.

greends said:

Popping and pain?  Here is a baby step: GO TO A DOCTOR.  You shouldn't push through injury.

Got an appointment set up with a specialist, but in the meantime I'm going to work around the injury instead of pushing through it. That's why I'm finding these baby-step workarounds which will still let me increase strength and mobility without aggravating anything.

I have my shoulder patients do a high incline row. So they are only using minimal resistance. Even the weakest patients can do these. For those without the equipment my next option is a dumbbell row. I follow the logic of these exercises and just try to make them as easy as possible for people with injuries. It like them start icing on RC/PE 0.1. Scapula shrugs against the wall are great. I even has some people do them on their back with a light weight after surgery. I still use the 15 rep template on them and it works wonders.

Keep up the good work and in a few years you will look back and be amazed how much better your shoulders are.