Shoulder rehab for an Olympic Weightlifter via gymnastic strength training

Hi, my name is Clancy Benton and I had a question that I hope you can help me out with. I am an Olympic Weightlifter and I recently dislocated my shoulder while  performing a jerk. I've had surgery on a torn rotator cuff about 10 years ago and I'm assuming that had something to do with the dislocation. I haven't had the  MRI yet to actually see what the damage is but the symptoms are leading me to believe another torn rotator cuff and possibly a torn labrum from the dislocation. Anyway, my question is if you guys had any shoulder rehab advice. Once I have surgery (if I'll need it) I would like to have the strongest shoulders possible to make a come back. I really don't want to be scared of another dislocation from unhealthy shoulders. Please help me out so I can get back to training hard as soon as possible. Thank you for you time. 

All the best,

Clancy Benton

A torn labrum is no joke. You're looking at minimum three months post surgery before you're cleared for activity. Personally I was told to avoid contact sports for twelve months. In terms of snatching and jerking and its impact on the shoulder girdle, I'd definitely rate that as up there with contact sports...

I've used F1 and H1 to rehab my bankart lesion (sounds like what you got) with great results, but I didn't start doing that until 2012, nearly six years post surgery so my experience could be very different from yours. Try pm'ing Daniel Burnham on this forum, he's recently undergone surgery for a torn labrum, and is rehabbing using F1 and H1, he should be able to give you advice.

I routinely use Foundation and Handstand exercises for my shoulder patients. They range from athletes to the elderly. The we exercises work well with all shoulder injuries and in particular post dislocation. I even use variations of them post surgery and it really accelerates their rehab.

I would get the MRI to see what structural damage you have done. Once you own Foundation and Handstand you can access that forum where you can discuss how to specifically use the exercises to get you back to lifting.

Foundation and Handstand will also help you with your lifting. The Chinese lifters use gymnastics quite a lot with their training and it is obviously helping them.

Thank both of you guys for the responses! I really appreciate it. I already own Foundation 1 but not Handstand 1. I plan on purchasing Handstand one as well as the rest of the Foundation series very soon. Within the Foundation forum, is there a specific topic I should look for that will lead me to what exercises I should be doing and in what order, or would it be a good idea to just start with the beginning of foundation and work through? I'm new to the forums so forgive me for the questions. I just really believe in  Gymnastic Strength Training™ for rehabilitation but I'm no PT and just want to go about it the right way so I can get back to training Olympic Weightlifting. I also coach a small Weightlifting team and would love to know what exercises to use to build up a bulletproof shoulder girdle for my athletes so they wont have to go through the same injuries as me. Once again thank ya'll for your responses.

All the best,

Clancy Benton 

I highly recommend H1. It's helping my shoulder mobility intensely.

I am about 4 weeks post shoulder dislocation. MRI found a partial labrum tear. My surgeon advised therapy for 90 days and if it didn't feel stable we would look at surgery.  

I have been working very slowly with F1 after clearing the exercises with my physical therapist. While the pain has gone, range of motion and strength is limited. 

In the coming weeks I hope to add H1 and some other shoulder resources from Ido Portal that a weightlifting coach suggested.

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