Side levers and shoulder problems.

Hi, this is my first time posting here on gymnastic bodies and i'd just like to thank coach and everyone else here for providing such a great resource for training advice.

Anyway, just some background about myself to hopefully make some sense of the issues i've been having (feel free to skip down two paragraphs to get to my actual question). I'm 17, I've never had any gymnastic training, but I've been a wrestler for the past 6 years, and over the past 2 years or so I started having problems with shoulder subluxation, which is a temporary, partial dislocation of the shoulder joint. It would occur quite often during wrestling season, often several times per week, and each time the ligaments around the joint would grow weaker and consequently, the subluxations would become more and more frequent. Eventually i started going to physical therapy and that combined with a break from wrestling in the off season has tightened up the joint considerably.

Over the past few months i've taken an interest in hand balancing as well as achieving several basic gymnastic static holds (planche, front lever, back lever, V-sit etc). Surprisingly enough i haven't really run into many issues with my shoulders, the only exception to this being as follows: handstand presses (lowering myself back down into a tuck position with bent arms from a handstand results in some shoulder pain), hanging leg raises (when the shoulder joint is completely open it feels very unstable), and of course side levers.

I've been working on holding a side lever, or a human flag as im familiar with it, for a couple months now. I'm just a few degrees south of horizontal (http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll293/moefro777/?action=view&current=HumanFlag.jpg).

the problem is that the shoulder of my top arm is completely extended while im in the position, so similarly to when i'm doing hanging leg raises, the joint feels very unstable. When i try to go beyond horizontal, even in a tuck position i find that i have absolutely no ability to pull with my top arm, not only that but its quite painful and it feels like i'm basically hanging by the ligaments in my shoulder.

So my question is, does this seem like something that I could overcome simply by strengthening the required muscles to stabilize my shoulders, and if so are there any exercises that I could do to specifically work on this. Or, are side levers simply something I should avoid doing in order to spare my shoulders from getting even worse. I realize that this has been a very long post, but any advice would be greatly appreciated, although I understand if i dont get much because this might not be a common issue.

I would recommend setting side levers and press handstands aside until the issues with your shoulder stability are resolved. You have several courses of action:

1) Handstand holds against the wall - First time yourself to establish a maximum hold. Don't hold back, be aggressive here; this will be your bench mark for some time to come. Once you have the maximum hold, divide it by two; this will be your beginning static hold for the training cycle. If you static hold was less than five minutes, you will add 30 seconds each month to your handstand static hold time. If you were over five minutes, you have the option of increasing by 60 seconds each month. Under no circumstances should you increase your hold times more than once per month.

2) Handstand walks - Handstand walking is an excellent way to promote shoulder stability and setting up a handstand obstacle course is probably the most fun way to approach it. The following essay and accompanying video will help to get you started with handstand obstacle course work:

viewtopic.php?t=398

3) Overhead support walks - For those of you who are technically challenged in regards to your handstand development or quite simply are not yet strong enough for substantial amounts of handstand work, overhead support walks are an excellent way to scale the load and yet still reap some excellent benefits from this type of movement. Nothing fancy is required, simply put some weight overhead and start walking. Indoors, outdoors, on a treadmill or, if space is lacking, even standing stationary; all would be fine. The essential point is that you put some weight overhead and hold it there for an extended period of time. 20% bodyweight is a good starting point to begin from.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Ok, thats some great information, thanks so much coach.

Hi Coach Sommer,

If you have time, I wonder if you would mind expanding slightly on one of the above pointers?

Coach Sommer said:

1) Handstand holds against the wall - First time yourself to establish a maximum hold. Don't hold back, be aggressive here; this will be your bench mark for some time to come. Once you have the maximum hold, divide it by two; this will be your beginning static hold for the training cycle. If you static hold was less than five minutes, you will add 30 seconds each month to your handstand static hold time. If you were over five minutes, you have the option of increasing by 60 seconds each month. Under no circumstances should you increase your hold times more than once per month.

Q1) Would this be a single static hold for a given training session, or the time period for a series of holds interspersed with rest? If the latter, how many 'sets' would you recommend?

Q2) Since you mention that one should only add 30/60 seconds per month to their hold times, I assume that re-testing monthly is not advised ...when would be an appropriate time (if at all) for re-performing the initial max test?

Many thanks,

George.

Excellent questions, George.

The handstand static hold is done in a single set, once each training day. Do not retest monthly; simply continue to ride the cycle until you fail two days in a row attempting to add that month's new increment. At this point, take one week off from static handstand holds. Upon returning, divide your last maximum hold by two and begin the process once again.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach.

Hi Coach,

On the static handstand holds what is ur opinion on doing one arm handstands against the wall. I sometimes like to incorporate this as a static hold in my workout can it be interchanged with a two handed one?

Thanks

Unless you already have a relatively advanced two-arm static handstand hold, I do not recommend one-arm handstand holds for extended periods of time; especially for either beginning or intermediate level athletes. During the one arm handstand hold, the stress on the supporting wrist is extreme and requires a solid foundation of two arm work to first be laid in order to profit from it without undue risk of injury.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I know this is an old thread but I'll ask anyway. If doing the above work to increase HS static hold up to say 5 minutes over several months, can any other handstand work be done?

Is this progression only for should issues? If this is specifically for helping the shoulder problem, what would the progression be for increasing static hold times (to say 5, 10 minutes) for someone with non-problematic shoulders? (my current max is 2m on the wall)

Would it be acceptable to do press handstands and handstand pushup work - or free handstand work?

Would it be acceptable to do press handstands and handstand pushup work - or free handstand work?

There is no need to restrict your training to only one movement. It may be helpful to note that all of the above elements are contained within the GB WODs.

Yours in fitness,

Coach Sommer