Friend's Injury

[Kevin Oka]

Hi all,

My friend is currently in China is having problems with the Internet, so he asked me to relay the message. He says his shoulder hurts right after dropping off from the rings (he's doing L-sit progressions). This happened before, and I told him to take a break just in case. He started back up and I think it was fine at first, but then it started hurting again. He says it feels like the joint and not the muscle.

I don't know if he is doing too many sets or reps for L-sit, due to obvious geographical restraints, but he injured himself last time because he did like 5 minutes of combined ring work starting out, instead of 1, and began on 30 seconds, instead of 6. Like I said, I can't tell if he's overworking again, or even if he'd tell the truth if he was. THAT BEING SAID. What kind of advice would you guys give him? Avoid rings again until it stops hurting? Do low rep sets of rings?

Thanks for your time,

-Oka

[Blairbob]

Take a week or two off, start slower.

[Karl Kallio]

Before re-starting, explore the movement to see exactly what part of the movement produces pain in what part of the body.

Then figure out why it's happening (lack of ROM, lack of stability, overuse, bad angle etc)

Then figure out how to fix it (flexibility, strengthening helper muscles, improving co-ordination/balance, reasonable duration/intensity, different technique etc)

If your friend is a chronic over-doer the most important thing might be getting him to recognize that increasing one' s physical capacities takes time, very little can be gained from "heroic measures". Of course saying that is easier than believing it, let alone convincing other people