Post: #1

I tend to get a recurring injury under my left shoulderblade when doing heavy weights. Lat pulldowns and/or incline barbell bench seem to exacerbate it most.

The pain arises at the interior of the shoulderblade close to my spine. Some of it seems to be just under the bony part of the interior of the blade.

Has anyone experienced this and /or found a way to resolve? I don't think it's from lifting too much weight, because my muscles feel physically strong enough to do the weight at good form. The feeling tends to appear the morning after my workout session.

Post: #2

Do you sit around a lot? How is your seated posture?

It is likely that you have some scar tissue in that area and you feel it after you exercise. It is an area that tends to get very tight especially in people who spend a lot of time sitting and looking at a monitor, and particularly if they have poor seated posture.

Get one of these (a lacrosse ball), and use it to roll that area hard and massage the hell out of it. You want to break the scar tissue and release the tightness:

http://www.amazon.com/Joes-USA-Lacrosse-...ls+massage

Post: #3

Yup. You probably need to strengthen a muscle on your scapula. Lookup the exercise 'pushup plus', it is designed exactly for this purpose.

Do more barbell rows and stop benching for a couple weeks to achieve balance.

Very important : before you lay on the bench squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them that way when you lay down, so as to make a 'shelf' or stable 'base' to keep your shoulders in line while pressing. This will get easier as you strengthen your shoulder blade muscles.

You probably also need to strengthen your rear deltoids, try doing internal and external rotations with a cable and 'facepulls'.

Mentally, try to think of keep your shoulder blades 'down' and 'back' (squeezed together) when doing lifts involving the shoulders and chest.

What Lizard said about posture during the day is also very important,

Post: #4

(06-04-2014 04:27 PM)Sugar Wrote:  I tend to get a recurring injury under my left shoulderblade when doing heavy weights. Lat pulldowns and/or incline barbell bench seem to exacerbate it most.

The pain arises at the interior of the shoulderblade close to my spine. Some of it seems to be just under the bony part of the interior of the blade.

Has anyone experienced this and /or found a way to resolve? I don't think it's from lifting too much weight, because my muscles feel physically strong enough to do the weight at good form. The feeling tends to appear the morning after my workout session.

1. Can you describe the pain? (cramps, spasms, dull, sharp, etc.)
2. Do you use mobility?
3. Any prior back injuries?
4. Any recent x-rays?
5. Have you considered deep tissue massage?

Post: #5

I've been having something similar. I had it before and it went away. A trainer told me to try the lacrosse ball thing so I'm trying it.

Post: #6

(06-04-2014 04:37 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  Do you sit around a lot? How is your seated posture?

It is likely that you have some scar tissue in that area and you feel it after you exercise. It is an area that tends to get very tight especially in people who spend a lot of time sitting and looking at a monitor, and particularly if they have poor seated posture.

Liz I sit in front of the computer a lot. I'm not sure of my seated posture, but I'll pay attention from now on.

Never considered scar tissue, but I will think about getting some X-rays. I'm buying the lacrosse ball, thanks for the suggestion.

Post: #7

(06-04-2014 04:47 PM)Blunt Wrote:  Yup. You probably need to strengthen a muscle on your scapula. Lookup the exercise 'pushup plus', it is designed exactly for this purpose.

Do more barbell rows and stop benching for a couple weeks to achieve balance.

Very important : before you lay on the bench squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them that way when you lay down, so as to make a 'shelf' or stable 'base' to keep your shoulders in line while pressing. This will get easier as you strengthen your shoulder blade muscles.

You probably also need to strengthen your rear deltoids, try doing internal and external rotations with a cable and 'facepulls'.

Mentally, try to think of keep your shoulder blades 'down' and 'back' (squeezed together) when doing lifts involving the shoulders and chest.

What Lizard said about posture during the day is also very important,

Ok. I've never paid attention to my shoulder blades during exercises. I will do that for a while. Will try the barbell rows. I usually do the rowing thing where you put plates on it and lay at a 45 degree angle and pull it up towards you. I do 2x45lb plates on it. This thing.

Post: #8

(06-04-2014 05:42 PM)PHC19 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 04:27 PM)Sugar Wrote:  I tend to get a recurring injury under my left shoulderblade when doing heavy weights. Lat pulldowns and/or incline barbell bench seem to exacerbate it most.

The pain arises at the interior of the shoulderblade close to my spine. Some of it seems to be just under the bony part of the interior of the blade.

Has anyone experienced this and /or found a way to resolve? I don't think it's from lifting too much weight, because my muscles feel physically strong enough to do the weight at good form. The feeling tends to appear the morning after my workout session.

1. Can you describe the pain? (cramps, spasms, dull, sharp, etc.)
2. Do you use mobility?
3. Any prior back injuries?
4. Any recent x-rays?
5. Have you considered deep tissue massage?

1. It's a general discomfort, best described as a dull pain. Later on in the day it began pulsating. My whole left shoulder doesn't feel great at the moment but pain is concentrated beneath the shoulder blade.

2. I dunno what that is.

3. Other than this same discomfort in the area about 6 months ago, and about 2 years before that, nothing. I may have first felt the pain when putting too much weight on the military press around 2011.

4. Nope but will try it

5. Will it be long before I can workout again, or can I do weights the next day after deep tissue massage?

Post: #9

Sugar, the kind of scar tissue I'm talking about is not something that you would see on an X-Ray. I don't think there is any need for you to do them at this point.

If you sit in front of the computer a lot, you should do the following:

1. Pay attention to your posture. Make sure that you sit straight without rounding your back or craning your neck forward. Get an ergonomic chair that encourages such a posture. This is crucial -- nothing affects you more than the position you spend most of the day in.
2. Get up and walk around frequently -- at least every 30 minutes. It's also good to do some simple stretches during the day.
3. Use the lacrosse ball for targeted massage of the inflamed/painful area. But also use foam rollers to generally massage your body and release tension at trigger points.

Post: #10

(06-04-2014 04:37 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  Do you sit around a lot? How is your seated posture?

It is likely that you have some scar tissue in that area and you feel it after you exercise. It is an area that tends to get very tight especially in people who spend a lot of time sitting and looking at a monitor, and particularly if they have poor seated posture.

Get one of these (a lacrosse ball), and use it to roll that area hard and massage the hell out of it. You want to break the scar tissue and release the tightness:

http://www.amazon.com/Joes-USA-Lacrosse-...ls+massage

Definitely agree with this post.

I'm a big fan of self myofascial release (SMR), and think foam rollers and lax balls should be commonplace for anyone doing any weight training.

Oftentimes the painful area is not the place with the muscle adhesions that you'll want to roll out. http://www.triggerpoints.net is a great site to figure out where to place the lax ball or foam roller.

In your situation it looks like you might want to get a foam roller to hit your lats: http://triggerpoints.net/triggerpoints/l...-dorsi.htm

Post: #11

That exercise is good, but I think the barbell row is better because it uses more stabilizers since there are no 'guides'. I also found that using that rowing thing my lifts plateaued. Stronglifts. com has some very good guides on form to avoid this type of injury.

(06-04-2014 06:03 PM)Sugar Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 04:47 PM)Blunt Wrote:  Yup. You probably need to strengthen a muscle on your scapula. Lookup the exercise 'pushup plus', it is designed exactly for this purpose.

Do more barbell rows and stop benching for a couple weeks to achieve balance.

Very important : before you lay on the bench squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them that way when you lay down, so as to make a 'shelf' or stable 'base' to keep your shoulders in line while pressing. This will get easier as you strengthen your shoulder blade muscles.

You probably also need to strengthen your rear deltoids, try doing internal and external rotations with a cable and 'facepulls'.

Mentally, try to think of keep your shoulder blades 'down' and 'back' (squeezed together) when doing lifts involving the shoulders and chest.

What Lizard said about posture during the day is also very important,

Ok. I've never paid attention to my shoulder blades during exercises. I will do that for a while. Will try the barbell rows. I usually do the rowing thing where you put plates on it and lay at a 45 degree angle and pull it up towards you. I do 2x45lb plates on it. This thing.

Post: #12

How do you sleep? I had a right shoulder pain for a while due to the way I slept (arms folded on the side) and the pillow I used (hard not soft). Once I switched pillows and posture the pain slowly went away.

I'm not saying this may be the cause but I think the way you sleep and what toh sleep on can exacerbate the pain.

Post: #13

Something to consider is ease up on the free weights for some upper body work and do some body weight gymnast exercises. As an older guy I've had to find ways to work around problem areas like inflamed bicep tendons, rotator cuff, and a mid scapular muscle tear. Some power lifters that I know told me to do rows with gymnasts rings, rig pushups, isometric holds (almost like you're going to do a dip, but hold in the top position), negative pullups, and archer pushups. That helped to strengthen all of the primary, and support muscles in my shoulder girdle and upper back. I've also started to dabble with handstands against a wall, and I'm working my way up to hand stand pushups. I'm becoming a big fan of the foam roller as well. Especially for the old mid scapula tear. It'll flare up from time to time, and it feels like I have a knife in my back. So I'll try to use the foam roller to break it up.

Post: #14

Retract your scapulae when benching.
Also you must be capable of rowing (strict rowing, preferably) what you bench. Get your row up.