Shoulder and elbow protection...

[inssane]

My dad has injured his rotator cuff and a friend of mine that has been lifting for over ten years now has rotator cuff problems. I had been getting a pinching in my shoulders about a month ago even doing lighter weights and became worried. I took a month off.
OTHER PROBLEM...
I find that especially when doing tris my elbows become quite tender.

Now with both my shoulder and my elbows I believe it is a tendon/ligament issue. Are there any special stretches or warmups I can do to prevent injury??
I usually warm up with a light set before I get into it, and stretch a tiny bit, but really do not know how to stretch properly.

Someone school me because I worry every time I feel a bit of pain even though it may be the good pain.
Nick

 

[DADAWG]

there are several excercises you can use to warm up the rotator cuff , use a light weight maybe starting as low as a 5-10 pound db . lay on your side with your upper arm flat to the body and your lower arm extended in front of you 90% from the upper arm, keep the upper arm against your body but rotate the lower arm upward with the db in your hand . also standing with a db in each hand and your upper arms sticking straight out to the side and the dbs straight up 90% from your upper arm rotate the db down to upper chest level without moving the upper arm at all , it should stay straight out from the body .
also you say you do 1 light warm up set , thats not enough imo . for example on bench press i will do at least 1 set and usually 2 with just the bar and if i feel the least bit tight or sore my next warm up set will be 95 pounds and never higher than 135 , warming up with light weight doesnt mean your a wimp , it means your smart . there are 800 pound benchers who start their warm up with a bar . also on bench dont take to big a jump with weights , fo example even if you bench 350 for sets after your warm ups go 135,185,225,275,315,350 you dont have to do a lot of reps with the weights as you get closer to the top but these allow your body to warm up and adjust to heavier weights.
heres a couple of other things to consider , your form may be causing your pain especially if you dont keep your shoulders tucked back while doing pressing movements , pretend someone has their finger touching your back between your shoulder blades now try to pinch that finger with your shoulder blades , hold that position while you do pressing movements and it will help protect your shoulders . the other thing is believe it or not SQUATS can cause shoulder and elbow pain . keeping the hands in to close while squatting heavy weight can cause elbow pain and put stress on the shoulders , also make sure you dont have the bar riding to high on the back , rest the bar on the meat/muscle not on bone.

 

[pullinbig]

quit doing skul crusher sif you elbows are hurting. heavy curls aggrevate them too. so does squatting if you use a narrow grip and press during motion with you hands.

 

[DADAWG]

quit doing skul crusher sif you elbows are hurting. heavy curls aggrevate them too. so does squatting if you use a narrow grip and press during motion with you hands.

wow , people actually squat . none of you guys go to my gym .

 

[inssane]

Good info. THANKS!!

Only thing is I love skullcrushers and preacher curls. There has to be a way to stretch.
The elbow I don't worry about too much. Some soreness, then I take some enzymes and The Rub and it's okay in a day or so.
Nick

 

[DADAWG]

Good info. THANKS!!

Only thing is I love skullcrushers and preacher curls. There has to be a way to stretch.
The elbow I don't worry about too much. Some soreness, then I take some enzymes and The Rub and it's okay in a day or so.
Nick

a neoprene elbow sleeve along with a sports cream rubbed on about 30 minutes before lifting helps me . let the cream dry then put on the sleeve , this really cooks the elbow lol

 

[Sensei Miagi]

there are several excercises you can use to warm up the rotator cuff , use a light weight maybe starting as low as a 5-10 pound db . lay on your side with your upper arm flat to the body and your lower arm extended in front of you 90% from the upper arm, keep the upper arm against your body but rotate the lower arm upward with the db in your hand . also standing with a db in each hand and your upper arms sticking straight out to the side and the dbs straight up 90% from your upper arm rotate the db down to upper chest level without moving the upper arm at all , it should stay straight out from the body .
also you say you do 1 light warm up set , thats not enough imo . for example on bench press i will do at least 1 set and usually 2 with just the bar and if i feel the least bit tight or sore my next warm up set will be 95 pounds and never higher than 135 , warming up with light weight doesnt mean your a wimp , it means your smart . there are 800 pound benchers who start their warm up with a bar . also on bench dont take to big a jump with weights , fo example even if you bench 350 for sets after your warm ups go 135,185,225,275,315,350 you dont have to do a lot of reps with the weights as you get closer to the top but these allow your body to warm up and adjust to heavier weights.
heres a couple of other things to consider , your form may be causing your pain especially if you dont keep your shoulders tucked back while doing pressing movements , pretend someone has their finger touching your back between your shoulder blades now try to pinch that finger with your shoulder blades , hold that position while you do pressing movements and it will help protect your shoulders . the other thing is believe it or not SQUATS can cause shoulder and elbow pain . keeping the hands in to close while squatting heavy weight can cause elbow pain and put stress on the shoulders , also make sure you dont have the bar riding to high on the back , rest the bar on the meat/muscle not on bone.

a very well thought out, accurate, and thourough post

well done

 

[Mudge]

One thing I find that works with triceps, is non restrictive movements and/or lots of warmups.

If I am doing heavy behind the neck 2 arm dumbell extentions or behind the neck cable ext, LOTS of light warmups are a MUST.

If I am doing CG benches, I dont need nearly as much warmup time because the movement is far more natural with heavy weights.

 

[phattysiz]

I have had reoccuring knee problems, and one thing that always keeps them from getting worse is stretching all the muscles associated with the joint very slowly, holding for 30+seconds. I alternate between stretching and very light warmups with both increasing in intensity (more stretch, longer duration) for atleast 3 rounds. Also, take Glucosamine Chrondritin and drink green tea.

 

[Lifter82]

there are several excercises you can use to warm up the rotator cuff , use a light weight maybe starting as low as a 5-10 pound db . lay on your side with your upper arm flat to the body and your lower arm extended in front of you 90% from the upper arm, keep the upper arm against your body but rotate the lower arm upward with the db in your hand . also standing with a db in each hand and your upper arms sticking straight out to the side and the dbs straight up 90% from your upper arm rotate the db down to upper chest level without moving the upper arm at all , it should stay straight out from the body .
also you say you do 1 light warm up set , thats not enough imo . for example on bench press i will do at least 1 set and usually 2 with just the bar and if i feel the least bit tight or sore my next warm up set will be 95 pounds and never higher than 135 , warming up with light weight doesnt mean your a wimp , it means your smart . there are 800 pound benchers who start their warm up with a bar . also on bench dont take to big a jump with weights , fo example even if you bench 350 for sets after your warm ups go 135,185,225,275,315,350 you dont have to do a lot of reps with the weights as you get closer to the top but these allow your body to warm up and adjust to heavier weights.
heres a couple of other things to consider , your form may be causing your pain especially if you dont keep your shoulders tucked back while doing pressing movements , pretend someone has their finger touching your back between your shoulder blades now try to pinch that finger with your shoulder blades , hold that position while you do pressing movements and it will help protect your shoulders . the other thing is believe it or not SQUATS can cause shoulder and elbow pain . keeping the hands in to close while squatting heavy weight can cause elbow pain and put stress on the shoulders , also make sure you dont have the bar riding to high on the back , rest the bar on the meat/muscle not on bone.

Great post, I've been having some issues with my shoulder too

 

[Hybrid88]

there are several excercises you can use to warm up the rotator cuff , use a light weight maybe starting as low as a 5-10 pound db . lay on your side with your upper arm flat to the body and your lower arm extended in front of you 90% from the upper arm, keep the upper arm against your body but rotate the lower arm upward with the db in your hand . also standing with a db in each hand and your upper arms sticking straight out to the side and the dbs straight up 90% from your upper arm rotate the db down to upper chest level without moving the upper arm at all , it should stay straight out from the body also you say you do 1 light warm up set , thats not enough imo . for example on bench press i will do at least 1 set and usually 2 with just the bar and if i feel the least bit tight or sore my next warm up set will be 95 pounds and never higher than 135 , warming up with light weight doesnt mean your a wimp , it means your smart . there are 800 pound benchers who start their warm up with a bar . also on bench dont take to big a jump with weights , fo example even if you bench 350 for sets after your warm ups go 135,185,225,275,315,350 you dont have to do a lot of reps with the weights as you get closer to the top but these allow your body to warm up and adjust to heavier weights.
heres a couple of other things to consider , your form may be causing your pain especially if you dont keep your shoulders tucked back while doing pressing movements , pretend someone has their finger touching your back between your shoulder blades now try to pinch that finger with your shoulder blades , hold that position while you do pressing movements and it will help protect your shoulders . the other thing is believe it or not SQUATS can cause shoulder and elbow pain . keeping the hands in to close while squatting heavy weight can cause elbow pain and put stress on the shoulders , also make sure you dont have the bar riding to high on the back , rest the bar on the meat/muscle not on bone.

.couldn't have said it better, so i'll just post a vid for some nice prehab work

Band Pull-Apart Super Series for Healthy Shoulders