On Tuesday I lifted weights and I pushed the shoulder press a bit too much, and yesterday and this morning I noticed a few sharp pains in my trapezius muscle, right on top of the shoulder, about two inches from my neck.
I didn’t feel anything later in the morning, and I stupidly lifted again this afternoon. I am getting sharp pains in one spot at least once a minute. I’m going to be icing it soon, but I was wondering if I should cancel my planned swim workout for tomorrow?
I was just going to be doing freestyle, maybe 1,500 yards. Does this muscle get used heavily in the freestyle stroke? Do you think I should just rest it, or might the swim help?
To be honest, if it hurts like this tomorrow, not sure I can swim, its hard enough to sit in a chair without flinching all the time.
Well, I would normally suggest sucking it up and working through it, but it sounds like this is not your normal strain. If it’s just a soreness that isn’t really bad, swim. If it hurts that much, you must rest it. It’s too early in the season to risk messing up your tri season over it. Take a couple days off, spin instead to make up for it. The few days now could save you a few weeks if you keep aggravating it.
Ranking no-nos:
1- Avoid the weight machines usually found in gyms, including the Hammer Strength stuff. These machines use a controlled arc of motion that isolates to the major muscles only and does not work stabilizers, resulting in serious imbalances in strength which make you susceptible to injuries.
2- Bench press. Using a barbell does not allow freedom of motion at the shoulder, because the two hands are bound by one bar. Using dumbbells or cables is better and you’ll notice that your hands are much closer together at full extension than at full flexion
3- Military press, same reason
4- Bench, military or squats (or anything else really) using the Smith machines These limit your motion in the frontal plane. In a good bench or military press, your hands move up your body (bench press) or from the front of your shoulders to above the top of your head (military or shoulder prerss). When squatting, the weight likewise does not go straight up and down, so the Smith machine forces your back into a really bad position.
Best stuff for functional fitness is:
1- Body weight exercises (can include Bosu, stability ball, Bongo Board, etc., for extra challenge). There are hundreds of them.
2- Cables or stretch cords
3- dumbbells