Topic: training while injured questions

[Tom Banister]

First the scenario: I'm a 49 year old, with limited weightlifting experience. I've got a real good clean, but I've need a lot of work on my jerk. My snatch has always been a little crappy because of shoulder problems. I can't (or shouldn't) do any overhead work from now until March sometime, and then I'll have a month or two of no weightlifting. I plan on doing lots of cleans and various snatch grip pulls. I several ideas for helping my jerk without actually putting the bar overhead. To help practice my split I was going to do split cleans. I had this idea to do what I'm calling a jerk-toss, where I would drive the bar as high as I can and then get the heck out of the way. By the way, at my age I always do a lot of general strength and conditioning work in addition to practicing weightlifting.
Questions:
- Are there significant problems with my jerk-toss idea?
- Does anyone have other suggestions?

[Shaun Le Conte]

Only problem I can see with the jerk toss is that it seems hard on your equipment :)  I don't really like jerk drives though as to me it emphasizes pushing up as long as possible. Split cleans are fun.

Now might be a good time to include something like plyometrics or depth jumps to help improve your jerk.

[Shawn Thomas]

I would not chance it with your shoulder problems any longer. U need to get that injury dealt with. The shoulder is a very complex joint. The problem will not go away unless u begin too take the necessary steps to getting it better. I had the same issue when I switched from P.L. to O.L. The numerous years of Bench Pressing  created constant bicipital tendonitis in my r.shoulder. I never really addressed the issue, until I started snatching and that's when all hell broke loose. I had severe pain to the point where i could not even lift my arm. I dealt with this off and on for almost a year. I did not want to give up because I all the years of being in the iron game, I had finally found the light in O.L. This is what I did.

 1. worked intensively on my flexibility
 2. ICE and more ICE, after every w.o.
 3. Active Release Therapy from Chiropractor, he would also adjust my shoulder
 4. Tiger Balm before every w/o. to increase blood flow
 5. stopped Bench Pressing, now I only do it maybe 2x per month
 6. Traumeel, it is german made homeopathic cream that there olympic team uses. I swear by it, whatever is in it works. I am not sure whether u can get it in the U.S. but go to heel.ca.
 7. some specific rotator cuff work helps also, before each w/o

 My shoulder has never been better, and I am able to handle some decent Snatch weight!!!

[Tom Banister]

Shawn, thank you for the concern and advice. And you're right, too many of us in the various iron games mistreat our shoulders. And the shoulder is easy to mistreat! However I know exactly what's wrong with my shoulder and will have the necesary surgery in March when I'm done skiing for the year.

My acromions are (well, just the left now) are shaped in a way that leads to impingement of the spinatus. Almost a year ago, that and other problems, caused a full tear in the spinatus in the right shoulder. At that time I was just beginning to have impingement in the left shoulder. One of the several things my surgeon did was an acromion ablation. He recommended that I think seriously about getting the left acromion done after the right shoulder healed. I've planned on having that done this coming March.  Here's the bummer. My right shoulder is now in great shape, in fact it's doing so well, it's allowed me to cause some big impingement problems in the left shoulder. I'm pretty sure that I've got a small tear in that spinatus now. That's why I finally admitted to myself that I've got to stop the overhead work until I get the left acromion fixed. Pulls have never caused any problems, in fact my PR clean was done three days before my surgery this past March.