Hey all! First time posting to the site. I have been using the services of Barbell Medicine for the past couple of months in order to straighten out my nutrition (thanks Vanessa!) and have been very pleased, so I figured I’d give this a shot…
I’ve been low bar squatting for the past three years with no issues. However, the last six months or so I’ve had a nagging sharp pain in my right shoulder when I try and get under the bar or do any kind of pressing. Figured I did some damage to my rotator cuff. So, I made an appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon to have it checked out. In the mean time, I switched from low bar to using a safety squat bar over the past three weeks. Low and behold, the pain in my shoulder is almost completely gone now. I’m guessing that my shoulder mobility has something to do with it. Kind of strange since I was fine for 2.5 years or so. So my question is, what do you recommend for gaining that mobility back? I’ve been doing various exercises with bands and stretches (probably doing the wrong mobility work), but I don’t believe that I’ve found what works.
Thanks in advance,
~Ron
Way to go on the SSB switch to keep squatting! Have you tried altering your low bar grip position? I’d start back with your grip as wide as it needs to be right now and as you progress, work on bringing your grip in.
I need my grip to be out at the collars but the j-hooks get in the way. I really need a monolift where I can adjust the supports inward but at around $3500 my wife just started laughing! I have a set of monolift attachments but they are positioned the same as the j-hooks.
I’ve had quite a bit of shoulder trouble, and post-rotator cuff repair surgery, I did the SSB, then high bar, and then when I could, I did low bar with my grip all the way at the collars. That hurt, sometimes a lot, but it got better and I was able to increase my mobility over time. I had to unrack the bar, move my hands, then move them back in again in order to re-rack the bar without losing a finger.
I’m not sure if you have something else going on with your shoulder, and the doc will let you know, I am sure, but I can assure you that sometimes gaining the mobility to squat is painful. I’d work on being in the rack position in order to increase your mobility. Prior to me just doing that, I tried every band and ball stretch and such. None of it worked.
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