Training whilst shoulder heals after surgery

I have been experiencing pain in my right shoulder for over a year now. I initially followed the “Pain in training: What do?” article as best I could, modifying load and exercise selection, but eventually decided to see a doctor. An MRI revealed a full thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon and an acromial bone spur. I will soon be having surgery to re-attach the tendon and remove the bone spurs.

I’ve been told that I will wear a sling for the first two weeks, then gradually increase range of motion, then after 6-8 weeks I can start loading the shoulder, then back to normal in 3-6 months.

I’ve been training for powerlifting on-and-off for 5 years, mostly following BBM templates, most recently the Medium ISF 3-day template. I don’t want to completely stop training if I don’t have to, so I’m planning how I can modify my training whilst my shoulder heals.

What exercises would you recommend that have the most transference to the powerlifting movements and could be performed with an injured shoulder? I have access to a gym with a variety of machines and dumbbells. I can think of some obvious choices like a leg press and a one-handed dumbbell bench press, but I can’t immediately think of anything similar to a deadlift.

Are there any downsides to continuing to train the non-injured side of my upper body with unilateral work?

I’m also open to hearing any other thoughts you might have on my situation.

Thanks for any advice.​

If you have access to safety squat bar, that may be a feasible way to squat; otherwise, leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, and unilateral leg work like lunges/split squats/step-ups are all options for leg training.

Unilateral dumbbell or machine bench/incline/overhead presses, one-arm machine rows/pulldowns, curls, etc. are options for arm training

One-arm deadlifts/RDLs of whatever loads you have available (e.g. heaviest dumbbells/kettlebells); these can also be single-leg deadlifts/RDLs to make them more challenging. Back extensions and SSB good mornings are other options here as well.

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Thanks Austin, that’s a useful list.

After I wrote that I vaguely remembered this came up on a BBM podcast once, and then I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw1hL6FEVUw