[anoopmenon73]

Hi,
I have been diagnosed with shoulder impingement (right shoulder) and subsequently, cervical spondylosis last year. I have been following the prescribed strengthening exercises for neck and shoulder movement for the past few months but a nagging question has been a) can I get back to doing basic weight training? b) if so, what exercises should be avoided? c) If weight training is not an option, are there other exercises that can be taken up?
I am 45 years old, and had been active outdoors in hiking and climbing up to 2004. These issues came up when I was trying to get fit in order to start enjoying the outdoors again. This would mean treks in the himalayas, and some rock climbing.
where I am based at present, I am unable to get proper answers or guidance. Any guidance in this regard or pointers to where I can start,

Topic

[Pete Dickinson MS,PT]

Pete Dickinson MS,PT on June 11, 2019 at 2:04 pm #23368

Great question! Shoulder impingement can be independent, or caused by your cervical spine spodylosis. Have you seen improvement with shoulder pain from your course of treatment? Your shoulder pain might be caused by inefficient sport movements or weakness of the shoulder separate from inhibition from the neck. Initial rotator cuff strengthening and cervical mobility treatments would be a good starting point. Failure to see improvement would encourage me to circle back around to other shoulder issues related to impingement. This often involves mobilizing some restrictive soft fascial tissue around the shoulder, gaining full mobility of movement, and returning effective sport strength to the shoulder.
Back to your original question about weightlifting, I like to return to normal strength movements as soon as possible. As it relates to the shoulder I would initially avoid chest press movements, do rows and pulls listening to your response. Start easy, use bands on pull-ups to start, rows with trx or straps. Overhead presses are important, but you have to have full end range mobility overhead, or you shouldn’t load with any significant resistance.
Hope this gets you started. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more assessment/specifics.
Pete