Painless shoulder? injury! Can't lift!

[mahavairocana]

Hey everyone!

I am really hoping someone can help me out here. I WILL be going to a doctor tomorrow, but maybe someone has also had a similar experience.

I was doing dumbbell pullovers about 3 weeks ago. I had no pain, felt no injury...but I was using heavier weights than I had before. I was very careful to use good form.

For the next few days after that my left bicep kept twitching...as though it had a heartbeat. I decided I should take a few days off and just let it rest, so I did. But when I tried to go back and start lifting again, my left arm just could not life anything. No pain, just no strength.

I have full range of motion, no pain whatsoever...but it feels a little "strange" when I do try to lift. I just did a few reps with it, with about 50% less weight than I was before, and it didn't hurt, but I reached muscle failure with only 11 reps of the much lower weight.

I have no idea what this is. No pain, no loss of movement...but loss of strength.

Anyone experience something similar??

Thank you so much in advance for any replies.

 

[mickems]

I get twitching from exercise for up to days later, if I really tax the muscles. if I add in a new exercise to my routine, I usually "feel it" after my first couple workouts. then it doesn't seem to be an issue after that. I also have a journal where I keep record of every workout w/ weight, set, rep, date, muscles etc. so I can go back and see where something may have went wrong or if I am responding better to one exercise over another. This is may be similar to what you experience, or not.

 

[mickems]

Hey everyone!

I am really hoping someone can help me out here. I WILL be going to a doctor tomorrow, but maybe someone has also had a similar experience.

I was doing dumbbell pullovers about 3 weeks ago. I had no pain, felt no injury...but I was using heavier weights than I had before. I was very careful to use good form.

For the next few days after that my left bicep kept twitching...as though it had a heartbeat. I decided I should take a few days off and just let it rest, so I did. But when I tried to go back and start lifting again, my left arm just could not life anything. No pain, just no strength.

I have full range of motion, no pain whatsoever...but it feels a little "strange" when I do try to lift. I just did a few reps with it, with about 50% less weight than I was before, and it didn't hurt, but I reached muscle failure with only 11 reps of the much lower weight.

I have no idea what this is. No pain, no loss of movement...but loss of strength.

Anyone experience something similar??

Thank you so much in advance for any replies.

BTW welcome to the UGBB. you should probably introduce yourself to the community on the new member forum.

 

[stonetag]

I twitch and get a funny feeling when I masturbate, I'm looking into it......Welcome to the UG, who are ya?

 

[PillarofBalance]

You're freaking out over nothing really. You taxed the biceps trying to keep good form. It's a little tired. You probably tweaked the nerve as well. Stretch it out a few times a day and just keep plugging away. You aren't injured.

 

[mahavairocana]

mickems thanks for the reminder, I posted an intro just now here: http://www.ugbodybuilding.com/threads/16906-Noobster?p=272498#post272498
and thanks for the feedback!

so as you and pillar think, I probably aint injured at all. That's a definite relief! I'll work on stretching it out more along with lifting lighter a couple times a week till it comes back to life. I think you're right about the nerve, that's why it just "feels weird" a lot of the time.

stone really? I guess I'm not doing it right then, time to practice tuggin...

 

[BigGameHunter]

One thing to keep in mind when using heavy weights especially dummies, is to pay just as much attention to how you pick them up and put them down as you to the exercise itself. I cant tell you how many times my biceps or neck hurt from being a dumbass. When I bought my new babbies last summer I made sure to put the 100lbrs on the top shelf.

BTW thats how you know if your at a real gym, where do they put the heavy weights? Are they easy to get to?

 

[mahavairocana]

GameHunter,

thats a real good point!

Yesterday I tried to to dumbbell flies. I went for the lite weights first...super easy, so then I went for what I was used to lifting.

When I got down (meaning the dumbbells were down near the floor, with my arms spread wide) my left arm GAVE OUT! just BOOMBAM dropped to the floor in a big thud. Not possible to hold the weight.

Again, no pain, (schocked the hell outta me though), so looks like there is SOMETHING up. Just total loss of strength there, could something rip and cause no pain?

Didn't have time to see the doc this week...will go monday. Luckily, the visit will cost me around 5usd, maybe some treatment up to around 60usd (nationalized healthcare is awesome).

But something is definitely up. Its super weird.

 

[mahavairocana]

Update

Saw a doc

Tis a shoulder injury, the upper pec by the shoulder has a tiny rip in it. She said no pain since its minor and since I have a lot of muscle mass in that area.

Gettin physical therapy, 6 sessions. Just some electro therapy, heat and some sort of strange suction thing. Also gave me some exercises to do.

Luckily...shit costs me 5usd a pop (I love national healthcare!)

So just gonna sit on it for a month and hope it gets better.

Ill update when its better. Thanks for all the replies everyone!

 

[PillarofBalance]

Saw a doc

Tis a shoulder injury, the upper pec by the shoulder has a tiny rip in it. She said no pain since its minor and since I have a lot of muscle mass in that area.

Gettin physical therapy, 6 sessions. Just some electro therapy, heat and some sort of strange suction thing. Also gave me some exercises to do.

Luckily...shit costs me 5usd a pop (I love national healthcare!)

So just gonna sit on it for a month and hope it gets better.

Ill update when its better. Thanks for all the replies everyone!

On top of the physical therapy like estim you want to start putting reps into it. Use a 5lb dumbbell and do 100 rep sets of presses. Nothing strenuous. You just want the muscle to behave as it should. Essentially remodeling whatever was torn. This on top of the therapy will help stop scar tissue from forming.

And while you appt may cost you 5 dollars keep in mind someone else went to work and was taxed to pay the rest. It's not actually 5 dollars.

 

[old git]

could be a trapped nerve or nerves.........

 

[mahavairocana]

On top of the physical therapy like estim you want to start putting reps into it. Use a 5lb dumbbell and do 100 rep sets of presses. Nothing strenuous. You just want the muscle to behave as it should. Essentially remodeling whatever was torn. This on top of the therapy will help stop scar tissue from forming.

And while you appt may cost you 5 dollars keep in mind someone else went to work and was taxed to pay the rest. It's not actually 5 dollars.

Good ideas!

Yah...I was taxed too. I was also taxed for theirs. I pay for my national health insurance..I think mine is around 15usd a month, plus the 5usd copay (same for everyone).

Unlike America..I also just walk in. No need for an appointment (and drs always make you wait a good half hour to an hour PAST your appointment time). I waited maybe 10 minutes to see the doctor.

Nationalized healthcare is awesome and really works in some countries. I don't live in the former soviet union or something. I've heard Japan is even better than Taiwan.

 

[ForkLift]

Like POB said stretching should help this.
Some guys i see stretching in between sets now
Stretching increases bloodflow and you pumps, but stretching in between sets decreases strength in between sets so if you want to lift big, dont stretch in between sets

 

[ForkLift]

Something i found in my articles on stretching searching for you real quick....
Not my words

WHEN TO STRETCH
Stretching a cold muscle can cause injuries that can range from minor strains to actual tears. Research shows that stretching the muscle you’re about to train can cause a significant loss of strength during your lifts. In other words, you may cause yourself to utilize less weight than you are capable of simply because you stretched the muscle beforehand. The same goes for stretching during the workout. Yes, it may feel good and help to increase blood flow a bit, but you would be better off giving the muscle you are training a light massage between sets instead.

Stretching correctly however during training could actually increase strength and improve recovery between sets. What you want to do while training is stretch the antagonistic muscle to the one you are working. In others words, stretch the hamstrings after some leg presses, or the lats after each set of bench presses.

Stretch the antagonistic muscle group during training can be beneficial, but for optimal results consider the following technique

THE ULTIMATE STRETCHING TECHNIQUE FOR BODYBUILDERS
One of the best and under utilized secrets in the world of bodybuilding is the use of intense stretching of the trained muscle immediately after completing your workout for it. Intense stretching means that it should hurt (although you must know your body well enough to realize if you are going too far), with each extreme stretch lasting for 30-60 seconds before slowly being released.

Some examples of intense stretching would be holding the bottom of a chest flye with moderately heavy dumbbells in your hands, hanging with a close grip from a chinning bar while having your partner pull down on your waist, or sitting in the deepest position of a sissy squat. In other words, you have to go beyond the light stretching you normally perform to make this effective. And what is the benefit of this?

Research has demonstrated that this form of stretching can actually increase the rate of hypertrophy through the increased activation of satellite cells and the enhanced release of growth factors (hepatocyte growth factor, myogenin, IGF-1) within muscle tissue! Talk about an anabolic activator! Yeah, its painful, but it works!

So, to summarize…don’t stretch a cold muscle before training, and don’t stretch the muscle you are in the middle of training. However, DO stretch the antagonistic muscle to the one you are training during your workout, and once the session for the body part is complete, finish it off with two or three intense 30-60 second deep stretches. Train hard...train smart...train to grow!

 

[old git]

I twitch and get a funny feeling when I masturbate, I'm looking into it......Welcome to the UG, who are ya?

:32 (13): Ho yea but which bit gets that twitch ??????????????????