[jyl]

I spent most of this summer working on my siding, and my right shoulder suffered a bit. Nothing dramatic, but it was hurting and straining a little if I reached straight up, and a little uncomfortable if I laid on my right side.

I did some reading about shoulders and rotator cuffs, talked to my friend who’s been through a bunch of PT for his shoulders, thought about the PT I’ve done for past shoulder issues, enrolled briefly in the University of Youtube, and then started going to the gym.

I’m doing exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles; the kind you do with elastic bands and light weights. I’m also working on engaging the muscles that pull your arm back, to get balance with the muscles that pull your arm forward; bent over dumbell rows and flys, still with pretty light weights. Sometimes I work on extending my range of motion with no weights at all, mostly reaching farther behind me.

I decided I may as well improve my pistol shooting in the process, so I’ll also stand in the (one handed) pistol stance, raising a ten pound weight to the “target” and holding it there. Eventually I may work up to heavier weights, but I’m very wary of overhead work - I have no life need to press anything heavy over my head.

The interesting thing is that after I go to the gym, and for the next day, my shoulder feels good. After two days, the discomfort peeks back in. I can’t decide if that’s a good sign or a bad sign.

Those of you with shoulder “issues”, do you have a go-to set of exercises?