Second most dangerous crossfit exercise

So earlier this month I talked about how the kipping motion (in both pull ups and toes to bar) is dangerous and can lead to a SLAP (or shoulder labrum) tear. Well, apparently there is another exercise that can lead to a shoulder injury is the sumo deadlift high pull, or SDHP. Basically, the SDHP is safe if you're not using your arms to lift the weight, but as soon as you get tired (and if you're trying to do this at 100% intensity then form will degrade rather quickly) you'll start to use your arms and it will cause an impingement and you'll hurt your supraspinatus. This is all explained beautifully here from Whole9. I highly recommend reading it. Makes me wonder about this years FGB and what I'll do.


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Intro to Ladders and dealing with a shoulder injury

Today was ladders, and they really made me feel out of shape. It can be frustrating to see how I have stayed or even gone backwards from where I was before the injury, but I try to take inspiration in seeing how others in team 5pm have progressed, and it gives me comfort to realize that I will improve as well.

Jump Squats: 17
Chin-Ups: 7
Burpees: 8
Ab mat sit-ups: 100

With the injury report, the shoulder is feeling much, much better. With my four-day weekend I did very little physical exertion, except on Saturday I worked out in a Chicago gym. I had two choices, physical therapy or crossfit. For the first time, in a long time, I wasn't feeling any pain in my shoulder. None at all, not even any discomfort. I decided to put down the barbell and pick up the power band. Performing the exercises was a little tedious, but in the end I felt good.

When coming back from an injury, you have to park your ego at the door. You can't push your self, because you will push your body past its breaking point. Now, how do you know the breaking point? Just start slow, and just add a little bit each day/week. When it hurts, just back off again and wait some more.

It can be maddening, but ask anyone who's had an injury: ignore it and it will only worsen. Push too hard and you'll be out longer. Everyone will tell you (and you to back me up here Forts), impatience will lead you to a possibly permanent injury.

I've noticed I talk a lot about "listening to the shoulder". I've realized I'm not even sure how to define what that means, but I'd like to try to explain. I've got a little bit of martial arts background, and my first style that I learned was wu-style tai chi at a very, very good school in Dallas back in high school. The style involves listening to the body, and really focusing on what goes on in the body. In about two months tai chi healed my carpal tunnel syndrome, so I highly recommend taking tai chi. It doesn't mesh well with the mentality of crossfit, but at least in my opinion, that's what makes it so beneficial. So that's what I am trying to do when I exercise, I focus on the shoulder and really, really try to hear what's going on in there.

The hopefully short road to recovery

Well, it was on my fifth day of crossfit where I injured myself. We were working on strict press, specifically doing max reps on 80% of our max weight. I was on rep 15, and my shoulders were starting to feel the fatigue. "I know," I thought, "I'll widen my grip, that'll help," and as soon as the idea came to me I did exactly that, I widened my grip. Now, crossfit is my first experience with Olympic lifts, so I will chalk this up to a rookie mistake, but I adjusted the weight the instant the idea came to me, which was when my elbows were locked and directly over my head.

As you can imagine, when I did this pain shot through my left shoulder. It didn't make me drop the weight or anything, but I definitely felt pain. However, the pain subsided almost instantly, and so I did about five more reps and proceeded to do the WOD. that night when I went to bed my shoulder was a little sore, but when I woke up the next morning it was really, really painful.

Long story short, I went to the doc, who did an ultrasound and said I have a partial thickness tear of my supraspinatus, one of the muscles that are called rotator cuff muscles. This floored me, I had read that these injuries can take up to six months to recover from, so I was relieved when I learned I should only be out for 3 weeks. Thankfully, it's a slight injury.

I'm two weeks into therapy now and the pain is less and less by the day. It's been frustrating not being able to work out like I want to, but there's nothing I can do about it now but continue my therapy and get better, healthier, and eventually back into what I fondly refer to as the "blue room of death." So my current mantra is "I will recover, I will get back to my old strength, and then I will get even stronger."

Let's just hope that it won't take too long.....