You may be suffering from a SLAP tear (Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior) and not even know it. The labrum is a ring of firm tissue around the shoulder socket that helps keep the arm bone within the shoulder socket. Tears of the labrum can occur from falling onto outstretched arms or falling on your shoulder. In sports, they often occur from repeated overhead arm movement such as throwing a baseball. SLAP tears can occur from lifting heavy objects repeatedly or too suddenly. It sounds to me like a lot of things we do in a CrossFit workout have the potential to cause SLAP tears. Many people are claiming that kipping pull-ups and muscle-ups (as done in CrossFit) are also the cause of SLAP tears, though I didn't find that direct diagnosis anywhere in a Google search. It would make sense to me. People not strong enough to do a strict pull-up are swinging viloently under a bar and doing hard pulls on a weak joint.
How do you know if you have a SLAP tear? Per WebMD, symptoms include
- Painful popping, clicking, or catching in the shoulder
- Pain when you move your arm over your head or reach back
- Pain when you throw a ball
- An ache often described as being deep inside the shoulder
What do you do if you have a SLAP tear? Think of it this way....Any injury to soft tissue takes minimally 6-8 weeks to heal properly. As with any injury, if it hurts when you do something, DON'T DO IT! You would think that would go without saying, but people tell me all the time that something hurts, then they proceed to "work through it" or "go lighter." That's just dumb. My knee hurt when I squatted heavy. What did I do? I didn't squat heavy for 5 months. It doesn't mean I didn't train. I just didn't squat heavy in any way, shape, or form. I am not a doctor, and I am not giving you medical advice, but you can try coupling some time off the shoulder with some NSAID's. Plenty of people will tell you that NSAID's are bad for you, but I've personally had great success using NSAID's in the prescribed amounts for short periods of time. If time off the shoulder doesn't get you better, go see a doctor. You may need surgery if pain persists.
How do you avoid a SLAP tear? Rest appropriately. Listen to your body when it is telling you that it hurts. Visit mobilitywod.com and work on the mobility of the shoulder joint. (Actually, you should work on the mobility of your entire body!) Check your ego at the door and don't lift heavier than you should be doing. Avoid workouts that excessively have you lifting weight overhead for ridiculous amounts of reps. Get stronger!!! Heavy weights for small amounts of reps is better for you than light weight lifted a shit ton of times. Be strong enough to do strict pull-ups......just saying.
If any of you at One World have shoulder pain, talk to me at the gym. It might not necessarily be a SLAP tear. I'd like to discuss it with you and try to figure out what has caused it and how to get you better.
You can work around any injury, but you might not like the alternatives.....
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I got my White Elephant gift for Thursday night, but I'm not telling what it is.
Here are the rules for the White Elephant. Gift should be $10-$20 in value. It must be wrapped. We will draw numbers for picking order. First person picks and unwraps a gift. Second person may steal their gift or pick an unwrapped gift. If your gift gets stolen, you may steal someone else's, or pick another unwrapped gift. The turn ends when a gift is unwrapped. A gift may only be stolen TWICE (It is a work night, and we don't want to be there all night...lol). If someone has other rule variations or questions, we will hash it all out Thursday night before we start. The White Elephant Gift Exchange starts at 7:45 on Thursday night. It's open to anyone who is reading this post =) See you then!
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WORKOUT 12/22/2011
- Find a 3 rep max front squat
Then......
- Max reps front squat @ 90% of 3RM
- Max reps front squat @ 80% of 3RM
Then
- 2 x 400m run (rest 3 minutes between efforts)
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Merry Christmas and Happy New year Freddy and Chyna! I have been M.I.A but will be starting strong again in January. Love and blessings! -Rachelle (yup, with 2 L's and an E)
Cheers!
Posted by: Rachelle | December 22, 2011 at 15:21
Dan, I hope your shoulder is recovering well and that you can get back into the swing of things soon!? Injuries itself are a bitch to work around. Take care!
Posted by: Joe Nepo | December 22, 2011 at 08:39
This post struck a cord with me. I have been out with a shoulder injury for 3 months. Overhead squats coupled with poor flexibility did me in. Kipping pull ups definitely aggravated my problems and I do not have a very aggressive Kip at all. I am guilty of trying to work through it instead of resting and I just made it worse. I probably doubled my recovery time. Anyone with a shoulder injury should heed freddy's advice and rest or be very careful - Shoulder injuries are a bitch to work around!
Posted by: Dan | December 21, 2011 at 23:02
EXCITED ABOUT THE EXCHANGE!
OH! AND DON'T FORGET, IT WOULD BE NICE IF EVERYONE BROUGHT A LITTLE APPETIZER TYPE ITEM TO SHARE. FOOD ALWAYS MAKES A PARTY MO BETTA! ;)
Posted by: CHYNA CHO | December 21, 2011 at 21:37
See you guys tomorrow!!
Posted by: Joe N. | December 21, 2011 at 21:31