Advice for injured competitor please....

[Rae]

Greetings - have not been on here at all because I never felt that I had anything relevant to ask...that is until now.  A friend at the gym asked me for some help, some advice, and I didn't really have a definitive answer for her.  She is a figure competitor and had shoulder surgery, followed by her taking a year off.  In getting back to the gym, she had lost a lot of strength in that one side and has also favored it.  She asked me to look at her physique and there is a notable difference.  I have watched her train and diet and her diet and cardio are both spot on.   Right now, she is hitting the weights hard.  I told her (some great mind once told me this) that she should hit the weights in off season very hard - as heavy as she can.  How can she equal her body out?  She has so much more mass on her good side that her body torques around while lifting.  Ideas from "The Oracle" that resides here?
Gracias in advance.

[Blockhead]

Greetings - have not been on here at all because I never felt that I had anything relevant to ask...that is until now.  A friend at the gym asked me for some help, some advice, and I didn't really have a definitive answer for her.  She is a figure competitor and had shoulder surgery, followed by her taking a year off.  In getting back to the gym, she had lost a lot of strength in that one side and has also favored it.  She asked me to look at her physique and there is a notable difference.  I have watched her train and diet and her diet and cardio are both spot on.   Right now, she is hitting the weights hard.  I told her (some great mind once told me this) that she should hit the weights in off season very hard - as heavy as she can.  How can she equal her body out?  She has so much more mass on her good side that her body torques around while lifting.  Ideas from "The Oracle" that resides here?
Gracias in advance.

My advice to the FIGURE COMPETITOR would be to up her Paxil, Wellbutrin and Effexor-FX dosage and find a new outlet to "express herself".  Tell her that as a competitive Figure competitor she has this to look forward to...

 - Bulimia.
 - Sever eating disorders.
 - Manic Depression.
 - Bi Polar Disorders.
 - Schizophrenia.
 - Bowel Disorders.
 - IBS.
 - Chronic gas.
 - Clenbuterol and Ephedrine abuse.
 - Bank account emptied from douchebag bodybuilder boyfriend.
 - Credit ruined from douchebag bodybuilder boyfriend.
 - Heart Broken from douchebag bodybuilder boyfriend.
 - Off-set prostitution for JM and Shannon Dhay in order to recieve a placing.


 Tell her to be afriad, be very afraid and leave now while she still can.



 - Block!

[Rae]

Well, yeah, then again....there is all of that too.  Your history precedes my question I see.  Anyone else? 

[D Enda]

Tell her to focus on unilateral movements...meaning focusing on working each side individually.  So basically when training shoulders she should stick to dumbbells for presses and side raises or machines that allow her to work each arm individually like a Hammer Strength Shoulder Press.  Another way to do it as well would be to do all reps on one side then do the other. 

Example shoulder workout:

Seated dumbbell shoulder press- 3 sets of 6-12 reps (both arms at the same time)
Standing dumbbell side raises- 3 sets of 10-15 (do all reps on one side then do other side)
Reverse flyes on machine 3 sets of 10-15
Upright rows with barbell/dumbbells/or cables- 3 sets of 10-15
Then maybe finish with 2 sets of Hammer Strength Shoulder Press-15-25 reps (do all reps on one side then do the other side)

[Rae]

Thanks - just copied and pasted what you wrote and sent it on.  Working each side separately totally makes sense - the strong side can't compensate for her weak side then.
Nice thinking!

[Flexb]

In time her lagging side will catch up regardless. Unilateral is the way to go though

[TrailerParkTrash]

Greetings - have not been on here at all because I never felt that I had anything relevant to ask...that is until now.  A friend at the gym asked me for some help, some advice, and I didn't really have a definitive answer for her.  She is a figure competitor and had shoulder surgery, followed by her taking a year off.  In getting back to the gym, she had lost a lot of strength in that one side and has also favored it.  She asked me to look at her physique and there is a notable difference.  I have watched her train and diet and her diet and cardio are both spot on.   Right now, she is hitting the weights hard.  I told her (some great mind once told me this) that she should hit the weights in off season very hard - as heavy as she can.  How can she equal her body out?  She has so much more mass on her good side that her body torques around while lifting.  Ideas from "The Oracle" that resides here?
Gracias in advance.

What kind of shoulder injury and surgery occurred?

This and her current impairments will determine the plan of care.

[ToxicAvenger!]

Greetings - have not been on here at all because I never felt that I had anything relevant to ask...that is until now.  A friend at the gym asked me for some help, some advice, and I didn't really have a definitive answer for her.  She is a figure competitor and had shoulder surgery, followed by her taking a year off.  In getting back to the gym, she had lost a lot of strength in that one side and has also favored it.  She asked me to look at her physique and there is a notable difference.  I have watched her train and diet and her diet and cardio are both spot on.   Right now, she is hitting the weights hard.  I told her (some great mind once told me this) that she should hit the weights in off season very hard - as heavy as she can.  How can she equal her body out?  She has so much more mass on her good side that her body torques around while lifting.  Ideas from "The Oracle" that resides here?
Gracias in advance.

Advice for injured competitor

A> if competitor makes her living doing this...ie there is $$$ to be lost if said competitor stops training then go see a physical therapist and people more qualified than an online board

B> if competitor does not stand to lose $$ if she does not train while INJURED....and the obvious answer of "REST" is not  glaringly apparent to said competitor than she has self esteem problems that far out weight a simple shoulder injury.

**muscle atrophy is one of the signs of nerve damage..

the end

[The Coach]

Geez, really? Is this the best you guys can do? I know it's almost a year later but since she's had a year since her surgery + rehab and she's training heavy now (ok, back then) just train normally. If you start doing anything different she's going to fuck up something else because she's compensating. the weak side will naturally catch up.