Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I noticed last Friday after my Thursday weights workout that my shoulders were more sore than usual. I put it down to increasing
weight on my dumbells when I lunge and assumed my shoulders had been a bit high. I took that day off to rest them but on the Saturday they were still tender and a bit stiff but not to bad. That coupled with the fact I was busy for the next two days and had lots of energy I decided to do my usual weights workout.
Instead of being sensible and sticking at my previous weight I loaded my back squat weight up with 1kg more to take it to a personal best. Being that I workout at home I have to lift the bar like a clean and press the put it over my head onto my shoulder. As I did this my lack of flexibility meant that the weight went faster than I wanted and smashed into one of my neck vertebrae (OUCH!). I iced it and stopped my workout (did tae bo abs instead) but since then my shoulders and in particular my left have been sore and stiff. I dont think weightlifting would be very clever as i'm concerned I have a rotator cuff injury.
1) Any idea how long I should take off weights? I will go see a DR tomorrow and ask for physio but that could take months being NHS.I called around to private physio but they're so expensive it's crazy.
2) Any suggestions for alternative exercises that dont use the upper body to much? I have insanity,rush fit and the pit. I want to keep gaining some muscle (even just in the legs).
3) Any good rehab exercises?

Not a good way to start the year but dont want to end up with a chronic injury

Thanks!

You really need to baby your injury. I would ice and heat it till it felt better. Since the injury is really in the vertebra (spine) area, I would consider long walks as exercise for a week or two. It is very important to make sure the injury is properly repaired, otherwise scar tissue will form and you will have that the rest of your life, and it will hinder you in years, many years down the road. (This is the time when many older athletes can pinpoint an injury that damaged them, and they have to work around it for the rest of their lives/careers). So be smart!

Do you have chiropractic care in the UK? I always have a chiropractor and a bodywork massage therapist in my address book to call for injuries like this: chiropractor to keep my spine in good working order, and the bodywork therapist to keep my muscle and fascia/ligaments and tendons in proper order.

I know it is hard to keep from working out (addiction to endorphins), but allow the injury to have time to heal properly. Try and give it time. It will just be a blip of time in your whole life to let it heal properly, otherwise it could be a lifetime of pain later on.

Is your neck still hurting or is it the same injury you had from last Friday? Rest will be good, as Gaia suggests, but if you are raring to go and can't wait and if it's just the shoulder, you could (carefully) try doing different exercises until you find one that doesn't hurt. For example, if I do chin ups (palms facing me) or neutral grip chin ups (palms facing each other), my left elbow hurts. It doesn't hurt (hardly ever) when I do pull ups (palms facing away from me). You might just need to do some exercise that puts your arm in a different position as you move it. If you do do this, use lighter weights and be careful. Give isometric contractions a go. Do them at different joint angles to see if one position is better or less painful than another and to exercise the muscles at various stages of contraction.

Probably a good idea to do rotator cuff exercises as well and also sort out your flexibility problem. Since doing scapular press ups, shoulder dislocates, wall slides and Cuban rotations my left shoulder doesn't feel painful when doing certain movements. I think the scapular press ups and shoulder dislocates have helped the most.

You might find that all of these are painful, in which case you shouldn't do them.

_________________
http://www.thesaucyvegan.com

Thanks for the advice! The vertebrae is tender to touch but doesnt hurt,seems to be healing well. I think the shoulder issue is a rotator cuff injury, I know the best advice is no weights so that's what i'll stick to then i'll start back with lighter weights and maybe isometric exercises initially. I think the issue occured because I was losing weight (not deliberately) and still increasing weight lifted,to the extent I was pushing to much.

Think i'll stick to cardio and HITT, see what the Dr says tomorrrow and go to the chiropractor.