Is it safe for me to exercise again?
Last week I had a cold. Monday, I attempted to work out before my symptoms would keep me from exercising. I must’ve moved my shoulder weird because, about five minutes into the routine, I had throbbing pains in the area and had to quit. I wasn’t using weights, by the way.
Monday and Tuesday it was pretty sore and then it tapered off and only hurt a bit when I bent my neck or lifted my head off of my pillow. I still didn’t exercise because it wasn’t fully healed, and because there was no way I could work out with that cold.
I’m feeling much better now (cold-wise) and want to resume my exercise schedule. Today, my shoulder was a bit sore and I noticed my bicep and tricep on that side was sore as if I had been working out and the tension/pain had spread to my chest on that side. It’s not unbearable by any means and I don’t think it’s a serious injury, but I’m wondering if exercising will do me good or just aggravate it more. I feel like not using the muscle makes it feel worse. When I was lying in bed all week, it was more sore than when I got up and moved around. It might even be a pinched nerve causing my muscles to be tense. The pain is in the back of my shoulder and goes up into my neck a little.
I took an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer tonight, so I hope that helps. The workouts I do are HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts that involve a lot of moving and jumping around and full-body motions. I plan to do an extra long warm up on that shoulder and start off with something low-impact, but should I do the routine at all? It’ll be raining, so walking/running instead really isn’t an option.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
11 Answers
I’d wait a bit longer until you know for sure you are over it.
It’s safe, but even a week off can set you back a bit, so expect yourself to be at the same level as a couple weeks ago. In other words, be easy on yourself.
And don’t be proactive with the NSAID use, using it at night as you have done is okay. Or use it for actual pain, but not to prevent pain. And know your body well enough to differentiate between soreness and pain from injury.
I’d add to make sure you go through a good full-motion warm-up before beginning your actual exercise routine. Failure to do so increases the chances of sports injury. Wishing you a speedy return to full, comfortable motion.
Agree with @ETpro. And until those muscles are finished healing, some simple range of motion and stretching everywhere would help.
It could be a disc in your neck and not muscular. The anti-inflammatory can still help the pain, so no harm in taking it whether it is purely muscular or a disc. Shoulder pain is common for disc problems. Is the pain in your birdie bone on your back? Or, at the top of your shoulder?
If I were you I would just go slowly and see how you do. Stop mid routine if you feel you are aggravating the area. Remember stretching before warming up risks injury, just like an injury can happen without stretching. It has more to do with your muscles being warm than anything. You aren’t going to change the flexibility and length of your muscles in one minute. Stretching at the end of workouts avoids sore muscles and increases flexibility. Your problem doesn’t sound like soreness due to muscle use though, it sounds like an injury, spasm, or cramp.
Birdie bones, some call it the angel bones. Where your wings would be on your back if you had wings. I think the real term for that bone is scapula, although I took anatomy a long time ago and might be incorrect.
Well, I completed a 43 minute workout (including warm up and cool down), so I feel much better now. I did a low-impact “recovery” cardio workout to be safe, but I still worked up a nice sweat. The pain doesn’t seem to be worse now than it was before the workout, so I guess we’ll see how I feel tonight. I’ll stick to low-impact workouts this week, I think.
@JLeslie Ah, scapula, yes. I’ve never heard either of the other terms. Shoulder blades is what I call them. But yeah, that’s where some of the pain is. Off to the right side of my right shoulder blade and up toward my neck.
I think it could easily be a disc or just muscular, hard to know. If it ever is extremely accute pain, emergency room pain, in that area, it most likely is a disc in your neck.
In my opinion, it is a safe to exercise again but you are sure that you are fully recovered and good rest. Thanks!
Response moderated (Spam)
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
