Shoulder injury - What is safe?

[Jbtyson]

I've been riddled with injuries ever since I started working out again and cutting last year. Shin splints for months, then rotator cuff impingement. They gave me a shot of Kenalog and a few weeks of physical therapy. I took off working out all together as I didn't want to aggravate it (ended up putting back on 25lbs - pissed at myself). I started back up about a month ago, and it hurts again. Pain all the way through my elbow and into my fingers. Hands falling asleep at night. It SUCKS. Doctor said I shouldn't get another shot for another few months. I don't know if I should see a specialist or what, but either way my workout is screwed.

I'm basically a noob, so I have been doing Starting Strength. I can't squat, bench, deadlift, row or military press without pain. So nothing. If I'm very careful I can squat with minimal pain, but none of the others.

I know it isn't optimal, but are there any machines I could use that won't make this thing worse? Leg press? Something else? Or should I just walk?

[ThisIsTheOne89]

starting strength is barbell training, and barbell training isn't very forgiving for shoulder impingements as the back squat and pressing movements put the shoulder in an awkward position in my opinion. In the meantime only do exercises that don't cause pain. First you need to find out why you have shoulder impingement. Is it due to an actual tear? Or is it due to your scapula tilted forward thus squashing your rotator cuff tendons? If it is the former then you probably need to lay off the weights completely and maybe start doing some rehab rotator cuff exercises. If it is the latter then you need to do some foam rolling, rolling around on a lacrosse ball, and work on improving your posture. I am not an expert on this, but shoulder impingement has many causes - not simply just "weak rotator cuffs"

[Jbtyson]

starting strength is barbell training, and barbell training isn't very forgiving for shoulder impingements as the back squat and pressing movements put the shoulder in an awkward position in my opinion. In the meantime only do exercises that don't cause pain. First you need to find out why you have shoulder impingement. Is it due to an actual tear? Or is it due to your scapula tilted forward thus squashing your rotator cuff tendons? If it is the former then you probably need to lay off the weights completely and maybe start doing some rehab rotator cuff exercises. If it is the latter then you need to do some foam rolling, rolling around on a lacrosse ball, and work on improving your posture. I am not an expert on this, but shoulder impingement has many causes - not simply just "weak rotator cuffs"

Yeah I figure I will do whatever doesn't hurt, but that seems to be a small list. I can't say whether it is a tear or not. I played baseball for a while and since then have done heavy manual labor quite often, so I could have injured it a number of ways. Doctor never ordered an MRI so it was just his guess based on a few tests in the office. I do know I have poor posture, so that could be causing problems as well. Probably wouldn't hurt to do some rolling as well as cuff exercises.