Setback

For several months before I started P90X I had noticed soreness in my right shoulder when I moved it into certain positions, usually with my arm stretched out in front of me or above my head. It came on gradually, so I figured it was just out of laziness and lack of motion, brought on by the limited movement involved in driving a taxi ten hours or more a day. I also noticed that the pain didn't happen in the same positions if my arm bore a load of some sort, and that made me ever more certain that it just needed exercise.

During Training Block 1 of P90X I had no trouble at all with my shoulder; the warmup before each workout all but eliminated the pain. But something changed during the recovery week of Training Block 1, because when I started Training Block 2 last Monday, I couldn't shake or warm up the pain out of my shoulder. And when I started the Day 1 workout — Chest, Shoulders & Back — there was nothing I could do with my right arm that didn't cause severe pain in my shoulder. I was devastated emotionally. I was finally psyched up for really the first time in my life about working out, and Monday it seemed like it was all over. I stopped the DVD and emotionally curled up into a little ball.

It was a brief moment of panic, but after I calmed down I realized that it's just my shoulder. Yes, it connects the arm to the body, and just about anything that involves the arm involves the shoulder, but I can still do biceps and most triceps exercises. I can still (unfortunately) do the Ab Ripper X workouts. And the leg workouts.

I took a look at WebMD online and determined from the symptoms that it's likely a "chronic tear" in my rotator cuff. It's common in men my age, common in the dominant arm, and comes on gradually, often with no definitive injury event to point to. So, eliminated until I can get it checked out and corrected (I have no health insurance at the moment) are all chin-ups and pull-ups, push-ups, yoga, shoulder "fly" exercises, and some triceps moves that involve extending my arms above my head.

I'll be a chiseled god from below the chest, down. Chest and up, I'll still be all marshmallowy....



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