About two years ago, I was really getting into strength training workout routines comprised of low-rep and high sets. I was pushing 80% of my max rep for 4-5 sets of 3 reps, with 40-60 seconds rest in between. I liked this type of training routine because it increased my punching speed and power at the same time. I broke up this strength training workout routine as follows: Tuesday – bench press and front squats; Thursday — shoulder presses and dead lifts. I would perform the first 2 sets at 50% of my max rep weight for each exercise for no more than 5 reps. For the remaining sets, I performed them at 80% of my max rep for a maximum of 3 reps.

My body was weak the day I hurt my shoulder. I went for drinks the night before, had some Henny on the rocks, probably fell asleep around 3:00 am, and woke up around 7:30 am for my 9:00 am client. I finished work around 1:00 pm that Sunday. As always, I began my workout with a warmup of 10 minutes of jumping rope and then went straight into the strength training routine I’d planned for that day — weighted over-hand pull-ups, weighted under-hand chin-ups (5 sets of 5 reps each), and ended my workout with heavy bench presses (4 sets of 3 reps at 80% max rep.  I felt no shoulder pain that day; however, I noticed the pain during my next training session of heavy bag work, and pushups, and even when sleeping on my side. This discomfort in my right shoulder continued for 2 years until I learned these shoulder stretches. I am now able to do pushups and punch the heavy bag again pain-free.  But to get back to that point, I had to take a break from all pushing exercises, stopped punching the heavy bag, and focused more on rowing-type exercises — and most importantly, stretching my shoulders. I’ve only been using three stretches and they’re the best thing I could’ve done for my shoulder health. Now, not a workout goes by with doing these shoulder stretches both before and after my workouts and training.