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8/21/11 7:51 P

You are very welcome, Chad. I am glad they helped!

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8/21/11 7:44 P

Nancy
I tried those cable flys for upper and lower chest.. I blasted rite through them without any shoulder issues!!! I tell i worked it but there was no catching or poping!!!

Just wanted to let you know they are working and i got a great chest work out this weekend!!!
I was feeling so good i flipped tires for about 30 min today and still no shoulder issues...
This is about unheard of for me!!!!
thanks for your help....

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8/18/11 4:50 P

Still didn,t get to the page. and I couldn,t get to your facebook page either. Aghhh! Just came back from work-out, Whew! I pushed. How are you doing? Cherie

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8/18/11 3:22 P

If you go there and search "better body" it should come up. It's a collage of healthy stuff for the group icon.

Good for you on getting back in the game! I love the muscles come around faster when you get back into the swing of things!

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8/18/11 12:41 P

Nancy, couldn,t get thru to facebook. I,m doing a 4 day split right now, oooomuscles are sore! Feels good to be back in the game! Cherie

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8/17/11 9:15 P

Low cable Flyes are for upper and mid-chest, in case you didn't figure that out. And you are welcome.

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8/17/11 4:30 P

I've been doing them for my lower chest. Never tried them for upper? Thanks for pulling my blinders off Nancy. I never thought to try them. I've done them with dumbells. Ill try them Saturday and let you know how they work.
I guess I needed to step back and revaluate my options.

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8/17/11 4:20 P

How do standing low cable flyes work for you? www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFL_eJ895iQ

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8/17/11 4:03 P

So if I stop my incline bench how can I develop the upper chest? Frond delt is easy. More front raises which doesn't seem to bother me and bar bell raises.
the upper chest is the only one I haven't found a way around yet? I've done inclined flys but I get the same catching ang popping?
Any ideas or somthing I have overlooked?

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8/17/11 3:27 P

Like Mike said, the shoulders don't require lots of heavy lifting to get big- They are involved in the working of so many other body parts that you can get away with less on them. Also, my PT told me that as a synovial joint (moves in all directions), they simply were not designed for huge amounts of weight and have a tendency to "give" and get injured when stressed too much.

Mike has massive shoulders and said he has to not do some exercises at all, so you may want to consider just eliminating the ones that irritate it for now. As you strengthen the area around it, you might be able to ease those exercises back in over time.

I've learned I can't go real heavy on rear delt work or incline shoulder presses for my particular injury. Perhaps you could do your military press with a lighter weight for warm up, then move on to the ones that don't hurt so bad for the "meat and potatoes" of your workout.

And as far as Dumbbells go, that's not an all bad thing- Dumbbells are, IMHO, the preferred method of using free weights as they let your body move in the most natural way possible and make each side work individually without assistance from the other side.

Edited by: NANCYANNE55 at: 8/17/2011 (15:29)

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8/17/11 10:17 A

Hi! After physical therapy on my shoulders, I,m back to doing a spilt. I work laterals one day and rear delts the next day with back. Nancy,s right about not going lower then the body. As a matter of fact, I,m not doing flyes yet, it puts to much strain on the shoulders where it meets the pec. I do rotator cuff warm ups almost every day with a toning band. and turn a weight plate side to side in front of me. I do not want to hurt that shoulder again! Cherie

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8/17/11 6:46 A

Hey Chad,

I agree with NancyAnne on the creatine causing water weight gain. A lot of it is intramuscular but some of it will be interstitial (between the skin and muscle) and this will smooth you out a bit. The only health related concern I am aware of, other than temporary muscle cramping or GI ditress, relates to the kidneys. If someone has compromised kidney function it could potentially cause problems by raising creatinine levels (a breakdown product of creatine).

I can relate on the shoulder pain as I have dealt with this since a severe rotator cuff tear about 10 years ago. What tendons were affected in your injury? It has been awhile and scar tissue has accumulated, but you still might benefit from some PT or rehab exercises for that area. I have learned to adjust grips, weight, exercise order, and eliminate exercises completely in some cases. I have also learned to tolerate a certain amount of pain in this area when I work out. But usually you can find some exercises for that area through expermentation that will be less painful and potentially damaging. Also, remember delts get a ton of work from chest and back training so you often don't need to do a lot of concentrated work on them.

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8/16/11 11:31 P

Thanks Nancy
I was off the creatine for about 8 weeks. I just started taking it again. It does make a difference with power and the lactic acid burn. I can go to exaustion without burning out. I just didn't pay attention to the weight gain because where I was so big!

As for the shoulder. I have been trying different angles of lift, I only us dumbbells now! The strait bar absolutely destroys it!!! I didn't know if there were any exercises to strengthen the joing or not? I tore some tendens in it years ago being young and dumb. Doing stuff wrong but that's another story. I figured it would be better after taking that break last month but im thinking it might have hurt me more than help in this aspect?

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8/16/11 10:59 P

Creatine is notorious for weight gain. It's supposed to be water weight inside the muscle cell, as opposed to under the skin, which is therefore supposed to make the muscle appear bigger and give it more power to lift, therefore putting on thickness that is non-creatine related, but I don't like it. I gain 4 pounds when I take it and that just makes me mad! LOL! I also have a hard time fitting into my pants, so I don't take it anymore. I actually took a pic of me when I was on it, and I am just a little TOO thickly muscled, IMHO.

So you are right- it is water weight gain.

I have a friend, a big guy, who took creatine once and ran into some health issues with it. His doctor told him to get and stay off of it- he said it is nasty stuff that can cause liver damage. But I googled it and could find nothing on the subject. Having said that, people usually cycle it- I believe 8 weeks on and then I can't remember how long off. That might be because of health-related issues.

I always say before taking a supplement, thoroughly do your research.

As for the shoulder, I also had a shoulder injury. One thing my physical therapist told me to do that has helped me tremendously to keep it from flaring up again is never let my elbows dip below the level of my body, or come back behind it, in chest moves (presses and flyes). I don't know if that information will help you, but I thought it was worth mentioning. If I start to feel it tweaking, I'll back off of that exercise.

I hope this helps!

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8/16/11 4:51 P

I have 2 questions?
The first is has any one had a problem with creatine causing you to retain a lot of water?
I got back on my creatine last week and i have gained 6 pounds since i started taking it again.. Its got to be water weight because my diet is better than it has ever been and i am busting my butt in the gym.

Second question, Does anyone know how to get around a old shoulder injury?
I Injured my rite shoulder years ago and now it is throwing a fit.. Incline bench and shoulder press it keeps grabbing and poping? It seems to be worse with a strait bar? I have changed the angle of the bench and switched to dumbbells and it has got better. But now even that is starting to flair it up.. I am taking IB Proffin to keep the inflamation down and using heat and ice to keep it under controll. Im affraid it isnt ever going to go away.. I have had this problem for years. Just looking for new ideas to work around it and still keep marching forward..
I have taken long breaks, short breaks from my workouts to give it time. If its didnt heal in the 10 YEARS that i took off i dont think it is ever going to get any better???
Thanks