Shoulder pain

[George Bailey]

I purchased a C2 rower in November 2019. I completed the beginner's program on the C2 website and I'm now in week 7 of the Pete Plan. I'll provide the link here. I have begun to experience a good deal of shoulder pain in both joints. Fellow rowers have suggested it's due to anything from lactic acid build-up to using those joints in a manner that I haven't previously used them. The pain is particularly noticeable 2-3 hours after I row. If I am feeling the pain when I row it will subside after about 500m.

Any advice/input would be appreciated.

https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/

[Ombrax]

Welcome to the forum.

I too have occasional shoulder issues (primarily on my right side) but I'd call it more "soreness" than pain. The one exception to that was about 18 months back, when if I tried to throw something with my right hand I would get a very sharp pain somewhere in my shoulder. That took about a year of so to go away, but luckily it really didn't affect my rowing or weightlifting. About all I did to deal with it was some ROM stuff, with no serious attempt at treatment. I never was able to figure out what caused the problem in the first place.

I've done a bit of online digging, and as you might expect, there is a ton of "How to deal with shoulder pain" information out there, including a number of books. Unfortunately, from our non-medical perspective it's tough to self-diagnose.

This may not be the answer you were hoping to get, but I'd consider two possible (and not mutually exclusive) options:

1) Back off on either the intensity or frequency of your "hard" sessions (say, stuff when you spend a fair amount of time at or faster than your Max 2k pace + 5-10 seconds) for a few months and see what happens.

2) See an orthopedist, and see what they think of the situation and if they can get you a treatment plan that will get you back to rowing as hard as you like for as long as you like.

Good Luck

[Dangerscouse]

I have had a slightly painful left rotator cuff for a few months but I think it's due to tight muscles and it seems to be easing and it's never affected my rowing.

Your issue sounds like it's in need of some professional advice as I'm not convinced that it's a lactic acid issue especially as it's in your shoulders which don't do that much work.

Try and do some ROM exercises and reverse planks as this may help. Have you done any weight training / sports training before?

[George Bailey]

I was a powerlifter for 25 years. I was fortunate to have never been injured during training or competitions. But the heavy lifting is taking its toll on me now. This may be a result of that activity. I believe I will seek out an orthopedist and find out what's going on. Thanks for the advice guys.

[ampire]

I do band pull-aparts and shoulder horn dumbbell rotation, might be something to try.

[jamesg]

I purchased a C2 rower in November 2019.

Problems on the erg are almost always due to technique, since rowing is a sport with normal postures, no impact and most of the work done at levels that are sustainable for long distances. Most training can be done at low ratings and a power level of 2-3 W/kg, which is unlikely to cause injury.

You don't say anything about background, how you learnt to row nor how you row.

Some details such as height, age, weight, rating, power, style, foot height, drag etc could help.

Typically only scullers/oarsmen at Olympic level work very hard, but have experienced coaches, and look like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rSoTo8fQA