Strength issue

[Mercador]

Hello,

I'm using my C2 rower since last summer and I really love it, done around 500km so far. Though, I got a strength issue and I would like some advice if possible.

The fact is my left arm is clearly in better shape than my right arm (I guess I'm a lefty though I write with my right hand). Because of this, when I row, my left arm is working as intended but not my right arm. It cause a rhomboid muscle strain on the T4-T5 because my right shoulder isn't enough strong (that's the physiotherapist guess).

So, right now, I'm trying the get my right shoulder stronger and I can't use my rower for some weeks.

Do you have some suggestion for training my shoulder and/or a way to make sure that I work out even on both arms ?

Thanks!

[Cyclist2]

I crashed my bike on my left shoulder 18 months ago and went to a physical therapist to get some exercises to get it fully functional again (nothing broken, just lots of soft tissue injury). The doctor that referred him took an MRI and they all evaluated it, then came up with an exercise routine that helped a lot. I did those exercises for several months. It slowly got better and balanced out the left, which I was favoring due to the injury.

I would think your physiotherapist should have the best idea of good exercises. Did you have a doctor determine why the imbalance? Maybe that needs to be addressed first.

[Masterninja]

As mentioned your physio would be the person to ask. Everyone has a dominate side but the strength disparities can manifest themselves in any number of ways. Doing unilateral weight work for the weak arm and always training that side first and/or with slightly more volume can help. Also the exercise known as "wall slides" simply because they contribute to should stability in the subscapular region as a whole and you're hard pressed to find someone who has trained theirs adequately.

Other than that, you need to ensure the injury is not stemming from some potential connective tissue disorder and your doc/physio should be doing some kind of testing to determine that.

[hjs]

Hello,

I'm using my C2 rower since last summer and I really love it, done around 500km so far. Though, I got a strength issue and I would like some advice if possible.

The fact is my left arm is clearly in better shape than my right arm (I guess I'm a lefty though I write with my right hand). Because of this, when I row, my left arm is working as intended but not my right arm. It cause a rhomboid muscle strain on the T4-T5 because my right shoulder isn't enough strong (that's the physiotherapist guess).

So, right now, I'm trying the get my right shoulder stronger and I can't use my rower for some weeks.

Do you have some suggestion for training my shoulder and/or a way to make sure that I work out even on both arms ?

Thanks!

Strenghttraining with dumbells. This makes both sides evenly hard. But you need good physio who is into sports, if not they are not very usefull imo.

[Mercador]

Thanks folks

I'm going back to the physiotherapist next week, so I'll see. In the meantimes, I'm doing some dumbells with my right arm but I still feel the pain in the T4-T5 region. So I guess my exercice isn't ok right now..

[hjs]

Thanks folks

I'm going back to the physiotherapist next week, so I'll see. In the meantimes, I'm doing some dumbells with my right arm but I still feel the pain in the T4-T5 region. So I guess my exercice isn't ok right now..

Some pain is allowed, but that should ease off quickly and certainly not get worse over time. And work both sides!
Keep it light and high rep

[gcanyon]

I am not a doctor, but if you shift your left hand in slightly on the erg's handle, it will make a big difference on the effort required from each arm (requiring more effort from your left arm, and less from your right). *If* that makes it possible to row, and *if* you find you can strengthen both your arms that way, then maybe over time you could adjust your left hand farther out on the handle as your right arm strengthens.