While the definite mechanisms of cross education are still unclear, the fact of its existence has been known since the 1800s. Cross EducationĬross education is a process through which training one side of the body benefits the untrained side of the body. Our bodies strive to be symmetrical, and this occurs through a phenomenon called cross education. You might assume that training one side of your body would cause you to develop a strangely uneven appearance, but the body is an amazing organism. The belt secured my elbow to my side so my right shoulder was immobile. My surgeon gave me a thick nylon belt to wrap around my waist, with a smaller loop that wrapped around my right lower biceps. I could still train my legs, abs, lower back, and the entire left side of my upper body. There was no way I was going to sit and watch so many years of effort just fade away. I couldn't train in any way that involved my right shoulder, but I certainly wasn't going to use that as an excuse to give up on my training altogether. Working your rotator cuff muscles is tedious, time consuming, and boring, but it will save you a boatload of problems later on. I was followed the program my physical therapist set up to increase my range of motion and strength. One week after surgery, I started physical therapy and was back at the gym. The tears had occurred instantly, but the spurs had formed during years of grinding. I had a small tear in my labrum, and some bone spurs. The DiagnosisĪn MRI showed that my supraspinatus tendon was hanging by a thread. A future of pain, meds, physical therapy, and dare I say it. Thoughts of surgery flashed through my mind. My arm went numb and I knew something very bad had just happened. I sat up on the bench, grabbed my shoulder, and stared at the floor. I was frozen with fear, and luckily my spotter immediately realized something was wrong and lifted the bar up. In my mind, the sound echoed throughout the gym. Just as the bar touched my chest, I felt it: an obvious pop in my right shoulder. I took control of the bar after the liftoff and started the slow descent. I had 275 pounds loaded on the bar, and this was going to be an easy double on my way up to 300. I grabbed a random guy in my vicinity to spot me. I really had no business benching heavy again, but my thick head was in denial. My right shoulder was sore, but I had learned to live with the pain. I was preparing for a bench press contest, my first in almost 10 years. My three warm-up sets were complete and this was my first working set. I lay back on the bench and went through the same set-up ritual I'd done thousands of times before.
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