BoxRec

Hello guys , anyone get like a dull ache inside the shoulder after continued day in day out heavy bag work ?
Recently had pilled on a a couple of stone so got back In to my running/cadio and bag work ,I usually jump on the heavy bag 3 times a week for 4 rounds after I've ran a 5 miler on a treadmill,im running 5 days a week weight down by near 3 st ,so more than happy , just been suffering lately with this poxy dull ache in my shoulder cap...its more annoying than painful ....im 45 so no spring chicken , but never had this type of ache before even when I was lifting .

Obviously there's a lot of impact going back up your arm hitting the heavy bag. I'm going to assume that it's your back hand so it would be the arm you throw your hardest punch with. I know you've shed a few pounds but you might still be carrying a few which means (assuming your technique is correct) you're throwing that extra weight into the bag which again will impact back into your shoulder. You said you used to lift and when you did you probably had muscular support so that protected your shoulder against impact from the bag, but if you're not doing any strength training just cardio and bag work then bashing a heavy bag with reduced muscle mass in your upper body will increase the risk of you banging your shoulder out of alignment and exacerbating the problem.

My advice is to drop the heavy bag, get somebody to hold pads for you in the gym where you can punch away and get full leverage behind your punches with less impact to your joints and throw a light weights programme into your training specifically targeting your full muscle shoulder group: so front, side and rear delts (shoulder press, flys, bent over rows) After a few months you should be able to go back to hitting the heavy bag because your shoulder muscles should be able to help support your shoulder in its alignment . If nobody will hold mitts for you concentrate on speed and don't go full power on the bag and do that weights programme for a couple of months, and then incorporate power into your bagwork but only gradually. Shoulders go on most people as they get older and it takes a lot of work to stop any more damage occurring. It's pretty hard to reverse (my shoulders are fucked and I'm in my 30's) so if it's just a niggling feeling at the moment then you've got plenty of time to sort it out, but have patience.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for taking the time to reply mate ,duly noted .

Have you ever had previous shoulder injuries? If so, the pain may be related.
Also, double check your form. Often shoulder, elbow and wrist pain occurs due to technique being slightly off. Videoing your sessions on the bag is a great feedback tool for assessing your technique when alone.
You may also be tight in your thoracic region of your back. Try the wall angel exercise and see if stretching out the thoracic region and shoulders helps before a heavy bag session.
Hope this helps :)

Warm up properly. Strech regularly. Also try hanging from a pullup bar its very good for the shoulders. Hot and cold treatment is also prerty good and I dont think you should attack the bag that often.

In fact, you just need to find a very good painkiller, there are a lot of them now.

Carrying a heavy bag on the same side of the body for a long period of time can cause the shoulder to roll forward and down

Cyclops wrote: ↑10 Jul 2019, 17:51 My advice is to drop the heavy bag, get somebody to hold pads for you in the gym where you can punch away and get full leverage behind your punches with less impact to your joints

Yeh ,,, Just go wreck someone elses shoulders , .

Winter king wrote: ↑08 Aug 2019, 15:01 Warm up properly. Strech regularly. Also try hanging from a pullup bar its very good for the shoulders. Hot and cold treatment is also prerty good and I dont think you should attack the bag that often.

Well said.its good coaching.keep up it