Waaaay post-op shoulder exercises

[seldon]

I had a posterior labral repair done last May (I posted about it a couple times). Did the PT afterwards, feels fine for everyday use, but it still feels a bit weak, even 9 months later, when I'm sailing in a lot of breeze or crashing on skis or lifting something heavy above my head. I've been doing push-ups, dips, pull-ups, hang-cleans, rather light bench, but I want to make this shoulder feel rock-solid now so it won't nag me for the rest of my life. I'm 20, and I don't want my body to feel decrepit. Can anyone help me with some exercises (other than the standard rotator cuffs ones with therabands... I already do all that) to really help me push the shoulder back up to full strength and full confidence in it?

-- Thanks --

[swerve]

Ive really liked swimming. It works out the whole shoulder and doesn't put too much strain on anything. Sometimes lifting I would tweak something and have to take a couple days to get everything settled down but with swimming I could work the shoulder as much as I wanted and it always felt great. Last summer I was a little over a year out of surgery and felt confident doing pretty much anything. Sailing felt fine (I trim jib on a J-24 mostly).

[Zalg8]

One arm bent-over rows are nice. I like to do them unsupported (just bend over and row). You can go fairly heavy. You should do a lot of rowing.

You could try getting a shoulder horn device for rotator cuff work. It works a good bit better than anything else for that, and makes a big difference for me.

You could try some overhead presses with dumbbells. Take it easy with them, obviously. I like the "Arnold" presses. I also like the lockout at the top that you get with a barbell press (kind of behind the head). It's harder to get this with dumbbells, and is potentially good for thoracic spine posture. Low volume, for obvious reasons.

You could also try some heavy pluses on an incline bench.

Just in case... on the hang-cleans, I wouldn't catch them on the way down. Just drop them and pick the bar back up. You could also learn to do full cleans. Catching heavy weights like that can be bad for the shoulders.