Shoulder Calculus

I have a new shoulder calculus, I think, and it’s telling me to lengthen the duration of my quest.

The basic algebra is this:

the longer I engage this particular adventure, the more fun it gets;

the more fun it gets, the more time I spend at it;

the more time I spend at it, the wearier my upper body muscles get;

the wearier my upper body muscles get, the less precise my form and technique;

the less precise my form and technique, the greater the chance of injury.

Evidence?  My left upper shoulder rotator cuff is beginning to feel a twinge every now and then.

So...a new shoulder calculus: all factors involved suggest I need to either have less fun or slow down. Slow down it is. This is way too much fun.

I’ve also learned about a new muscle group called the latissimus dorsi, which you can see below (thanks to the author of the blog--One Healthy Munchkin):

 As I’ve explored the various muscle groups involved in a momentum-pull-up, this is one I knew very little about. It’s directly behind you, so why would you notice it? Many shoulder issues stem from locked or frozen latissimus dorsi, I learn, particularly if one sits in a stationary position most of the day and rarely moves it. Like online teaching, for instance, or entire days spent at a computer screen. I’ve begun the painful--and I mean painful--rolling process of waking this muscle group up, both in use and in some simple bodyweight-roller massage movement.

I wonder if I learn to love and care for my latissimus dorsi--lats, for short, which one should use for an 'intimate' in one's life, I suppose!--I wonder whether my shoulder will let me do more of the jumps and pull-up practices I want to do?

I also wonder if I’m catching that body lifters’ disease of more, better, best. Or perhaps I’m finally just enjoying my body for who and what it’s always been. There for me, with its own limits and quirks that it’s my job to learn to love, but it's there for me, strong, built (even), and beautifully mine.

I'm learning how to isolate exercises for muscle groups too. I played with a wide bar, weights' use of the lats today at the gym. It felt good to use the upper back muscles and protect my shoulder.