Left Shoulder hurts

[marshmallow man]

My left shoulder has been bugging me off and on for a few weeks now. It only hurts during shoulder press/military press/overhead exercises. I typically use the bench at ~90* for those exercises. I know that what happens is the weight gets back alittle and it strains my rotator cuff.

Today it was bothering me again during some dumbbell presses. I decided to kick the bench back one notch. I performed another set of shoulder presses and I was pain free. I know this could engage my chest somewhat. But, I was pain free. I was feeling it in my shoulders.

Do the masses think it would be okay to continue in this manner?

 

[fritzer]

i AWLAYS do my military or db shoulder with the bench at a very very slight degrees from 90. i think it is a must in injury prevention. actually hits the shoulders better when you get in the right back arched and ready position with your body. and if anyone says different i might have to post a pic of my shoulders

 

[bigpapa]

personally, i am always weary when people start complaining of shoulder pain. i am not saying anything is wrong, but there could be. IMO i'd go see a doctor....

u sound exactly like i did when i tore my shoulder. if i moved to a certain degree or new position i could do it. does it hurt when u bench...especially incline bench? i am not saying anything is wrong, its just it sounds very similar. and i put it off for two years before even getting it looked at and I just made it worse.

 

[fritzer]

ya mine doesnt hurt straight up just feels way way way better when bench isnt at 90
if it hurts get it checked

but if there is no pain and no discomfort then hopefully you are ok with the slight decline in the bench

 

[jim623]

My left shoulder has been bugging me off and on for a few weeks now. It only hurts during shoulder press/military press/overhead exercises. I typically use the bench at ~90* for those exercises. I know that what happens is the weight gets back alittle and it strains my rotator cuff.

Today it was bothering me again during some dumbbell presses. I decided to kick the bench back one notch. I performed another set of shoulder presses and I was pain free. I know this could engage my chest somewhat. But, I was pain free. I was feeling it in my shoulders.

Do the masses think it would be okay to continue in this manner?

I have the same problem, also on DB pullovers. I started leaning back the bench about 10° and the pain is minimal. DB lat raises will aggrivate it too.

Dr. told me about 17 years ago that I had a tore rotator cuff and I needed surgery. An elderly gentleman told me to take Osteo Bi-flex. The pain went away and I didn't have surgery. It flares up from time to time when lifting so I start the Bi-flex again until it stops.

 

[marshmallow man]

personally, i am always weary when people start complaining of shoulder pain. i am not saying anything is wrong, but there could be. IMO i'd go see a doctor....

u sound exactly like i did when i tore my shoulder. if i moved to a certain degree or new position i could do it. does it hurt when u bench...especially incline bench? i am not saying anything is wrong, its just it sounds very similar. and i put it off for two years before even getting it looked at and I just made it worse.

I did incline dumbbells monday and it didn't bother me. But, dumbbell pullovers or skull crushers tend to aggravate it as well.

 

[NovaZ]

The shoulder is a complicated joint. Different injuries prevent people from doing different things. I have a shoulder injury and I can Incline Bench and Military Press with no pain at all. My friend has a shoulder issue and he cant do either of those with a barbell because the locking into a range of motion hurts him.

Why not try what you are doing that results in being pain free, asses with the mirror and strength gains and go from there determining what works for you.

Is putting the bench a little more than 90 degrees going to make that much of a difference for shoulder growth? Probably not. You could try doing them standing as well. Most people turn their seated overhead presses into incline presses with the way they arc. Standing prevents this.

 

[youngandfree]

If skull crusher aggravate it, do them on a decline bench. My shoulder is tight from old injury, and get some twinging and pain sometimes depending on what I do. I have to do skull crushers and close grip bench on decline, so my shoulders don't rotate up as much. I don't usually mess with DB pullovers for same reason. You can get somewhat the same stimulation doing standing straight arm lat pulldowns. Figure out what you can do with out aggravating the shoulder, that's the most important. You won't diminish your gains so much by tweaking certain things in order to stay as pain free as possible.

If you notice an exercise that aggravates the shoulder, or any bodypart for that matter, then make some adjustments until you figure out what doesn't hurt it.

 

[lennoxchi]

cortisone (i think that's how you spell it) works wonders. i had shoulder pain so bad that doing any overhead exercises hurt during and days after, so bad that i could not even bench. 1 shot of that stuff and i'm good to go, still take it easy on overhead stuff though.

 

[jcp2]

I did not flat bench from the time i was 23 until i was 29 because of shoulder pain. Here are a few things i have learned to keep the shoulders healthy, i am 33 and my shoulders do not hurt at all and i bench about 100 lbs more now. It would not hurt to go see a doc if it persists though.

1. Incorporate standing militar presses, i think these really strengthen the entire shoulder area, seated militaries turn into pure front delt exercises and cause even more imbalances than most young trainers have to begin with.

2. do some some light rotator work once a week. Not a workouts worth, just some.

3. Hammer and give your rear delts some priority work, dont just go through the motions, find the exercises that activate them and don't give up until you can really feel them, it took me a long time to learn how to properly activate them and hit them properly.

4. Hammer your back, especially your lats. Do chins and pullups if you can.

5. Don't overdo the pressing exercises every week. I see guys who do flats, inclines, declines, seated military, seated dumbell and on and on, it may be a little much.

6. learn a proper setup in the benchpress. Go to the metal militia website if you can't find anything else. Don't just lay on the bench like a dead fish.

This is all purely what i have found, and i had "shoulder problems" for a long time.

 

[jumpcannon]

welcome to the world of a weightlifter. it seems like those of us who have lifted for years have to deal with this. i have the same issue. and mine is bad. for shoulder presses i do the arnold dumbell presses. seems to really keep the stress off the joint when i bring the weights in front of my face instead of elbows to the side and weights to the side. not sure which way gives better results. but definately keeps the stress to a minimal.

 

[thedawg3545]

just take some animal flex

 

[dunk826]

Basically it boils down to repeated forces crossing same portion of joint over and over. This is going to cause localized inflammation, or an impingement or other undesireable effect. this is why when you move a little (ie. different plane of motion) all of a sudden you can do it without pain.
You more or less have to "rotate your tires" so to speak. Shoulder presses at full adduction of GH joint and full external rotation are not the only way to hit mid delts, but it is an effective way to hurt yourself LOL
Do different angles, the shoulders move in almost limitless planes. I suggest working a slightly different plane whenever you work out to "rotate your tires" and dont go up in weight until you can effectively control the weight in that plane.
"It is historical continuity that maintains most assumptions, not repeated assessment of their validity." - Edward de Bono <--- think about that when you design your workouts.