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Shoulder problems

LCSULLA

Well-known member
Ok guys heres the deal. My left shoulder has been bothering me for the last two weeks. Whenever I try to do an exercise such as Hammer Behind the neck press or even DB Mil press there is a pain under the middle head. Any ideas?
Also is there any shoulder exercise that I can do other then presses that work the delts as well?
 
Ok...that's the first thing I ask my clients, 99 times out of 100, that's the reason for rotator cuff pain.

How many sets of pulling vs. pushing are you doing in a week?

Pushing being any chest or shoulder exercises, pulling being any upper back and lats. For the record, I feel dumb asking you that question!

If your pulling and pushing are pretty equal, I'd ask my Dr for for an MRI to check for bone spurs, that also being pretty common and very painful.
 
CRUNCH said:
Ok...that's the first thing I ask my clients, 99 times out of 100, that's the reason for rotator cuff pain.

How many sets of pulling vs. pushing are you doing in a week?

Pushing being any chest or shoulder exercises, pulling being any upper back and lats. For the record, I feel dumb asking you that question!

If your pulling and pushing are pretty equal, I'd ask my Dr for for an MRI to check for bone spurs, that also being pretty common and very painful.
Click to expand...

I am doing a DC type routine. So sometimes I am hitting chest and shoulder twice a week or once, three days a week two day rotation.
Example
DB Bench
Warmup sets
5 sets start at 15 reps light weight and go down to 3 reps heavy weight. Then one work set till form goes
Hammer Shoulder
3-4 sets of warmup same as above
One set to positive failure.
Tris
Pulldowns
5 sets same as above
One work set tell failure
Rows
3 warmup sets
One work set.

The back exercises don't bother me at all. Its shoulder press that hurts.
 
If it's rotator cuff, the back stuff shouldn't bother you at all.

That may be it though. You have too much pushing and not enough pulling in a given rotation, this is putting some strain on your supraspinatus. DB bench and the Hammer shoulder for pushing but only pulldowns for pulling may be creating an imbalance at your shoulder and causing the impingement. Try adding in some rear delt work on a chest fly/rear delt machine. You can keep the same routine with them, a couple warm-ups with one work set (is what I do for everything also). If no rear delt machine, some bent-over rows or a t-bar row will work also. In the end, the important thing is getting as much or more pulling than you are pushing in a two week period.
 
try these things:

1)Attempt to place the injured side hand in the opposite back pocket.
2)Try and scractch you upper back in the middle with the injured side hand
3) Pledge your allegiance and rotate the hand back just a little more.

if any of those hurts its a rotator. do you do any rotator work?

and any behind the neck pressing is way taxing on the shoulders, i know a half a dozen people that have had problems due to that type of pressing
 
I do rows at the end end of my routine, its up there in the routine I wrote.;)
And Guy I tried two of the three (but I didn't know what this was). And only some tightness in my shoulder, no pain.
 
Doh...rows, see 'em now!

I'm reaching for straws now: been doing anything at home or work with your arms over your head for extended periods? Like painting the ceiling, something similar??

If not, then I'm stumped...sorry!
 
CRUNCH said:
Doh...rows, see 'em now!

I'm reaching for straws now: been doing anything at home or work with your arms over your head for extended periods? Like painting the ceiling, something similar??

If not, then I'm stumped...sorry!
Click to expand...

No. The only thing I can think of is, and it happened so long ago, was that I dislocated that shoulder twice in my soph. and jr. year of HS. One was lifting and the other was in a game. And I am always going to have this problem. Damn
 
LCSULLA said:
No. The only thing I can think of is, and it happened so long ago, was that I dislocated that shoulder twice in my soph. and jr. year of HS. One was lifting and the other was in a game. And I am always going to have this problem. Damn
Click to expand...

That "could" also lead to the bone spurs. If that's the case, it can be fixed with some surgery (which sucks by itself), but you'd hopefully be pain free after the recovery.

Shoulders are pretty crappy joints as it is, especially with all the stuff we ask them to do. I had three seperations in college playing rugby, but thankfully no chronic damage.
 
Could be just an irritation of the tendons or fluid sac in the shoulder (though you could count that as rotator cuff injury as well - don't where the line is drawn there).

As for exercises you could try isolation exercises like laterals or try upright rows. Might have to limit your range of motion to keep your elbows below the shoulders, but since I know you are an expert on half-reps that shouldn't really be a problem for you. :D
 
rocketscientist said:
Could be just an irritation of the tendons or fluid sac in the shoulder (though you could count that as rotator cuff injury as well - don't where the line is drawn there).

As for exercises you could try isolation exercises like laterals or try upright rows. Might have to limit your range of motion to keep your elbows below the shoulders, but since I know you are an expert on half-reps that shouldn't really be a problem for you. :D
Click to expand...
:rofl:
But Yeah I was thinking about dropping the presses and doing uprights, which have never been a problem.
 
LCSULLA said:
:rofl:
But Yeah I was thinking about dropping the presses and doing uprights, which have never been a problem.
Click to expand...

LOL...when all else fails, do what doesn't hurt!!
 
LCSULLA said:
Ok guys heres the deal. My left shoulder has been bothering me for the last two weeks. Whenever I try to do an exercise such as Hammer Behind the neck press or even DB Mil press there is a pain under the middle head. Any ideas?
Also is there any shoulder exercise that I can do other then presses that work the delts as well?
Click to expand...

Hey LCSULLA,

I seem to have the same issue you have/had. My left shoulder has pain around the middle head, but only in pressing movements like military press.

Basically, I figured out that I had been putting it in compromising position during DB Incline Presses (moving the weight into position), and during Arnold Presses. The pain became pretty bad about a month ago, and I redid my shoulder/chest workout removing these exercises. As of last week my shoulder had no pain and apparently has healed.

So, I'm guessing during your workouts you are doing some type of presses deep into the shoulder's ROM or in a position that your shoulder doesn't agree with. If you do military presses behind the head, I recommend pressing slightly infront of your body (at almost a 85 degree angle). Don't do that if you don't have chest and shoulders on the same day, obviously.

Hope that helps some.
 
I had a shoulder injury diagnosed by two different doctors as an ac joint injury -- sounds very similar to what you're describing. I've since recovered 100% by avoiding any pressing or pulling with too wide of a grip (after about 6 weeks completely off from lifting).
I caused the injury by doing pull-ups with too wide of a grip and once injured, it affected allot of upperbody movements for a few months.
In the interest of recovery I had to stop a few other exercises that I hope to add back in to the routine in the future; they include dips and decline bench.
 
Definitely listen to the advice not to do anything that hurts. You gotta be careful with shoulder pain, it's a very unstable joint and any problems can easily become chronic if not dealt with.

I'd be careful with the upright rows, they can actually cause further problems in people with existing shoulder pathologies. I'd recommend a simple movement such as laterals with the thumb pointed up instead (as long as they're pain free). Just until you can press without pain.

I can't tell much without actually seeing you, but it doesn't sound too bad. Probably an impingement of one the muscles of the rotator cuff, and thus inflammation.

Just a few balanced exercises for shoulder health should help.

Use a form of rowing that emphasises scapular retraction/depression such as face-pulls for something like 3x10.

Dip shrugs are also good for this. Set yourself up for a dip, but keep the arms locked and simply shrug the shoulders up and down. Emphasise pulling the shoulder blades down and back at the bottom.

A similar exercise but for a different purpose is the push-up plus. Just the same, get in the push up position and do reps pushing shoulder blades forwards and back with locked arms.

These exercises are important as they basically make space in the shoulder capsule by making sure the shoulder is sitting the right position.

Some form of external rotation would be good, preferably L-flies lying on your side.

It probably sounds complicated and lot of hassle but none of this is heavy training. It should be done with light weights for higher reps. Start about 20-30 reps and as you add weight bringing it down to sets of 10.

Once you've got the hang of it, it's easy to add in a few simple exercises a week and it will definitely help your shoulder health. They can be done regularly, at any time..the end of your training, 1st thing in the morning, before bed, whatever. And preferably a few times a week.
 
CRUNCH said:
Ok...that's the first thing I ask my clients, 99 times out of 100, that's the reason for rotator cuff pain.

How many sets of pulling vs. pushing are you doing in a week?

Pushing being any chest or shoulder exercises, pulling being any upper back and lats. For the record, I feel dumb asking you that question!

If your pulling and pushing are pretty equal, I'd ask my Dr for for an MRI to check for bone spurs, that also being pretty common and very painful.
Click to expand...

emmm, would like to ask you a question sir, but don't want to start a new thread, i hurt my patella tendon around 4 years back. it didn't snap or nothing, just really got hurt bad from rugby. it's all healed now, and x-ray and even mri shows nothing, but it always hurts, sort of like the "cannot breathe, been wearing contact lenses for 20 consecutive hours" whenever i sit (doesn't hurt when i am running or walking, only when at rest). i just use inflammation cream when it gets bad now and then and also a knee sleeve.

any ideas?
 
I've been having a very similar problem. My bench is starting to go back up after a plateau, but whenever I do incline(db or barbell) or military presses it hurts so bad I can't get my left arm past 90 degrees. Should I lay off the militaries and incline for a while, or should I stretch and do more rotator cuff exercises? Also would Cissus or glucosamine/chondroitin help?
 
i've had such a problem in my left shoulder, Pain was deep into my shoulder, for a month i tryed different things, workouts didnt help until i went to the doc. who prescribed me an anti inflammatory and the problem just disappeared after three days of taking the medication.

Cheers
 
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