A lot of lifters resign themselves to achy shoulders without realizing there's something they can do about it. Stop for a minute and fantasize about your shoulders moving freely through a full range of motion. Good fantasy, right? You can put some Marvin Gaye on and light some candles to that shit.
Fortunately, there are ways to make this a reality. Follow these five steps.
If you're training like a dipshit you're going to have problems. If you're solely focused on pumping up your pecs and only work the muscles you can see in the mirror, it should come as no surprise that your shoulders constantly hurt.
Even if you've perfected the bicep curl and lat pulldown, you're still probably not hitting the right pulling movements for optimal shoulder health. Don't believe it? Try this.
While standing with a neutral spine, can you lift both arms so that your biceps are even with your ears?
The first picture demonstrates a lumbar arch, which means your pecs and lats are tight so you compensate by leaning backwards. If you need to lean back like this to hit a standing press you'll have some serious lower back issues down the road to complement your shoulder pain.
If you look more like the second picture and your biceps aren't in line with your ears, then you don't possess adequate thoracic mobility. You need to add more upper body pulling exercises and do some soft tissue work along with a stretch we'll get to later.
If you resemble the third picture and can get your biceps next to your ears with your ribs pulled down, then congratulations! This is the Goldilocks zone and you're just right. But read on if you still have shoulder issues or want to prevent future ones.
Think about your daily posture. Are your shoulders hunched forward and do you have a forward neck position? Look in a mirror and see how you're standing naturally without any adjustments. Odds are that you look like the hunchback if you're being honest. Your posture says a lot about your current program.
To improve your program, shoot for 3 pulling exercises for every 2 pushing exercises. It's a 3:2 pulling-to-pushing ratio. More pulling exercises will make your posture less shitty, which will help you lift more, which will make you more jacked. Don't you want to be more jacked? Yes. Yes you do.
Make sure you include some pulling exercises every time you lift. It can be as simple as doing band pull-aparts on your pressing days between sets to make sure the shoulder stays in good alignment when you press.
In fact, always carry a resistance band with you everywhere you go in the gym. Someone on the machine you were planning to use? Do some pull-aparts while you're waiting. About to hit your next bench set? Do some pull-aparts first to help your back stay active throughout the lift. Is a hottie about to walk past you? Do some pull-aparts to keep your pump going.
Be sure to include plenty of vertical and horizontal pulling to address the entire back. Use a narrow grip when you hit your horizontal rows for your "inner" back, and a wide grip when you're trying to work your "outer" back. Do both chin-ups and pull-ups so that your shoulders stay mobile. Use both wide and narrow grips on lat pulldowns.
Now fix your standing overhead press. Some say you shouldn't press overhead because it's bad for your shoulders, but that's only true if you have a current injury.
If you notice that the front of your shoulder drops down and your elbow flares out, then your shoulder is about to go tits up and you're going to get some impingement. When you let your shoulder drop, your rotator cuff can become compressed under your acromion (which is a bony process of the shoulder blade).
When doing the standing press, keep the elbows up and tight to the body. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to keep your shoulder in a neutral alignment.
The next time you do a standing press, do a quick body positioning check.
Following these steps will increase your pressing ability and keep you from destroying your shoulders in the process.
Don't let your elbows flare out. The style of benching where you aim to "work the outside of your pecs" is horrific idea if you plan on keeping your shoulders healthy. There are other exercises you could use to help you isolate parts of the chest. So when you bench, think like a powerlifter and tuck your elbows in.
This will not only save your shoulders, but will also give you some beefy triceps.
Have you ever sat on the toilet and struggled to wipe your ass? Do you struggle with reaching your seatbelt in the car? Do you fail at the overhead squat? If you answer "yes" to any of these, then you lack shoulder mobility.
The shoulder is an incredibly mobile and complex joint that needs to work with your scapula and thoracic spine (upper back). For the shoulder to function properly you must have an adequate amount of thoracic mobility. To address your mobility restrictions, begin every workout doing some soft tissue work. It'll help loosen restrictive connective tissue and increase blood flow to the areas targeted. Using a foam roller is great for general areas such as the pecs, lats, triceps and thoracic spine.
Rolling out large areas of the body serves as a detector for trigger points in the body. Once you map out where they are, then whip out the balls. A lacrosse ball tends to work well in specific areas such as the rotator cuff and between the shoulder blades. You can also use it for the lats and pecs.
Once you're feeling limber, fire up your back to stabilize the shoulder before you start pressing. Use a resistance band to pull the shoulder back into proper alignment and activate your muscles.
If your gym doesn't have bands, buy one. Take it with you everywhere in the gym. Bands are cheap and will make you look like you know what you're doing in the gym. Some exercises you should do before you press include "gunslingers" for the rotator cuff, as well as horizontal and vertical pull-aparts for the back.
Grab a resistance band. It will place some distraction on the shoulder which is good for the joint. Distraction is a mobility technique intended to create space in a joint. It allows fluid to enter into the shoulder which can help to restore mobility.
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