Hey guys,
I’ve searched through other shoulder pains in the forums but I have not found any like mine. I’ve been doing mostly compound movements based on Chad’s workouts (bench, rows, dips, chin-ups, pull-ups, push press, cleans, jerks, squat, front squat, deadlift…) for the last 6 months. I also good db external rotations and db shoulder lateral raises every other week.
As a result I’ve added mass and increased my strength (thanks to this site…Thank you). 2 weeks ago I was benching at a PR for myself at that rep range (6reps) but I had what I consider good/consistent form and was post-fatiguing/super-setting with db flys. I had not done flies in a while
Maybe I went too heavy on the dumbbell weight but i felt a little click in my right shoulder everytime I got about half way through the fly. I stopped after it started to hurt and took a week off. I had been training for a few months without a full week off.
I came back feeling better but this time I was doing db bench and I felt the pain as I moved to my heaviest weight (4 rep range). The shoulder clicks halfway through the motion. The pain is felt mostly in the front deltoid area with any press (bb/db bench, push-ups, and I am assuming direct shoulder work).
I can do dips no problem (arms going slightly below parallel). The weird thing is that it hurts to raises my arm up but once it is there it feels fine. no part of the shoulder is tender either or hurts to the touch.
I am guessing that I developed a muscle imbalance or didn’t pay enough attention to something that messed up my rotator cuff??
Is there any active recovery you guys recommend or am I better off just resting it for another week? I take Flameout right now, usually 2-3 pills a day. Would it help if i bumped up the dosage? Any other recommendation or links are greatly appreciated.
I can’t be sure but my guess is that you are pressing with your elbows flared (90 degrees). This position has the shoulder girdle in a less stable postion with less lat activation. If you are doing this i can only say stop, at least for heavy sets, read up on proper powerlifting technique for all heavy benching and if you want extra pec develop use constant tension techniques or longer sets ~(10+) staying some reps short of failure.
If you are benching properly already then I don’t know that much about it but I would say read all of Cressey’s shoulder savers articles and try some of the exercises there they helped me anyway.
Anyway good luck with it all joint pains are a bitch but it feels that much better when your finally rid of them and have learned how to fix them.
Is the pain inside the shoulder or in the muscle? I have a similar problem where pain occasionally occurs where the bottom of the lateral delt meets my humural head.
Go see a doctor, I thought my problem was minor and trained around it for a while before I went to a doctor and learned that I needed surgery for it.
James-
i do tend to bench with my elbows flared out. Not completely but a good amount. I’ll read those articles
Leppi-
The pain is more in the joint. Activation of the muscle hurts but most of the pain is from movement of the joint. for example when i bend over to tie my shoes, my arms are hanging but it kills once i get to a certain angle.
I had the same pain whenever I benched or did any overhead presses…including the clicking. Dips didn’t bother me as well. Diagnosis was bone spurs in the shoulder which caused impingement. Have it x-rayed.
[quote]James Kiely wrote:
I can’t be sure but my guess is that you are pressing with your elbows flared (90 degrees). This position has the shoulder girdle in a less stable postion with less lat activation. If you are doing this i can only say stop, at least for heavy sets, read up on proper powerlifting technique for all heavy benching and if you want extra pec develop use constant tension techniques or longer sets ~(10+) staying some reps short of failure.
If you are benching properly already then I don’t know that much about it but I would say read all of Cressey’s shoulder savers articles and try some of the exercises there they helped me anyway.
Anyway good luck with it all joint pains are a bitch but it feels that much better when your finally rid of them and have learned how to fix them.[/quote]
Those are awesome articles, must reads for any one with shoulder problems.