Shoulders

Hotman

Hey there,

I've been training on and off with weights since december, im up to 26kg's each arm with my dumbell benchpress now so im happy with that, but im struggling a bit with my shoulders.

I keep on lying on them in mysleep and they get really sore,like if im doing tricep kickbacks etc its quite sore on my shoulders.

Also struggling to make any gains on my shoulder press, been doing 16s for ages now, problem is gettin em up haha, anytips on how to treat my shoulders and possible to strengthen them?

cheers

ThirdMan

Have you tried changing your routine? Go with a lighter weight for higher reps, or a heavier weight for lower reps. Mix it up a bit.

jive

standing military barbell press is good for shoulder strength, if you're only starting them then do a weight you're comfortable with until you move up in the weight. You'll find that when you go back to doing dumbbell presses that you'll be able to move more weight more easily, provided you've been eating enough obv. As for the soreness, I'm not sure of what it could be. If you're training infrequently then it might just be DOMS but I don't know and I doubt anyone here could tell you for certain (nor would they be allowed give medical advice :P)

BraziliaNZ

I think dumbell shoulder presses are the best exercise for strengthening and developing shoulders. However, nearly every person I see doing them doesn't go anywhere near a full motion rep. The dumbell is supposed to go back down to touch your shoulder and back all the way up again, not just until your elbows come down level with your shoulders.
Dumbell presses and standing lateral raises have served me best.

Hotman

Thanks for the replys guys, ill try drop to a lower weight until im comfortable with it sure, lets hope i can sort these shoulders out before they get too bad eh

cabla

I've found that you're shoulders can play a big part in your dumbell bench press. If you're form is off you may be using too much shoulder and not hitting the correct muscle group that the exercise is designed for. I would suggest really keeping an eye on your form for chest and squeeze your chest on the way up. If you also turn the dumbells about 45 degrees so your palms are now aimed towards your body (if that makes sense). So turn the right hand 45 to the right and opposite for the left. This should work you're chest a lot more and hopefully reduce what it sounds like to be DOMS. It seems your bench and shoulders aren't in proportion. 26kg isn't bad really but you're struggling with 16kg shoulders.

I can't stress enough how much a stretch and warm up will help with the shoulder exercise. It warms up the muscles and brings blood to the areas and oxygen which is going to be vital to get into the exercise obviously. Rotate the arms, stretch you're triceps, even stretch you're chest a little. Start with maybe 8kg bells and do 2 sets of 12-15 reps, just pump them out and get the blood going.

As the previous post said make sure you're form is right. Right down to the shoulders and back up. What I think is going to help is drop sets. It's a tough exercise but it is good for maybe 3 weeks (you don't want to over train). You really need to get into the mind frame though as it's going to BURN. I did shoulders yesterday. Here is what I did in dropsets....

60kg shoulder press with the bar I was struggling a bit (been a while) so 6-8 reps followed immediately with 8reps of 15kg dumbell shoulder press. 3 sets

Seated side raises (tougher and probably better for form). 10kg 8 reps immediately followed by 8-10 reps of 6kg and holding the dumbells for a second at the top.

Same as above for front raises.

Machine press but with the hammer grip. I think I was dying at this so 3 sets. 30kg for 8 then 15kg for 8.

It's been a while since I worked shoulders so I left it at that. Ideally I would have done some other shoulder press with light weight my friend showed me with a bar. Just know that there are many many parts to you're shoulders. Even around the back towards the traps. I did some bent over rows with elbows out too to try hit that spot.

Best of luck anyway - hope it helps.

Bullrush

Be careful! I injured my rotator cuffs and one of the problems I had was sleeping on my shoulders. I was six months out of the gym.