SCJP

Gents,

Since I started training I have always had a problem doing front raises, shoulder press &, although less extreme, bench & incline bench.

I get to a point where I simply cannot raised my left arm further. At first it was quite immediate & I suddenly would not be able to raise my arm, however as my training has progressed I can feel the muscle becoming less able, until I drop the weight (literally). Hence I try & only use the shoulder press machine these days.

I'm getting fed up as I cannot progress anymore & my right side is always left with plenty of gas in the tank at the end of a workout.

What can I do (besides quit)?:confused:

hackskii

I would venture to say your front delts and chest are overpowering your rear delts and rhomboids.
Classic weight lifter problem of muscle inballance.

I would do rotator exercises and more bent over rows and rear delts.

Not raising your arm sounds like rotator to me though but you will have to do more pulling exercises including dead lifts.

Do not do anything behind the neck like military presses or pulldowns or pullups, never do those behind the neck.

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Scott


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Tinytom

I've got this exact same problem and its to do with rotator cuff muscles.

I've had a year of treatment with sports massage and trigger pointing to rectify it but its still not 100%

I'd agree with Hackskii and not do any rear delt work for a while and limit the isolation stuff that you do until its better.

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SCJP

Thanks guys.

I think I've confused you Hacksii, when I refer to my 'anterior' delt, I mean the front one. Since I started training more seriously I've done plenty of rows, pull-ups & deads & have generally made ok gains, but the areas I've struggled in are chest & front delts. I did behind the head pull-downs for a little while about 1 & 1/2 yrs ago, but stopped when I found out about the negative effects.

When pushing upwards or to the front, even before failure, I can feel the front delt straining to lift.

Maybe dropping pulling exercises might help, but then this problem existed before I really started doing these properly.

I don't do front raises at the moment, but what if I did these solely on my left (weak) side? What about front lateral raises (http://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ShouldWt.html#anchor786678) as these are supposed to isolate the supraspinatus, if that is where the problem lies?

Cheers.

invisiblekid

I had a problem where my left shoulder as a whole was very weak. If you hold your arm out in front of you (like doing a forward lateral raise) and ask someone to push down on it, can you provide any resistance like you should be able to on the other arm? Same with moving your arm up and outwards.

I had months of physio and no joy. I mentioned it in passing to my Chrio who then "reset" the joint twice and the problem was gone. I seem to have built up the muscle now so its just as stable and strong as my right.

Might not be the same problem, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

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hackskii

I have heard of the pushing guys having this problem.
To my knowledge I am unaware of any big pulling guys having shoulder problems with the anterior.
Usually the chest and front delts over power the rear delts and rhomboids.
When this happens the way the shoulder works is compromised.

Surfers have very strong backs and not too strong chest and front delts, they never have problems with shoulder injuries.

I still go back to my original statement where it seems like either a muscle inballance or rotator issues.
Both would either cause the injury or hinder recovery.

Bump for Paul Booth.

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Scott


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SCJP

Right, on leg day I think I'll add in two sets of front lateral raises, solely for the weak shoulder. The weight will be kept moderate & I will aim for 8-12 reps.

I'll see how things progress & then decide if I need to seek professional advice.

If anyone has any better ideas, I'd be very grateful to hear them.

Thanks.

Nine Pack

I've been offline for a bit, sorry guys, god knows how I got on now, my pc has been fried by a virus.

Sounds like either a gradual build up of inflammation to the origin of the front delt, or a bicep tendon at the proximal end is giving you trouble (although a R.C problem can't be ruled out). Try doing dumb bell front raises with the thumb pointing up, and then as normal & see what gives the most discomfort. If it's the former, chances are it's the bicep tendon that is the culprit. It get's mistaken for a shoulder problem very often but without actually examining you it's hard to say for sure. The bicep has a secondary action of helping to flex the shoulder joint forwards so can often be linked to this type of problem.

Treatement is the same either way. Anti inflamms for about 5 days to allow the build up of inflammation to subside(if you are able to take them), ice & heat alternating compress about 10 mins heat, 10 mins ice (do this twice every day). I'll try to keep checking back but my PC is very 'stoppy-starty' at the moment.

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SCJP

Thanks, I'll give the front raises a go & take it from there.