Injuring my shoulders doing dumbbell squats and other exercises! Help!

J

JackShephard

0
Hi all,

Simply put, today I've injured myself doing Dumbbell squats:
Dumbbell Squat

The injury is in my shoulder. While my legs can easily handle the load of 2x18kg dumbbells on 3 sets of 8 reps, I think my shoulders couldn't. You know how the weight pulls on your arms while you carry it up and down during that movement? I think that overstretched my shoulder.

Of course I'll follow the usual procedure to recover from this, but I'm really worried because it's not the first time I overstrech something in that fashion. In fact, the better I get at the gym, the worse this problem is getting. Now that I can lift more and more it appears that some muscles are waaayyyyy underpowered compared to other and this create a host of issues.

Single leg calf raise? The 25kg dumbbell kills my arms, while the calf is just fine. Standing military press? Once in position I can easily perform the exercise but it's getting harder and harder to get the weight up there - I really struggle lifting it from the ground. Reverse biceps curls? I feel like needles are being pushed through my forearms if I try to limit my reps to 8, but if I lighten the load to reduce the pain I reach stupid ammount of reps.

Honestly, I'm getting really frustrated by this since I'm sure it's a common problem. Any advice or pointers would be much appreciated!
 
It sounds like something really serious to be honest. If your arms are at your sides and you feel pains in your shoulders then there is something not right with your shoulder joint. Pins and needles in your forearms could be the nerves or arteries getting pinched through the same mechanism thats causing the shoulder pain.

Go see a doctor ASAP and lighten up on the weights until you have a clear answer.
 
I agree with Firefreak. That's not normal at all. I'm female and can hold on to 50lb DBs doing squats and my arms/shoulders feel fine (well, not right now because of the bicep injury, but normally, I have zero discomfort).

Something just isn't right in there and needs to get checked. Don't screw with your shoulders. They are the most complex joint in your body.
 
This sounds like you may have an 'AC Strain'. I had this injury and it sucks. My pain was right in the middle of the shoulder, almost on the bony part of the shoulder. My injury was from over use and that ligament in there became overstretched, which caused me the pain. My workouts, at that time, were using improper form, escecially with pressing movements - my elbows were flared out to far.

The doctor told me a lot of ice, rest, and gentle stretching - a month or so. I could still workout, just now how I liked to. I changed my elbow positioning, to where they are now at 45 degrees in when I press. No more shoulder pain.

Food for thought.
 
Cigaro78 said:
Thank you everyone - tcajim - do you mean this exercise?:
Dumbbell Shoulder Press

What exactly do you mean by 45degree angle - this sounds very interesting!
Click to expand...

I think he meant bench press. Your upper arm should create a 45 degree angle off of your torso when you BP. If yuo are flairing your arms you are moving your upper arms closer to 90 degrees off your body and more likely to hurt yourself.
 
Yeah, I meant bench press. I was able to tell the progress of my shoulder and its healing by benching.

Sorry for any confusion.
 
huh? whats this about 2 parallel bars?

when you are laying with your back on the bench you want your arms to be no more than 45 degrees off of your torso horizontally. i.e. if you could make a 90 degree angle horizontally you arm would be point straight out from your torso. you want you elbows to be half way between straight out from your shoulder and straight down along your torso for bench press.
 
I've had some shoulder pain as well from lifting. Can anyone recommend a series of stretches or small workouts to help the muscle heal and get stronger?
 
texasrocker said:
I've had some shoulder pain as well from lifting. Can anyone recommend a series of stretches or small workouts to help the muscle heal and get stronger?
Click to expand...

And which muscle/tissue in your shoulder should we be targetting?

The supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, anterior delt, lateral delt, posterior delt, or perhaps one of the points of attachments of various tendons/ligaments?

Moreover, just because you are presenting pain in your shoulder doesn't necessarily mean your shoulder is what's giving you trouble. It could be originating in your neck.
 
To help with shoulder injuries I would suggest external and internal rotational exercises... as long as these do not cause any pain.

Probably no overhead pressing until the pain completely goes away.

Just food for thought. Shoulder injuries are a pain, no pun intended.
 
Quickest way to help your shoulder heal? DON'T DO ANYTHING. No activities or lifting. Trust me, I just got over a shoulder injury and tried to "work lightly" through it...no...do yourself a favor and take a much needed break and let it heal for about a week or two before even trying anything.
 
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