Reply With QuoteYou indicated that you have the book. What does it say on pages 77-81 in the introduction to the Press chapter about the posterior shoulder muscles and their role (paying attention to Figures 3-4 and 3-5) in a properly performed overhead press?
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Posterior Shoulder Instability
Hello Mr. Rippetoe
My shoulder started to hurt when I did the press (135 lbs) and later it began to hurt when i benched (225 lbs). I went to the doctor and as i suspected i have a posterior shoulder instability. My doctor seemed knowledgeable but didn't have a clue about strength training.
I had an mri done and there was no damage to the shoulder.
Do i need to modify exercises or even stop doing some of them because of this instability?
Thanks for the great book and forum.
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You indicated that you have the book. What does it say on pages 77-81 in the introduction to the Press chapter about the posterior shoulder muscles and their role (paying attention to Figures 3-4 and 3-5) in a properly performed overhead press?
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I am not sure what you are trying to tell me. I know that the press strengthens the posterior side of the shoulder but i still have a instability that isn't normal. I have a fear of wearing out the posterior capsule and finally pop out my shoulder because i just keep increasing weight on exercises i shouldn't do to begin with. I did some research on the topic and i found out that i should widen the grip on bench press so the force component which pushes the ball into the socket increases and deadlifts shouldn't be done. Or pretty much anything which pulls the arm forward.Originally Posted by hollismb
I still wanted to ask here because maybe someone has some experience with that particular problem and can help me.
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just give up altogether then
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This sounds like bullshit, which is probably why your inquiry was moved here.
If your MRI came out clean, then you probably have a trigger point in one of the muscles of your shoulder. You can fix this yourself by massaging the appropriate muscles with a hard object, if you can find the right spot. Your best bet, though, is to see a good massage therapist who can help you find it.
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I was born with this instability. The doctor thinks it is because my shoulder joint socket is tilted slightly backwards. I can pop the shoulder back out of it's socket when i want to so i'm pretty sure it is not a trigger point. And i also was treated by two different massagetherapists. I just wanted to know how to modify certain exercises because of this so i don't fuck up my shoulders even more but apparently there isn't any experience here with this problem.
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Probably because your problem is listening to this doctor's bullshit. You don't need to modify certain exercises; you need to do them correctly. The fact that your external research (i.e. not the book), has caused you to alter your bench press form to a wider grip indicates that you are not doing so. If you know that pressing strengthens the posterior shoulder muscles, who's job it is to stabilize the posterior part of the shoulder, and you've been diagnosed with posterior shoulder instability (a.k.a weak posterior shoulder musculature), then why would you assume that you should stop pressing? LOGIC FAIL.
Also, lots of people can cause a subluxation in their shoulder joint if they deliberately loosen everything that keeps it in place and stabilizes it.
I'm assuming that prior to getting an MRI, the doctor ruled out any rotator cuff issues using the standard tests, and that since the MRI didn't show anything either, they just punted you to PT with the generic shoulder instability diagnosis that gets you out of the office.Subluxations can also occur as a result of loose joints. In patients with generalized joint laxity, their body may allow for joint subluxations without any trauma or injury.
What Is a Joint Subluxation?
So, let's start over. Tell us your age, height, weight, lifting numbers, and detail exactly where your arm hurts, using a medical diagram that shows musculature and joint structure if possible, and the exact motions that cause it to hurt. Also, detail exactly what you were doing when it first started to hurt.
Last edited by hollismb; 10-06-2015 at 10:37 AM.
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The fact that you can do this is not the same thing as identifying it as a source of pain.
There are plenty of other, ordinary reasons you might be experiencing pain and it's a good idea to explore them before attempting radical accommodations that might not be necessary and might cause their own problems. The typical physician doesn't appear to be very good at this.
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Well i was doing the exercises like the book told me to and in the beginning it worked pretty well. I searched for alterations of the exercises when my shoulder began to hurt. Also i didn't stop doing the press and i do it as told in the book but my shoulder still hurts.
Yes the doctor did those test and none of them hurt enough that you could say there is a problem. And you are also correct that he told me to go to physical theraby to strenghten the muscles because the mri didn't show anything. He also gave me a cortisone injection into the capsule to rule out any inflammation. But that didn't help either.
I am 25. Height is 5'9". I squat 350, bench 225, deadlift 375 and press 135 (all for a set of five).
The shoulder hurts inside the blue circle. It is really hard to exactly pinpoint.
The only motion that i can reconstruct without lifting is the overhead triceps strech. That one always hurts. And when i am training it hurts on the bench press right after i have touched my chest and beginn to press up and on the press it hurts the most when i decend the weigth.
I noticed the pain the first time when i was doing the press (was around 135 lbs) and later it started to hurt doing the bench press.
After the bench press started to hurt i went to the doctor, then physical therapy and then i took three month of from all pressing movements and started again with zero weight. When i reached the 135 press and 225 bench it started to hurt again.
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Your blue circle is on the back of the shoulder. It hurts in the back, or the front?
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