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Thread: Pain shoulder from squat

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    3

    Default Pain shoulder from squat

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    Some infos about me:

    Male
    6ft
    225 lbs
    Squat: 136 lbs
    OHP: 70 lbs
    Bench; 92 lbs
    Deadlift: 165 lbs


    Started doing SS for 3 weeks, enjoyed it a lot.

    But my right shoulder started aching when going under the bar. Once I was warmed up I would not feel any pain at all. And outside of the gym I felt a bit of pain only if I moved my shoulder with a very very specific angle otherwise I could swing my arm all I wanted, no pain at all.

    Then one morning I'm getting up from my bed by doing a push up motion and feel a lot of pain in my shoulder. It stayed that way for three to four days, permanent pain. I did not lift for two weeks waiting for it to heal. When I got to the point of no pain at all I started going back to the gym and doing some movements to warm up my shoulders (rowing, using a wooden stick held in both hands and passing it from front to back in a swinging motion, that kind of things). It felt a little better and there was less discomfort but I feel the pain slowly coming back workout after workout.

    I do not know what to do. I don't want to injure myself but I don't want to stop lifting. I really enjoy it and even if there is not much results yet it feels very good.

    Have you any idea or recommandations ? Anyone been there ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
    Posts
    180

    Default

    It could be tendinitis from the way you grip the bar on the squat, and whether you are carrying the bar on your back or on your arms. The usual symptoms are: hurts a little on the squat, hurts like hell on bench press afterwards, may or may not hurt during the day.
    Read this and try it out:

    The Elbow Problem

    Preventing Elbow Pain in the Squat

    I know you said it hurts on your shoulder, but I had that and I also thought it was my shoulder. Took me a while to figure out it was, in fact, the elbows. Try fixing the grip, and see if it helps. Video yourself squatting and post it in the coaches subforum with some background, they might see a form issue that needs fixing. Read the sticky first.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Everett, WA
    Posts
    470

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Soleg View Post
    Some infos about me:

    Male
    6ft
    225 lbs
    Squat: 136 lbs
    OHP: 70 lbs
    Bench; 92 lbs
    Deadlift: 165 lbs


    Started doing SS for 3 weeks, enjoyed it a lot.

    But my right shoulder started aching when going under the bar. Once I was warmed up I would not feel any pain at all. And outside of the gym I felt a bit of pain only if I moved my shoulder with a very very specific angle otherwise I could swing my arm all I wanted, no pain at all.

    Then one morning I'm getting up from my bed by doing a push up motion and feel a lot of pain in my shoulder. It stayed that way for three to four days, permanent pain. I did not lift for two weeks waiting for it to heal. When I got to the point of no pain at all I started going back to the gym and doing some movements to warm up my shoulders (rowing, using a wooden stick held in both hands and passing it from front to back in a swinging motion, that kind of things). It felt a little better and there was less discomfort but I feel the pain slowly coming back workout after workout.

    I do not know what to do. I don't want to injure myself but I don't want to stop lifting. I really enjoy it and even if there is not much results yet it feels very good.

    Have you any idea or recommandations ? Anyone been there ?
    About 18 months ago I too got tremendous pain in my shoulder from squatting. It didn't hurt nearly as much benching but pressing hurt big time. I ended up getting what are called hooker handles as it took the pressure off my shoulders and I used them as I didn't want to give up squattng but these things I'm pretty sure will only work for a while I don't think they would help once the weight truly gets high. I backed the weight off on both lifts and slowly worked my way back up. I also started taking tumeric which sure seemed to help. A big point, I don't think I had the bar low enough while squatting. Keeping that bar low is really key. It took maybe three months for the pain to subside and then I was off to the races and now my shoulders are stronger than ever at age 60 and while they get really tired they are not in pain!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Cavallari View Post
    It could be tendinitis from the way you grip the bar on the squat, and whether you are carrying the bar on your back or on your arms. The usual symptoms are: hurts a little on the squat, hurts like hell on bench press afterwards, may or may not hurt during the day.
    Read this and try it out:

    The Elbow Problem

    Preventing Elbow Pain in the Squat

    I know you said it hurts on your shoulder, but I had that and I also thought it was my shoulder. Took me a while to figure out it was, in fact, the elbows. Try fixing the grip, and see if it helps. Video yourself squatting and post it in the coaches subforum with some background, they might see a form issue that needs fixing. Read the sticky first.

    The thing is I am not experiencing any pain on the other lifts. No pain at all. And only my right shoulder seems to be a problem, the left one never hurt one bit. I'll try to pay more attention to the position of my elbows next time I go to the gym. Thanks a lot for your answer !


    Quote Originally Posted by SteveL View Post
    About 18 months ago I too got tremendous pain in my shoulder from squatting. It didn't hurt nearly as much benching but pressing hurt big time. I ended up getting what are called hooker handles as it took the pressure off my shoulders and I used them as I didn't want to give up squattng but these things I'm pretty sure will only work for a while I don't think they would help once the weight truly gets high. I backed the weight off on both lifts and slowly worked my way back up. I also started taking tumeric which sure seemed to help. A big point, I don't think I had the bar low enough while squatting. Keeping that bar low is really key. It took maybe three months for the pain to subside and then I was off to the races and now my shoulders are stronger than ever at age 60 and while they get really tired they are not in pain!

    I don't think the problem is the weight I'm lifting, I experience this pain even warming up with just the bar. My mobility is very bad and I need to force my shoulders a little bit even with a wide grip. I'll check if I'm setting the bar low enough on my back next time I lift, might take a video ! Thanks for your advice !

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    61

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    Not sure if this is the same, but I had extreme soreness on my right shoulder when I started squatting 2-3 weeks ago. I started at 135, then reset to 115 to fix form issues and because I kind of tweaked my back on my first 10 lb jump attempt. My right shoulder didn't hurt much until it touched something -- then it hurt quite a bit.

    I seem to have fairly extreme flexibility issues. If I don't warm up and stretch, especially when working out at the beginning of the day, I can't assume the squat position at all. Like my grip would have to be so wide, it's on the plates. I don't really have time to warm up, so I started doing my first empty set doing exactly that. By my second empty set my hands can get to just barely inside the hooks, and I have to be careful to not crush my fingers racking the empty bar. By my first weighted set my hands are still too wide but far better. Etc -- I keep bringing my hands in every warm-up set. By my working set they're pretty good.

    I still noticeable tightness in my shoulders during the day I squatted, but I don't have any pain any more -- and I'm up to 180 in a couple of weeks

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Camino, CA
    Posts
    1,499

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    Post a form check. A lot of times, this sort of thing is tied to grip.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    3

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    starting strength coach development program
    I checked my bar position and elbows positions and it was not the issue I think.


    Quote Originally Posted by FredM View Post
    Not sure if this is the same, but I had extreme soreness on my right shoulder when I started squatting 2-3 weeks ago. I started at 135, then reset to 115 to fix form issues and because I kind of tweaked my back on my first 10 lb jump attempt. My right shoulder didn't hurt much until it touched something -- then it hurt quite a bit.

    I seem to have fairly extreme flexibility issues. If I don't warm up and stretch, especially when working out at the beginning of the day, I can't assume the squat position at all. Like my grip would have to be so wide, it's on the plates. I don't really have time to warm up, so I started doing my first empty set doing exactly that. By my second empty set my hands can get to just barely inside the hooks, and I have to be careful to not crush my fingers racking the empty bar. By my first weighted set my hands are still too wide but far better. Etc -- I keep bringing my hands in every warm-up set. By my working set they're pretty good.

    I still noticeable tightness in my shoulders during the day I squatted, but I don't have any pain any more -- and I'm up to 180 in a couple of weeks

    I tried exactly that my last workout ! Started with a wide grip and set after set I could get it to be narrower and it would not hurt because my shoulder are warmed up. Not enough time has passed since I started doing that but it might help with the pain.



    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Illingworth View Post
    Post a form check. A lot of times, this sort of thing is tied to grip.

    I do not know about that, I think my grip is fine, maybe a little too wide but other than that I don't see any issue with it. I'll try recording it

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