Shoulder Problems while Squatting

[skylindrftr]

Male Age 26

Weight: 165 lb

B: 120 lb
S: 160 lb
D: 185 lb

Hi guys, this is my first post and I did search the forum but couldn't quite come up with anything quite like what I am currently experiencing. For whatever reason, I cannot get into the correct position that Rip talks about in SS. When I first started using his form with low weights, I did have to wait a bit for my flexibility to get better, but usually by the time I was done with my warm up sets, I could get my hands in the correct spots and my back much tighter without any problem.

Last week I was doing 160 lb for my working sets in squats and was having trouble keeping the bar in the correct position. The reason for this is what I would describe as a sharp pain while trying to keep the elbows up and wrists straight. On my last set, I could not get into position to unrack the bar so I decided to give it a rest. I was not able to get into the proper position on my last 3 work outs, except with very light weights, and even then the bar seemed very unbalanced. The best I could describe the position of the pain would be on the back of the deltoid muscle. If I take a much wider grip, with my hands essentially butted up against the plates, it is much more comfortable, but I still feel some of the pain.

The weird thing is, it is only on my right (stronger) side, and my left (weaker) side has no issue with getting into the correct position. I feel no shoulder pain when doing benchpress or deadlifts at my working weights. I am going to go to a specialist to have this checked out, but any feedback would be appreciated. In the meantime while I heal, what are recommended exercises that I can substitute for the squat in the meantime?

Thanks!

[afatgoat]

Have you tried shoulder dislocates with a dowel and some reverse band flies to warm up the area before squatting? Try widening your grip and see if the pain goes away until shoulder mobility improves instead of giving up on squats.

[Cody Miller]

Are you experiencing pain post workout?

This is a common issue that I run across in practice. Without seeing any video, we can't be specific enough towards your case. Go ahead and take video of your "rack" position from behind. You may be placing the bar too low and/or cranking your elbows back too much in absence of lifting your chest towards your chin.

Some folks are so stiff through the thoracic spine and anterior shoulder that the low bar position has to take a back seat for a short time but this is a rather small portion of the population.

Flexibility exercises such as the "shoulder dislocates/pass throughs" mentioned above can be helpful especially if you focus on avoiding internally rotating your shoulders while doing so. Simple pec/anterior shoulder and lat stretches with a band or even a wall have helped others.

I have found it best to simply practice the "rack position" for 30 seconds but start with the bar in the lowest position that isn't extremely painful. Discomfort from stretching is ok but sharp pain is not. Make sure that your thumbs are on top, wrists are straight, chin is down, chest is up and elbows are slightly back. Throw this in as a warmup and strive to move the bar slightly lower each workout.

If this doesn't immediately help and you have played with grip width, many have had success using a "thumbs around the bar" grip as a last resort before high bar squatting. In this case the wrists must flex and become compressed but this allows the low bar position to be attained by some tight lifters who otherwise couldn't. Your wrists will eventually hate you but the use of wrist wraps will buy some time while working on flexibility.

The worst case scenario is that you high bar squat until you are flexible enough to carry the bar correctly. It is much better to squat than to not but you should be constantly working towards the low bar position.

Hope this helps and link a video when you can.

[skylindrftr]

Thanks for feedback guys, I appreciate it.

afatgoat:

I tried doing both shoulder dislocates and widening my grip to no avail. I did 5x3 shoulder dislocates before I started my warm up sets and still couldn't get into position, I think this may be more than stretching can solve, seeing as I was able to previously get into the correct position.

Cody:

There isn't a lot of pain post workout, sometimes I notice it when I wake up and am somewhat stiff, but it usually goes away until it's time to work out and get into the squat position again (trying for this position exacerbates it obviously).

I will try and get a video, but it's really to the point where I can barely get in the correct position on a PVC dowel, when I try this with a 45 lb bar I can't even carry the weight properly. Like I said previously, I was able to get into the correct position before but during a workout I could not position myself properly in my last set without pain occurring so I called it quits for that day and it's been the same story since then (about 1.5 weeks). I am making an appointment tomorrow with an orthopedic doctor to get an opinion. I don't think this is simply a flexibility issue because my left arm can do it no problem, and my right used to be able to. Even with a grip that would let my wrists bend, I was not able to get in the proper position. I am thinking about doing the high bar squat in the meantime, but will most likely drop my working weight a bit to make sure not to cause any additional injuries.

Cheers

[afatgoat]

5x3 isn't anywhere near enough. Do 50-100 pre and post workout. Every day. Start wide and incrementally narrow your grip as you become more warmed up. Throw in some band pull aparts too. Roll around on a lacrosse ball, grind out the sore spots.
Giving up isn't the answer, it's possible to low bar squat without a narrow grip and stay tight.

[skylindrftr]

I will give that a shot afatgoat, right now it is pretty tough/slow for me to do the shoulder dislocates even at the widest possible grip (I can never get the dowel back around once I have it over my head) and I'll pick up a lacrosse ball this week and try out those additional stretches that you mentioned. As an additional update, I tried the low bar position again yesterday after feeling pretty good and stretching a bit and was able to get in the correct position, however I noticed that my right shoulder/deltoid is that part that is failing in this equation. For whatever reason it just hurts too much to keep it held up to support weight of the bar, even with just the unloaded bar. Not sure if I damaged a part of it that allows me to keep it up and supporting the bar during a squat or what the deal is. I didn't want to give up so I tried doing my sets with a high bar squat position. I was able to do all my working sets but the position of the bar feels way too far forward compared to a low bar position obviously and I had to really concentrate on my form because of this or I would find myself with the bar/weight not being over center of my feet. I'm about to take ~2 weeks off to rest since I will be traveling and then moving into a new place when I get back in town, perhaps my shoulder will be able to support the weight then, we will see.

Thanks guys!

[vanslix]

Definitely need a video, or even a picture of what the bar looks like on your back. Usually widening the grip helps those with poor mobility.