Questions, splitting up SS throughout the day and also shoulder pain from bench press

[spiff]

Hi Rip,

Just started SS 6 weeks ago (bought the book back in Feb 04) and it's awesome. It's been 15 years since I last seriously trained with weights. I was doing the program Arnold detailed in his bodybuilding encyclopedia minus the legs. Never did more than a few sets of squats my entire life. Hated leg workouts.

I bought a Bowflex Revolution last year and that was what I did 6 days a week. It was pretty good actually, but doing SS really surprised me.

Before SS | Current (6 weeks)
105 deadlift | 335 deadlift
105 squat | 305 squat
185 bench | 226.5 bench
65 press | 105 press
197 bodyweight | 211 (same bodyfat 22% according to my omron)

Questions:
1. Since last week, when I hit about 225 on the bench I notice my shoulder hurts as I am lifting the bar up. It's hard to describe but feels almost like some kind of joint/tendon pain in my front deltoid area. But I'm not sure if it is the muscle itself. It pain is also noticeable when I rack the weight too. It's like the sudden release of the weights exacerbates the pain. Do you know what is causing this and how to prevent it? I "think" it got a little better since my last workout so could be I just exerted myself too hard recently? It's frustrating because I felt at todays workout I could bench a lot more but the pain held me back a little.

2. My job requires me to be oncall once every 5 weeks. I literally have to drop everything and get to work right away. Would SS still work if I were to spit the exercises themselves for a given day, throughout the day? E.g. do my squats at 10am, do bench press at 3pm and then finish up with snatches (too inflexible to do cleans) /rows in the evening?

A couple weeks ago I was also diagnosed with mild hypothyroidism and also low testosterone. I'll be taking medication/trt for both but haven't started the trt yet. I'm hoping it will accelerate my gains even more

thanks for your valuable input!

[Mark Rippetoe]

The Bowflex being "pretty good" and a 105 squat don't really seem congruent.

1. The book is in its 3rd edition now, and your shoulder problems are one of the reasons. Drop your elbows a little when you bench.

2. Do what you have to do to keep the job. They are hard to find these days.

[PressesPeople]

Spiff, in pertinence to your job: I split up SS like that, and I actually found it to be more beneficial. But that's just me.