Shoulder pain after OHP

[bugmenot]

I am getting pain in one of my shoulders after pressing. Based on the diagram on page 157 of SS3 the pain coincides with the location of the supraspinatus tendon. The pain gets better fairly quickly, diminished but not eliminated after a few hours, and gone the next day. The pain is not constant, only appearing when I move my shoulder in certain directions, especially moving my arm backward.

The injury becomes apparent when following OHP with dips or, to a somewhat lesser extent, power cleans. When attempting dips the arm feels week, I feel pain at the aforementioned location and the joint does not feel sturdy.

Is there anything obvious that would cause this? A backward moment arm during lockout?

[Mark Rippetoe]

It was probably caused by a previous injury to that shoulder. Any history?

[bugmenot]

Nothing significant. Would a descent that was too fast put strain in that area of the shoulder?

[Mark Rippetoe]

No, but the dips might well hurt your shoulder. If you noticed the pain after doing dips with your presses, why would you assume that the presses were the problem?

[bugmenot]

I notice the pain *when* doing dips from the descent on the very first rep. I usually cancel my dip set. But you are right that it may not be my press that is the issue. I will look into mobility diagnostic tests for shoulder injuries.

Does the elbow position in the squat put strain on the shoulder?

[Mark Rippetoe]

It didn't after either of my shoulder operations, but it could.

[Carlos Daniel]

I've had some shoulder pain due to squats, I still have it actually but it's much better. When it was bad, it bothered my OHP but mostly my bench. Didn't do dips at the time.