My shoulders suck...

[BG5150]

Well, maybe not suck, but they are very different from all my other body parts. They fail not quickly, but immediately.

To clarify. On say, bench, for say, 6 reps, I get the first three just fine as you please. The fourth is a little slower. The fifth I can feel it topping out. The sixth, I get about halfway up, it kinda stops for a moment, and finally the movement is finished. That's when I really doubt I'll get another one, and rarely do.

But with the shoulders, I go pretty good--the first three, pretty good. The fourth, like bench, is a little tougher. But then, wham!, failure. Maybe a quarter of the way up, and then nothing. Done. Seemingly out of nowhere.

it's been like that since I was a kid.

Any thoughts?

[WantingMuscle7]

Have you ignored them a long time before now?

[hrdgain81]

i'm actually having that problem on incline now. i think its a problem with my shoulder/collar bone alignement. I'm going to the chiropractor next week to get it checked out. if your losing strength that quickly, I dont think it is muscular, but then again i'm not a doctor so ...

[joeyboy777]

Look at what was added just the other day in the training sticky....


Shoulders Overhaul
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=469072


Triple Threat
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459221


Ive had bad shoulders for a while. I had surgery 4 yrs or so ago. Incline delt raises are killer.

I would also recommend using bands or something for adductor work. or lie on your side, arm bent in a curl form, and raise the dumbell towards the ceiling.

[Dr X]

It could be your breathing. If your holding your breath or not getting air then boom, no lift.

[Darkhorse]

Try this blast. I do this every once in a great while. It's one giant NASTY set:

-smythe shoulder press: 8-12 reps
-upright rows: 8-12 reps
-smythe shoulder press: 6-8 reps (less due to fatigue)
-upright rows: 6-8 reps
-smythe shoulder press: 4-6 reps
-upright rows: 4-6 reps
-21's: dumbbell laterals done in all three directions (front, side, rear)
**Stretch**
You can either loewr the weight each set or keep it the same like I did. It depends on what you are capable of. This is a one shot deal. For shoulders day, this is all you do then leave.

[Eric3237]

Sorry, I got to this thread a little late.

I think sometimes part of the problem is sticking with some excercise, wholeheartedly, because that's what everybody uses, or that's what you were told. That's the best. Here's the dogma, the sacred cow, and you must not deviate from it.

I had a big problem with my shoulders for years. I always did military presses. I never improved, no matter what varitation I used in my routine. Just like you, I would have this sudden failure. I would of course use other excercises, too, but the press was my core and I stuck to it because that was what I had been taught was THE best excercise.

I'm not saying that the shoulder press is not a great excercise, or any other excercise, if it works for you. Other people make sacred cows of other shoulder excercises, for me it was the press. And for years my shoulders never grew. I couldn't improve for some unknown reason.

I thought there was something wrong with my shoulders but as soon as I gave up the press and started experimenting with different excercises I found out quickly what works for me and my shoulders started blowing up right away.

I'm not gonna try to tell you: do this, this is what works, because it may not work. Wer'e all different. They're are variables. I considered with the shoulder press whether it was other muscles that were failing. Was it my biceps? Was it my traps? Should I do extra work on them? I tried that too. Didn't work. But that doesn't mean it's not the problem you're having, with whatever shoulder excercise you doing.

You have to be a creative, thinking individual, and use others experiences as signposts to the truth, not THE truth.

i would suggest going through the list of different shoulder excercises a trying different combos, sticking to them long enough to know if you are improving. You know what's happening to your body better than anyone else.

It may turn out that you have a shoulder problem, but most obstacles can be overcome with creativity. Even within a certain excercise, there is not just one way to do it. It is the way that works for you. An excercise is just a concept. You can say, if I do it this way, it is better for my goals, and I am still being true to the concept.

Then, the only rule is: be safe, use common sense, and do what works for you. And if you want a sacred cow, buy a book.

[Darkhorse]

Besides the occasional "giant set" I mentioned, I suggest heavy pulling movements such as JS rows, deadlifts coupled with heavy presses such as heavy chest presses and my favorite: standing military presses. Doing them standing requires a very high degree of stability. After your last rep, do a static hold for as long as you can.