shoulders hurt with chest workout

so i did a search and nothing really came up....everytime its a chest day i find that my shoulders hurt before my chest even seems to be getting a workout...my shoulders are big for my body...my chest is tiny...i do flat bench, incline, decline, all with db and flat bar....i also do flys....i need some advice quickly.....the pain is primarily in my left shoulder...like a sharp pain...nothing like muscle soreness...just wonder if anyoen has experienced this and how to isolate the chest from the shoulders...thanks

coop

oh and i do inside grip and normal and outside grip on the flat bar stuff

Maybe you strained your rotator cuff. I aggravated my rotator cuff dragon boating in the summer and could feel the pain everytime I did chest and shoulder work. What I found helped was warming up with really light rotator cuff exercises (do a google search) and warming up slowly with chest exercises. When doing chest presses, I tried to keep my arm at a 45 degree angle to my body at all times. This helped to take a lot of the stress out of the shoulders. I still felt the work in my chest. I did the same for shoulder presses. Also, I find it very easy to strain your shoulder when you try to go too deep with chest flyes. I'm not sure if this was the case for you but maybe take that out until your shoulder feels better. Lastly, try icing the area to reduce any inflammation, especially after your workout.

[QUOTE=void11;13984111]Maybe you strained your rotator cuff. I aggravated my rotator cuff dragon boating in the summer and could feel the pain everytime I did chest and shoulder work. What I found helped was warming up with really light rotator cuff exercises (do a google search) and warming up slowly with chest exercises. When doing chest presses, I tried to keep my arm at a 45 degree angle to my body at all times. This helped to take a lot of the stress out of the shoulders. I still felt the work in my chest. I did the same for shoulder presses. Also, I find it very easy to strain your shoulder when you try to go too deep with chest flyes. I'm not sure if this was the case for you but maybe take that out until your shoulder feels better. Lastly, try icing the area to reduce any inflammation, especially after your workout.[/QUOTE]

x2.

drop the flat BB bench for the time being or atleast do it with DBs untill your shoulder heals.

yeah, drop ALL barbell movements for a while as a matter of fact. Just work with dumbells and cables and see how you feel. Also, try out the hammerstrength pressing machines.

-Grimmy

I've experienced that twice with my left shoulder. What helped me greatly was a narrow grip bench press. Also, with the narrow grip, I never brought the bar all the way down to my chest; I left about a fist's length gap. Also, with a narrow grip, the weight load must obviously be decreased which is unfortunate especially if you love to lift heavy. This action helped me recover much faster as well as keeping my chest in shape during my injury. After my shoulder healed, I was able to go heavy again with full range motion without any pain. Good luck.

[QUOTE=Still_Shruggin;13985901]yeah, drop ALL barbell movements for a while as a matter of fact. Just work with dumbells and cables and see how you feel. Also, try out the hammerstrength pressing machines.

-Grimmy[/QUOTE]

I agree 100%. Dumbells and cables offer the best natural ROM.

The hammer strength machines i find were good as well, the ONLY one i didn't feel 100% comfortable doing was the incline one though. And other people at our gym were saying how some people find it OK but some it just kills their shoulders.

I guess im inbetween that range or something because its not like its horrible but just really awkard feeling.

thanks for the advise....one last question....i feel alot of strain in my shoulders getting dbs into position for decline, incline etc...(picking up dbs off ground)..one of the reason i did flat bar was because i didnt want to "yank" big dbs off the ground....how i get around this? thanks again

you pick up one db and have a training partner pick up the other and hand it to you while you are in position.

that still requires picking up one though....and it hurts...less wt perhaps till it heals?

If you are working out alone with no assistance, then you have no choice but to use a lighter weight. If there is somebody else present, than you can assume position first, then have him hand you the weights so you don't have to pick anything up.

i had the same problem i hurt my rotator cuff during the football season and i started doing all dumbell and cable excerices. but make sure u let it heal cuz if u train it to hard u can real screw ur shoulder up.

i had this problem too. what i did was closen up my grip a bit more and focus more on the pecs having a full contraction for each rep. i used to have my pinkys on the ring of the barbell, now i have my grip set up about 4 inches closer to the center. it helped a lot. experiment with the grip and see what happens.

u will never isolate the chest away from the shoulders.. i believe the shoulder are always going to be the primary mover and teh chest a secondary. what angle are your arms at when u bench? u should be dropping the bar down to your lower pec area .. if your not then your putting alot of stain on the shoulder join. i used to flare my arms out when benching and had alot of probs with shoudler pain ever since i started to bench with my arms angled near 45degrees i have no pain at all and my bench in the past 6 months has increased like crazy. also make sure u haev an arch and are throwing your chest out.

[QUOTE=void11;13984111]Maybe you strained your rotator cuff. I aggravated my rotator cuff dragon boating in the summer and could feel the pain everytime I did chest and shoulder work. What I found helped was warming up with really light rotator cuff exercises (do a google search) and warming up slowly with chest exercises. When doing chest presses, I tried to keep my arm at a 45 degree angle to my body at all times. This helped to take a lot of the stress out of the shoulders. I still felt the work in my chest. I did the same for shoulder presses. Also, I find it very easy to strain your shoulder when you try to go too deep with chest flyes. I'm not sure if this was the case for you but maybe take that out until your shoulder feels better. Lastly, try icing the area to reduce any inflammation, especially after your workout.[/QUOTE]

good answer

In my early weight training years my shoulders and arms were very strong and dominated chest exercises. What I did was to switch from barbell to dumbbell and then dropped the weight. This allowed me to fully focus on what angle and contraction fully worked my chest. I gradually upped the weight over a few months and eventually I was back to what I was lifting but doing things properly. My chest is now balanced with the rest of my body. You really cannot beat that feeling when your chest is pumped up!

I also always ensure that I get in my rotator cuff exercises as well every week. It's like my personal insurance policy as I always used to get little annoying injuries in that area.

thanks guys...will try that and see what happens....