Need serious shoulder advice /:

[picadegallo]

Hey guys,

I am a jogger, who recently began weight training. I am following the body beast program, and have been progressing and gaining muscles the past few weak. But my shoulders have remained pathetically weak, and I am not noticing any gains. Today was shoulder day, and I failed miserably. When doing shoulder presses my right arm is stronger then my left arm. Also, I get excruciating neck strain, and can hardly do the workout. I could not do more then two reps, no matter what weight I choose. I tried 10 pounds, and could not raise the dumbbells more then once, and my right arm always went higher then my left arm. My lateral raises were also very pathetic, I had the right form, but the weight was very low. The only successful shoulder workout I did was upright rows. Every shoulder day I make no progress, and can hardly do the workouts.

Please offer me some advice on how to improve, and other workouts that will help me start off with my shoulders /:

Thanks,

K.

[magician27]

stop focusing on weight and pick a weight that you can do 6-10 reps with. if its 5 lbs then let it be 5 lbs . to improve your strength you need to hit some volume with moderate weight. if you do 2 reps with heavy weight and just call it a day because you cant lift heavy ,then you will neverr get stronger

[JohnTran1]

Do more isolation exercises with dumbbells. Focus on your left shoulder until you've built a good foundation for it. Use weight that you're comfortable with lifting. Doesn't matter if it's low weight, everyone starts somewhere.

[scamander]

Don't beat yourself up - you are most probably failing because you are picking weight which is too high for you, then scolding yourself for not achieving it.

I got back into weights a year or so ago. First thing I did was ignore what everyone else was lifting and simply picked a weight I could initially do 2 sets of 10 reps. Then I went to 3 sets and then I upped the weight.

It took a while. But I'd rather that than midwife an injury. You mention neck strain - you should be dropping the weight instantly if you are feeling this. I don't know what the programme you are doing involves, but compound exercises are a must for shoulders, particularly if you are starting out.

Moves like Military Press, DB shoulder press should be the mainstay. DB raises/Rows etc are good, but I'd focus on the Military BB press and DB press first you need to ensure you are working the auxillaries and thus building up a good platform for the specific shoulder exercises.

It's also very important to incorporate some rotator cuff exercises too - this will help prevent injury and helps strengthen in general (google them). So go find a weight you can move rather than one you can't and make that weight you are currently struggling with something to achieve in a few months.

Stick with it and you'll get there!

[armadillon]

It's also very important to incorporate some rotator cuff exercises too - this will help prevent injury and helps strengthen in general (google them). So go find a weight you can move rather than one you can't and make that weight you are currently struggling with something to achieve in a few months.

Stick with it and you'll get there!

Good God yes. I advocate the hell out of mobility exercises and using bands to warm up the shoulders. Pulling the rotator cuff sucks worse than trying to reproduce with a blender. Do not do either.

[tsoden]

It's not about the weight. Its about the movement. Drop the weight down to something you can manage.

[TheShadowMan]

Going to go in a different direction here. I would stick to compounds for awhile until you have built up a foundation, and then when you're stronger later on you can add isolations to work on your imbalances, pump your muscles, and get a good overall burn towards the end of your routine. My personal picks for shoulder compounds are overhead press for anterior head, upright row for lateral head, and real delt row for posterior head. If overhead pressing is giving you problems, I have found the anterior head can also be worked with a medium grip benchpress, or if you have a landmine - linear jammers.