I want to avoid shoulder injury, please help.

[mikil100]

I've read the threads on here and abroad, and I'm confused. There seems to be so much information, some of which is contradicting. I workout my back as much as my chest, I do deadlifts, I do squats, I do legs... I believe I have a very balanced workout routine; however my shoulder has been hurting me this last week- I DON'T want to screw it up. They pain isn't all that bad, and is worsened with chest exercises so i'm taking it easy for now. But I don't want to ignore it, because I know that will lead to more serious problems.

I workout my chest and back twice, and my shoulders once a week (not working them out after shoulder pain though)
I've seen internal/external rotation exercises for strengthening the RC, can I do them on a day after/before to a chest day? I've been doing "broom-stretches" but they haven't seemed to help much.
Should I just stop my chest workout and give my shoulders time to heal? It seems rather counter-intuitive though,as the pain should just start back up again..

The stickied thread this forum has about shoulder injury seemed helpful but also raised more questions.

Please give me ideas, or point me the right way, I really enjoy lifting and want nothing more to do it correctly and in a way beneficial, not detrimental, to my health.

[I.K9009]

You should be doing shoulder strengthening/stretching every day. I do them for 15 mins before each workout.

As for the pain: you want to stop doing whatever causes it, whether that be just dropping weight or stopping the exercise altogether. If you still feeling pain at all times then you'll probably want to rest upper body completely (could still do legs) for a week or so while icing and stretching, then try again. If there's still pain you can rest longer or see a doc and get a checkup.

[matticakes]

Yea I think doing the RC exercises will benefit you. I've had some shoulder problems in the past. The thing that has helped me most of all is -on squats/bench/shoulder exercises, I hold my shoulders back and tight (kind of like pulling shoulder blades together).

[mikil100]

You should be doing shoulder strengthening/stretching every day. I do them for 15 mins before each workout.

As for the pain: you want to stop doing whatever causes it, whether that be just dropping weight or stopping the exercise altogether. If you still feeling pain at all times then you'll probably want to rest upper body completely (could still do legs) for a week or so while icing and stretching, then try again. If there's still pain you can rest longer or see a doc and get a checkup.

So I have this routine for my RC:

External Rotation-20 Reps 3x a week
Cuban Press 20 Reps 3x a week
And I also did supraspinatus workout, it was like a lateral raise where at the end of the rep your palms are facing forward, it actually hurt- none of the other exercises hurt. Could this mean the weak muscle is my supraspinatus?

Broomstick stretches for Subscapularis and Infraspinatus 5x a week, twice a day.

Is that enough reps, should I do multiple sets for my RC? I figured internal rotation wasn't necessary because I get that with benching anyways.

[eur0_trashed]

when you do RC exercises you have to remember that they are a stabilizer and not a force producing group, this said, keep the weight extremely low, even if you look like a pansy with your 3lbs dumbbells. the point is to warm them up, NOT work them out

you can still do chest, ie flat barbell bench - keep your elbows out at a 90degree angle, so your arms are parallel with the bar. expand ur ribcage, and squeeze ur chest to lift the majority of the weight .. should take almost all the pressure off your shoulders

[I.K9009]

Yeah that workout looks good and eurotrashed is right: make sure you stick with things that will warm up/stretch the shoulder. An actual workout should be reserved for its own time.

I think you're good there but there's no reason you couldn't do some rotation/stretching every single day. Over time that will add up and could be more beneficial than just 3 times a week.