# Bigger shoulders....with arthritis



## Lrob63 (Jan 16, 2016)

looking for good shoulder routines from those of you who have had shoulder injuries in the past...for size/strength.  And for defining......I have to swap my workouts up...I do have arthritis in both shoulders so low reps is a must....(no more than 8-10).
I know I'm not the only one with shoulder problems so what yall got??? Any info is appreciated much


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## stonetag (Jan 16, 2016)

If you say you want size and strength, you will have to stay with the basics. OHP is still the best overall movement for delts. I prefer dumbbells because you can make slight tweaks to the lift to take away slight pain, small rotations to wrist,  slight adjustment to the plane by bringing you shoulders in or rotating shoulders out..


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## hulksmash (Jan 16, 2016)

Stick with DBS so you have a little more range of motion. Might be better than BB.


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## Seeker (Jan 17, 2016)

If you have shoulder injuries using DB's ( in my opinion ) might be risky. Just setting up to do db presses takes work. I suggest machines. They will isolate the area your working on and the set up is easy.


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## stonetag (Jan 17, 2016)

Seeker said:


> If you have shoulder injuries using DB's ( in my opinion ) might be risky. Just setting up to do db presses takes work. I suggest machines. They will isolate the area your working on and the set up is easy.


Yeah Seek machines are not to bad, my only thing is the strict positioning of the lift, you can use a suicide grip and twist your wrists a little and that's about it. The plane of the movement remains the same. I guess the extent of the injury really determines what gets used.


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## saltylifter (Jan 17, 2016)

Where does your arthritis pain hurt the most in your shoulder. If I had a better idea on what movements hurt it more then I could help out better then just saying do or don't do crap cause just saying you have shoulder arthritis doesn't give anyone much to work with. 
I have lots of pain in my left shoulder but it consists in the front so I tailor my workouts to the pain in it


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## Lrob63 (Jan 18, 2016)

My bad for just now getting back.  My phone is a POS...iPhone 6 junk......but left shoulder between trap and collar bone area is a small tendon and its a sharp pain in that spot that I can touch with my finger.....arthritis is in both shoulders....left shoulder is horrible.   and thanks for all the ideas.....   As of right now I do a lot overhead presses with smith machine....front and side raises with 10lb DBs


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## WARRIOR (Jan 25, 2016)

Smith machine really is not the best for your shoulders, probably the worst actually.  Dumbbells are definitely best because of the range of motion.  If you are looking to grow your shoulders stick with high volume training for them.  You will have to fight through the pain, as do I, but in the end its better for your joints to be doing high volume with lower weight than it is for them to moving heavy weight.


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## Schredder (Jan 25, 2016)

Is your goal to get stronger and lift more weight or to build muscle and make your shoulders bigger?


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## Schredder (Jan 25, 2016)

Never mind my question, Ive been known to skim read posts and miss things lol.

For growth, heavy weight isn't needed for shoulders.  For me, its all about volume and high reps and low rest between sets forcing as much blood as possible into the delts.  If pressing is too hard on the shoulders you can actually (and some people might hate me for saying this) get away without even pressing.  As long as you target each head then the job is done.  Use a little bit less weight then you normally use and focus on using the targeted head to lift and move the weight.  If you have pain and arthritis forget about gaining strength for now.  You might even find the pain to lessen with lighter weights being used and then slowly increase weights based on what your body is telling you.


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## WARRIOR (Jan 26, 2016)

Schredder said:


> Never mind my question, Ive been known to skim read posts and miss things lol.
> 
> For growth, heavy weight isn't needed for shoulders.  For me, its all about volume and high reps and low rest between sets forcing as much blood as possible into the delts.  If pressing is too hard on the shoulders you can actually (and some people might hate me for saying this) get away without even pressing.  As long as you target each head then the job is done.  Use a little bit less weight then you normally use and focus on using the targeted head to lift and move the weight.  If you have pain and arthritis forget about gaining strength for now.  You might even find the pain to lessen with lighter weights being used and then slowly increase weights based on what your body is telling you.



This is exactly how I had to train while nursing a shoulder injury.  I still train this way except now I am able to press pain free.  I just do my presses toward the end of workout after they are thoroughly pre-exhausted.


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## Jscs94 (Jan 26, 2016)

I've been doing the same. It messed with my head for awhile but in the end my shoulders no longer hurt and while I'll never be big enough I have managed to keep my size and gained some. 





Schredder said:


> Never mind my question, Ive been known to skim read posts and miss things lol.
> 
> For growth, heavy weight isn't needed for shoulders.  For me, its all about volume and high reps and low rest between sets forcing as much blood as possible into the delts.  If pressing is too hard on the shoulders you can actually (and some people might hate me for saying this) get away without even pressing.  As long as you target each head then the job is done.  Use a little bit less weight then you normally use and focus on using the targeted head to lift and move the weight.  If you have pain and arthritis forget about gaining strength for now.  You might even find the pain to lessen with lighter weights being used and then slowly increase weights based on what your body is telling you.


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