# Shoulders are effed....open to suggestion on how to build chest/shoulders



## HollyWoodCole (Apr 1, 2018)

Hey guys......for many years now my left shoulder has been a constant source of pain and has held me back a great deal.  Tough to build a good chest or delts with it hurting the way it does.  Specialist says I have bursitis and impingement, and surgery would take me out of the game for a year or more and may or may not be successful in resolving the problem.

The issue  lies within my own anatomical structure...something about the way I'm put together up top makes my shoulders sit too far forward which causes a great deal of problems.  In the past I've always worked around it the best I can, but its now getting to the point where even squatting makes them hurt for a few days because of how far I have to put my shoulders back when the bar is on my back.  It's not crippling but can be if I go 315+ on my squats.

Anyone have some suggestions on how to build my shoulders up a bit more and how to build my chest with this issue in place?  I've found Dumbbell presses don't hurt me as badly, although incline bench of any type is pretty much out of the question.  Flat and decline are not too bad if I stay under 275 or so with a BB.

Looking forward to hearing input/questions, thanks bros.


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## Gibsonator (Apr 1, 2018)

stretch stretch and stretch some more


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## HollyWoodCole (Apr 1, 2018)

Gibsonator said:


> stretch stretch and stretch some more


Yeah, I wish this one was helpful.  Went to a year of physical rehab with no improvement whatsoever, stretching daily.


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## Gibsonator (Apr 1, 2018)

k then tumeric, deca and gh lol


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## IHI (Apr 1, 2018)

If the MRI has shown your put together weird, and your worried about getting things fixed that may be better than they are/have been but wont because of a yr layoff; only thing you can do is what your already doing, experiment with what hurts less. Been there done this in 2016 with shoulder surgery due to exact symptoms. 9 months off of lifting, before my 1yr post surgery anniversary i was repping out my long term goal and it was 25lbs more than before i hurt myself.

arms too far forward/off center of socket, sounds like weak rear shoulder muscles that have allowed worked/tight front muscles to leverage the ball forward in the socket.


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## snake (Apr 1, 2018)

For chest, try to work in some super sets of cables or pec deck with the flat bench. Most guys would cry to hear that avice but it may keep you in the game. As for squats, high bar or a safety squat bar.


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## Uncle manny (Apr 2, 2018)

If you’re not going through with the surgery I’d say the number one thing is still to address the structural issue. A lot of guys do more pressing then pulling which brings them out of alignment. So the easier said than done answer is to stretch the anterior compartment and chest as well as foam roll and use a lacross ball to get in there. And really focus on strengthening the upper back and rear delts. Also you might wanna switch up your grip when using a barbell, more of a close grip with your elbows tucked and floor presses. Stick with dumbells because you can manipulate the angles easy. For squats, like snake said and you can even try throwing in front squats if you don’t have access to a safety bar


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## HollyWoodCole (Apr 2, 2018)

IHI said:


> If the MRI has shown your put together weird, and your worried about getting things fixed that may be better than they are/have been but wont because of a yr layoff; only thing you can do is what your already doing, experiment with what hurts less. Been there done this in 2016 with shoulder surgery due to exact symptoms. 9 months off of lifting, before my 1yr post surgery anniversary i was repping out my long term goal and it was 25lbs more than before i hurt myself.
> 
> arms too far forward/off center of socket, sounds like weak rear shoulder muscles that have allowed worked/tight front muscles to leverage the ball forward in the socket.


Thanks bro, glad to hear I'm not the only one out there.  A lot of my therapies included stretching a lot, laying on a towel to get my shoulders to begin moving back, and building my rear delts.  I try to work them hard every week.



snake said:


> For chest, try to work in some super sets of cables or pec deck with the flat bench. Most guys would cry to hear that avice but it may keep you in the game. As for squats, high bar or a safety squat bar.


My main man Snake with some solid advice......never thought of a safety bar, much appreciated bud.



Uncle manny said:


> If you’re not going through with the surgery I’d say the number one thing is still to address the structural issue. A lot of guys do more pressing then pulling which brings them out of alignment. So the easier said than done answer is to stretch the anterior compartment and chest as well as foam roll and use a lacross ball to get in there. And really focus on strengthening the upper back and rear delts. Also you might wanna switch up your grip when using a barbell, more of a close grip with your elbows tucked and floor presses. Stick with dumbells because you can manipulate the angles easy. For squats, like snake said and you can even try throwing in front squats if you don’t have access to a safety bar


What are yall's favorite rear delt builders?


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## Mythos (Apr 2, 2018)

HollyWoodCole said:


> What are yall's favorite rear delt builders?



I hear that facepulls are really good in this situation..I just started incorporating these lately due to getting a little shoulder pain from a lot of presses.
I also like the one where you bend over at the waist while seated, getting as horizontal as possible while and do kind of a reverse fly, nice and controlled. 
I wish I had worked rear delts more when I was younger.. I do feel the difference now that I'm targeting them more.


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## G-Daz (Apr 2, 2018)

I love using a safety squat bar or the safety squat machine... Like you I cannot get my left hand back far enough to support a barbell, I hit front squats as well...

Facepulls are included in every shoulder day... Standing cable or seated "lo to hi" using ropes or a wide bar...

Like Mythos suggested, bent over DB rear delt work, or a variation I like is face down on an incline bench... Doesn't take much weight lol

Include a lot of stretching!


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## snake (Apr 2, 2018)

HollyWoodCole said:


> My main man Snake with some solid advice......never thought of a safety bar, much appreciated bud.



Just trying to make sure you keep your man card brother.

I hate front squats; kills my shoulders and I can't hold enough weight to get jack shit out of them but you could try this for a killer leg workout. Giant set of Leg Extensions- Front Squats- Leg Presses: all with about a 30-60 second rest. You kinda need a screw loose to do this hard because the pain is like no other. Do not go over 10 reps or your cardio system will fail out long before your muscles do. 

Give this a try once to get the feel and the next time to ramp it up. Let me know how bad it is.


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## HollyWoodCole (Apr 2, 2018)

snake said:


> Just trying to make sure you keep your man card brother.
> 
> I hate front squats; kills my shoulders and I can't hold enough weight to get jack shit out of them but you could try this for a killer leg workout. Giant set of Leg Extensions- Front Squats- Leg Presses: all with about a 30-60 second rest. You kinda need a screw loose to do this hard because the pain is like no other. Do not go over 10 reps or your cardio system will fail out long before your muscles do.
> 
> Give this a try once to get the feel and the next time to ramp it up. Let me know how bad it is.


What is this cardio you speak of?????????


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## BrotherJ (Apr 4, 2018)

I've dislocated my shoulder three times, most recent was about three years ago. The last year my shoulder has really improved to the point where I've finally been able to move weight back up in bench again. This last year I bought a resistance band and basically throughout any upper body day (push/pull) I will do a ton of face pulls, behind the back dislocations, and any movement for internal/external rotation. It helped a ton with mobility. Also, I incorporate a lot of rowing movements. Barbell rows, pendlay rows, dumbell rows (lawnmowers), seated cable rows etc...to correspond with any pushing motion. This helped me so no guarantees as everyone is different. The resistance band also forces me to do more of a warmup routine instead of being a dipshit and loading the bar like I usually did.

Edit: also, there's just some ranges of motion I CAN'T do. Any overhead pressing/pulling motion needs to be light weight and in front. Anything other than is asking for trouble, for me.


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