Shoulder Pre-hab

Blackguilt

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I'm going to start this off by saying, yes I have read the FAQ's and the article about shoulder pain. (Just to get that out of the way)

What was not covered, and I would like to know: When doing the weighted exercises, what type of weight/rep range should I be going for? I would understand a simple Power vs. endurance type arguement if it were a major exercise and I had a specific goal in mind. But all I want to do is have my shoulders be injury resistant so when I start lifting again, I dont injure them more.(already have shoulder pain) and when I grapple that strength and stability is there.

Perviously I just chalked it up to a training thing, but a few weeks ago I pulled a rib out doing sprawl drills, and I thought "oh shit, im not invincible."

TLDR- What rep/weight should I use for shoulder stability exercises?
 
Medium to high rep ranges are better for the joints, ligaments, and tendons. You obviously also want to strengthen the muscles around the joints as well, but if you're asking what kind of rep ranges you should be using for scapular pushups, facepulls, etc., the answer is a mix of medium to high rep ranges (10-20).

However, you'd also want to use a combination of static and dynamic stretches as well. Shoulders are a tricky bastard as my sporadic pain in my right one can attest to.
 
For shoulder stability you need to focus heavily (but not exclusively) on exercises for your rotator cuff muscles, your lower trapezius, your serratus anterior and your thoracic spine mobility. Reps between 10-20.

For a more thorough approach you would need to have a postural/muscle imbalance assessment and take it from there.
 
I'll try that exact routine Urban. Looks good. What type of weight do you use, or as a novice what weight should I be using? It appears he is using 5-10 lbs each hand. Do i stick with that or do i increase weight over time?
 
There are a lot of strength coaches who say that overhead pressing is very good for shoulder health.
 
I do the same thing that Urban post a couple of times a week. Honestly, I find 5lbs is sufficient, but I have issues with my shoulders/neck.
 
I use fives. In terms of progressing, I don't worry about it much. I stick with fives and personally wouldn't see much reason for most people to ever go past tens. Its a warmup/prehab complex, its not meant to build strength and power.
 
There are a lot of strength coaches who say that overhead pressing is very good for shoulder health.

And a lot of PTs and others say that OH press is terrible for your shoulders because most people do it incorrectly.

Cressey has a lot of good shoulder warmup stuff.

The only thing you should really focus on when doing these is trying to keep your shoulder blades down and retracted the whole time. Your upper traps should not be very taut at all.
 
I was told by a 900 (shirted, high 600s raw) bencher that in order to keep the shoulders healthy, he does rotator cuff work 4 times a week, and has two days dedicated to upper back exercises such as chest supported rows, lat pulldowns, chin-ups, dumbbell rows, face pulls etc... High volume. This balances out the heavy, maximal pressing and also helps him develop the pulling strength needed to touch the chest in a high-end bench shirt.

One problem I see a lot of beginners make is that they get on a routine that has them pressing heavy but with no upper back work or rotator cuff work. This may be fine as a beginner since the loads are not enough to cause problems, but a more advanced lifter increases his risk of injury as his anterior deltoids become overdeveloped in relation to the rest of the shoulder complex. I feel that all the upper back work I do has prevented me from ever developing shoulder problems.
 
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