4 Tips for Training With Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain is one of the most common issues that I treat with CrossFit, powerlifting and Olympic lifting athletes. It is rarely beneficial to ‘stop and rest until the pain goes away’. Shoulder pain can often be created from an imbalance between mobility and stability in the shoulder joints. Training with shoulder pain can present as an opportunity to isolate the root issue and remedy it permanently! Here are 4 movements that I include in shoulder rehabilitation to allow you to continue training around/with your shoulder injury.

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1. Rows

Rows allow us to use our shoulder in a plane of motion close to the body and rarely irritate. There are an abundance of row variations to try, based on your fitness level and irritability. Consider substituting aggravating movements (commonly pull-ups, muscle ups, toe to bar) with a row variation ranging from ring rows, dumbbell rows, banded rows, kettlebell rows, barbell rows. Single arm rowing variations are a great way to differentiate and correct strength and endurance between right and left sides.

2. Carries

Bottom up carries with a kettlebell, waiter carries with a kettlebell or dumbbell, or overhead carries with a dumbbell or kettlebell are a great way to continue overhead work without irritating the shoulder. These carries challenge shoulder stability and overhead mobility without cranking out repetitions through the shoulder joint. If you’re someone who experiences shoulder pain with movement, carries are a great way to build shoulder strength and endurance with limited risk.

3. Accessory/Muscle Isolation Work

Shoulder pain may equal downtime from snatching or heavy bench press, but it’s a great period to work on isolated muscle work for smaller muscle groups. I recommend subbing in some Triceps work (pull downs, kick backs, skull crushers) and Lats work (pull overs, pull downs). Do these movements with bands and work on tempo training (slow eccentric movements and pauses at peak contraction) to improve srength through the entire range of motion. Training these isolated movements will contribute to better muscle coordination when you return to complex movements. For example, I’ve had numerous patients train Triceps for 6-8 weeks while their shoulder heals and come back to PR at bench.

4. Keep on Pushin’

While bench press can be quite aggravating, shoulder pressing in the form of push-ups can develop the serratus anterior, the primary muscle involved in shoulder blade stability. Modify push ups by pressing from an elevated surface, adding a band, ring push ups, tempo push-ups, pause push-ups.

Once your shoulder pain is gone, raise a hand if you love physio!