Safest Exercises For Shoulders (Deltoids)

[crossfic]

Obviously form plays a huge roll in this, but generally speaking what are the safest exercises for building shoulder mass/strenght? Another way of putting it is, what are the best exercises which are LEAST likely to damaged your shoulders whilst putting on mass and strength. I was thinking shoulder raises + compound movments that hit the shoulder as a secondary muscle? An injury makes it hard/uncomfortable to do overhead pressing movments, whether it be with weight or bodyeight (hs pu). I am aware that horisontal pushing movments build the front delt, such as incline/flat db press, push up variations etc... i am worried they will get to strong leading to imbalnces. I currently do alot of pre/rehab for scapula aswell, any info will be appretiated!!

[Joshua Naterman]

Lateral raises at various angles, both straight arm and with 90 degrees of elbow flexion. The 90 degrees hit the rotators a bit harder as well, if you do them with good form. I recommend both in your case.

 

For rear delts, you can do the T raise and also what I call Victorian Raises.

 

Seated rows also work the rear delts extremely well, as do properly executed foot-supported rows and FL rows.

 

I believe you already have anterior delts covered.

[crossfic]

Thanks will try these in my next workout! Yeah i belive there are getting enough attention from various pressing movments Ahh! When i do rear delt flys/raises i cant feel them working??? Instead i just feel my scapula/back contracting, any suggestions to get more from my rear delts in this exercise? Many thanks

[Joshua Naterman]

Hard to help with that without being in person. You may want to try inhaling deeply, particularly in the upper rib cage, and trying a few reps that way. If that helps, then the problem is probably anterior scapular tilt. If this is the case, you will need to do unilateral doorway stretches for pec minor.

[Joshua Naterman]

I was a bit pressed for time before, but if you can do handstands stomach-to-wall without pain then I definitely recommend them. Make SURE your fingers point straight forward. This will work your medial delts VERY hard if you are using correct body alignment.

 

If you haven't already done so, you should get evaluated for issues with anterior scapular tilt and downward scapular rotation by a professional. Specifically ask for therapy and exercises to help with these issues.

 

I have been using Kinesio tape alongside rehab work and my Foundation work, and man that stuff is pretty magical. Finding a therapist who is also familiar, and preferable certified, in the Kinesio method of taping will be worth your money. You may want to bring a friend or a partner along so that they can be taught how to do the specific taping you need. They may, or may not, have the skill for it, but it isn't hard, the tape itself is cheap, and if you have someone who can do the taping for you every 3-4 days for 3-4 weeks you should see a big improvement in your natural, instinctive shoulder blade motion.

 

Remember, by itself the tape will just be a band-aid. Its purpose is to help the muscle re-education exercises that the therapist gives you work faster.

 

As for exercise recommendations, the dumbbell work is a good way to maintain your strength while you get therapy, but once you're all fixed up I definitely recommend that you get back into your GST work.

 

If you can do foot-supported rows without issues, you definitely want to work on those. I do these very regularly as a part of both my rehab and my Foundation conditioning.

 

Also, I want to re-emphasize stomach-to-wall handstands. These have been a HUGE part of fixing my personal shoulder issues, and I have heard from a few other people that they have experienced a similar effect. If you can do these without pain, and with correct form, I highly recommend them. My shoulders have grown quite nicely from these. Just make sure your middle finger is pointing straight forward, and that your hands are either perfectly shoulder width or as close as you can get without arching. Over time, you'll want to get them all the way in, but let that happen slowly and progressively over time if you can't get there right now.

 

With your push ups, make sure your middle finger is pointing forward and your forearms are close to your body. This will make your medial delts work more than turning the hand out. If this is uncomfortable, try to work slowly towards it inch by inch. Check to see if your shoulders roll forward, as described in the link below, because that's going to cause pain if they do.

 

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/9915-scapula-position-for-rows/#entry95550

 

You want the same scapular position for push ups. They SHOULD be able to smoothly move from protraction to  a fair bit of retraction at the bottom of the rep, and from that somewhat retracted position smoothly to protraction as you press back up. 

 

Make sure you don't arch your back, stay slightly hollow at the hips! Flat back!

 

If they are done correctly, the GST work will put on quite a lot of size on your shoulders. That starts with the push ups and foot-supported rows

[crossfic]

Great answear! Never heard of kinesio but sounds great, will look into it, do you know how much it would cost? I can do foot supported rows and have been working on them for a while now:) Unfortunatly i cant do stomac to the wall handstands as being 193lbs put alot of weight on my shoulders, i was thinking maybe trying some palms in shoulder press at VERY LIGHT weight, like 1kg- 2kg, just to gain some strength as its the same movment as the hand stand, what do you think? Have always done push ups like that but thanks for letting me know! I have taken that info from the other post and applyed it to alot of things Oh really? i always thought you had to keep your scapula back through the whole range of movment?!? I tend to do DB bench press to assit push up progressions from time to time, would the scapula move the same way as in a push up? If so i have been doing it wrong for ages! Thanks for the info has been really helpful 

[Joshua Naterman]

PM sent about the tape.

 

Bench press is quite different from a push up. There's a lot of ideas about form, but the main differences are

 

1) you spend most of the time in a bench press with the scaps retracted

2) Bench press, by its very nature, is an arched back movement.

 

These aren't bad things inherently, but you can see that they are very different from gymnastic strength.

 

If you do these as a supplement that's one thing, but focusing your attention on the bench press is not going to do much for your gymnastic strength.

 

I think that your best bet is to put those things in the second seat and give your primary focus to the foundation work. I think you'll find that the mobility elements help with your shoulder issues as well.

 

I also want to recommend, heavily, that you invest in Kit's book Overcoming Neck and Back pain. 

http://pandf.com.au/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=61

 

It covers virtually everything, including what you need for your shoulders.