It's all good until you neglect to stretch

[brapbrap07]

I thought my typical light stretches before a workout were good enough but my shoulders thought
Differently. Upon doing squats I was readjusting the bar on my back with 315 which caused a burning
Sensation in my left shoulder. Its been a week and a half of babying my shoulder and it still hurts
On bench and squats. Any suggestions I should do to get my shoulder back in shape? Besides R&R

 

[gearhead]

I read a study before where they were stretching didn't help.

 

[meathead96]

I just foam rolled and stretched good. Something i need to do more often. I get so tight and achy.

 

[brapbrap07]

I'm just tired of my shoulders being soo girly

 

[stevesmi]

warm up before bro.. but leave the stretching till AFTER your workout. this is very imporant to prevent pulled muscles

it sounds like you can continue working out but lower the weight. if it hurts then don't do it. a lot of guys can't do militaries without pain but mysteriously they stupidly lift anyway heavy weight.. i don't get it, thats just ego at work.

 

[brapbrap07]

Hmm interesting take ill give that a whirl

 

[RickRock]

warm up before bro.. but leave the stretching till AFTER your workout. this is very imporant to prevent pulled muscles

it sounds like you can continue working out but lower the weight. if it hurts then don't do it. a lot of guys can't do militaries without pain but mysteriously they stupidly lift anyway heavy weight.. i don't get it, thats just ego at work.

^This

the stretching should be reserved for post workout. Warming up to your working sets will help loosen things up, get blood moving, and prevent injury

 

[Joeblow12345]

I always make sure I warm my rotator cuffs up really good with 5lb plates or DBS. I also do plenty of warm ups, light stretching and regular stretching afterwards. I also hit the foam roller on a regular basis. I keep it in the living room so I can whatch tv while I roll. I spend about 15 min rolling. This greatly reduces pain and discomfort, even though it hurts while your doing it. Stay away from anything that irritates it until it heals and keep weights low to moderate. If you feel any pain stop and back off. When your squatting make sure you have the bar buried in your shoulders before you start. Never adjust the bar while squatting as you see what can happen. Before executing a squat make sure you set up correctly. If you don't know how to do this then go on you tube and what the video series( so you think you can squat). It has a whole portion on the set up.

 

[brapbrap07]

Yah I always stretch the muscle group before I work out. But I do need to do more warm up sets than just one or two. As far as my military presses it doesn't hurt during that but today I dropped down to 255lb last set for 10 since I've already taken 2 weeks off for shoulders. Squats definitely are my personal favorite since I know its my natural test booster, so I'm wanting to go back at it and not mess around with the leg press. Ill look into the roller but idk if my gym has one.. thanks for the help guys

 

[stevesmi]

Yah I always stretch the muscle group before I work out. But I do need to do more warm up sets than just one or two. As far as my military presses it doesn't hurt during that but today I dropped down to 255lb last set for 10 since I've already taken 2 weeks off for shoulders. Squats definitely are my personal favorite since I know its my natural test booster, so I'm wanting to go back at it and not mess around with the leg press. Ill look into the roller but idk if my gym has one.. thanks for the help guys

and that is your problem.

i remember when i was a kid in P/E he would stretch before playing.. back then they thought that was correct. now as we have evolved in fitness we know that is wrong.

football players stretch before, however that is because they are getting bent in every which direction so to them its a good idea.. as a lifter you have no business stretching before. same thing with runner

stretch AFTER

 

[49ER]

I neglected stretching too now I feel like an old old man whenever I hit legs. Ive been using foam roller my quads and hamstrings get so tight its jard to loosen them up unless I stretch ed. I use the roller ed on my back though love the way it feels.

 

[ceo]

I've made so many posts about this on EF. Warmup prior to lifting, and during lifting (warmup sets prior to work set(s), stretch after.

Here's one:
doesn't make sense to stretch a cold muscle does it? Put a rubber band in the freezer and take it out in 24 hours and try to stretch it. It will break.

I warmup before working out. Something general like ride the bike for 5-10 minutes to get the heart rate up and pump blood throughout the body. I then rotate my shoulder, elbow, wrist joints if doing upper body. Legs are warmed up by the bike. Also as part of my warmup, I perform a few warmup sets with weights. Obviously, these sets are using weights that are starting off well below the weight I will be using in my working set(s), but I ramp up to that weight ex)135x12, 185x6-8, 225x3-5, 275x3, 315x1, then working set of 355 for 16 rest paused reps.

That was chest, shoulders is next. But, before shoulders I do a static "extreme stretch" for my chest.

Shoulders won't require as much warmup because they were already worked with chest. So, I do maybe 2 warmup sets before my heavy working set. Then I stretch again. And so on.

 

[paja]

i agree with u CEO not 100% but 300% with u

 

[ChillBill]

I warm up first, then in between sets I will stretch Anything I can, It's better then just standing or sitting there.

 

[stevesmi]

try the yoga pose pigeon after you work your legs. it will open up your hips bigtime.

 

[ceo]

try the yoga pose pigeon after you work your legs. it will open up your hips bigtime.

I do this stretch and have recommended it to almost everyone I've trained and many I haven't.

 

[Joeblow12345]

Yah I always stretch the muscle group before I work out. But I do need to do more warm up sets than just one or two. As far as my military presses it doesn't hurt during that but today I dropped down to 255lb last set for 10 since I've already taken 2 weeks off for shoulders. Squats definitely are my personal favorite since I know its my natural test booster, so I'm wanting to go back at it and not mess around with the leg press. Ill look into the roller but idk if my gym has one.. thanks for the help guys

Buy a roller there like $15.

 

[brapbrap07]

Rubber band concept sure makes a lot of sense. I'm going to mandate a cardio warmup before I work any
Muscle group. And sorry CEO I guess I should of searched stretching on ef before I posted this lol.
But side note you do 355x16 reps wtf.. prettt crazy considering I'm only at 315x11ish for decline bench. (I've stopped
Doing flat)

 

[ceo]

Rubber band concept sure makes a lot of sense. I'm going to mandate a cardio warmup before I work any
Muscle group. And sorry CEO I guess I should of searched stretching on ef before I posted this lol.
But side note you do 355x16 reps wtf.. prettt crazy considering I'm only at 315x11ish for decline bench. (I've stopped
Doing flat)

Just don't get too crazy with the cardio warmup. I usually only go for 5 minutes at a moderate pace. I'm not breathing hard or trying to act like I'm in a spin class. I just want to get blood and joints moving. I'd like to say I'm benching 400+ for as many reps, but I haven't been able to be too consistent in the last 5 years (I posted that in 2008 or 2009). Right now it's probably more like 375x14 (Rest-Paused). So that's like 8 reps, rack it, take 12-15 deep breaths, 4 more reps, rack it, take 12-15 deep breaths, then 2 more reps. Reps are done almost to failure...meaning I couldn't do one more rep so I don't try because I'm not using a spotter and I don't want to get injured.

 

[brapbrap07]

That's still pretty good. I need to get my weight up in that range.