pain free shoulder gains

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pain free muscular shoulder gains

The truth is that there is no such thing as “pain free muscular gains”.  Muscle gain requires years of hard work in the gym.  The pain I am referring to here is joint pain and how to gain muscle without causing painful tendonitis in the AC joint or elbow that prevents you from lifting.   I start this video out with a mock infomercial for my “StudMuffin” app:

For those who are dissappointed the above app is not yet available, please read why history says that apps are a huge step backward in progress.  The following images are from the above mock infomercial and are heavily morphed:

Building shoulders without joint pain

Avoid the following  techniques:

  • elbow goes behind the plane of the body
  • palms facing downward
  • all standing exercises (they allow bouncing)
  • fast reps, swinging,  and use of momentum
  • excessive range of motion
  • high weight with very low reps

Avoid the following exercises:

  • vertical rows (bands, dumbbells, cables or barbells)
  • face pulls (bands, dumbbells, cables or barbells)
  • shrugs (bands, dumbbells, cables or barbells)

You might ask what on earth you can do as it seems I have crossed everything off the list!

  • seated dumbbell side raise with limited ROM
  • seated dumbbell front raise with limited ROM
  • seated dumbbell press with limited ROM
  • seated “747s” (reverse flys) with limited ROM
  • seated dumbbell side trap raise with limited ROM