Thread: Soreness in right shoulder

The exact same thing happened to me about a year ago. After some more experimentation I found that barbell bench pressing really bothered my shoulder (not sure why, I haven't had any past shoulder problems). I stay away from flatbench pressing now (with a barbell). I don't have any problems with dumbbells. I also do decline barbell chest presses without any problem either (takes a lot of the stress off the shoulder and puts it more on the pecs). I've also found that some chest fly machines bother my shoulder as well.

You are describing what seems to be your rotator cuff in your shoulder. I would recommend experimenting with very light weights when doing chest workouts to see what bothers your should and what doesn't. I've also found that my shoulder workouts don't bother my shoulder in that way at all either. If your shoulder pain gets any worse I would see a doctor.

i've read about alot of people having this problem. From what i've read most have to stop bench pressing(bb) and switch to barbell presses.
When performing flat bench press make sure your not positioning the barbell to far up, when the barbell is lowered bring it down to just below the nipple line and not to the top of the chest.
I've also found that pec fly machines can aggravate the front of the shoulder. Try putting the seat higher so that your arms are again working just below the nipple line.
I'm not sure whether this is very important to your situation or not but try and make sure there is a balance between your chest and your back. What i mean is that there should be a balance between pushing(pecs) and pulling(back). If there is a large imbalance and you concentrate alot mor on chest than back then you may do some rotar cuff damage.
This is just from my experiences and may not be technically correct but it has helped me. I would definately recommend laying off the bench pressing for the moment and switch to dumbells.

Try changing the ROM in the movements that aggravate your shoulder.

I've also heard that most people go too far down when barbell benchpressing. Supposedly you should not go below the point at which your upper arms are parallel with the ground (assuming proper grip width). According to this, below that point takes the stress off your chest and puts it onto your shoulders forcing them into a somewhat vulerable position. When using this form the lowest point in the lift should have the bar several inches above your chest. I guess the powerlifting rules popularized the full motion barbell benchpress, or maybe this form is a bunch of crap.

Thanks for the replies. I do notice that it's more with the flat bench barbell and pec decks. I do incline dumbbells and that seems to be fine. Ironic though, 'cuz I feel like I get more of a stretch on my inclines than my flat bench.

However, I do lower the the barbell above my nipples. I'll try lowering the barbell below my nipples next workout (week) to see if this helps. Thanks again for the guidance.

when your doing incline bench you should bring the barbell down to a point above the nipple line. On flat bench though, try and keep it below nipple line.

Originally posted by EagleEye
I get some soreness in my right shoulder (front delt) a day or 2 after my chest workout. It feels more than just a regular soreness you get from the "normal" workout of a muscle. It's right where the chest and the shoulder meets or right above your armpit.

I dunno, still sounds like DOMS to me. If it was painfull durring or right after the workout then I'd say you may have been going past your ROM and maybe doing some dammage but if it didn't get sore till day 2, then it sounds more like a normal response.

Cool. Today is the second day after my chest workout and it a little more sore than yesterday and the day before. I'll monitor it for the next couple of weeks as I try some of the suggestions here.

BTW, what does DOMS stand for?