freeflowme
Level 4 Valued Member
Hey all,
Deadlifting on PTTP has been going well - gains in strength feel fairly obvious and consistent. I've been struggling with the press, though. I know that for a variety of reasons the press will make smaller gains and a far lower ceiling, and maybe my ratio of a 265DL to a 115OHP is about "right." However, any time I cycle up to 115lbs, I end up "tweaking" something in my right shoulder / upper back. The weight's not even heavy enough to really be moving slowly. I don't know the musculature of the shoulder girdle / scapula very well, but it feels like something that runs all the way from halfway up my neck, down my spine, underneath my scapula, and into the area of my lat spasms and takes days to work out. Maybe that's multiple muscles. Maybe it's one.
I've had problems with this shoulder for 10+ years - doing an over-under / "towel" shoulder stretch readily shows that I have great exterior rotation on that shoulder, but next to no internal rotational ability at all. I do mobility work before PTTP and stretches after every day to try to help. The shoulder pops and clicks and feels like it gets "stuck" when I come overhead in an arm circle and try to come down in front of my body. It's to the point where I'm considering going to a doctor and seeing if I can get a script to go get an MRI just out of curiosity to see what's going on in there.
I try to do band pull-aparts and face pulls as often as I remember throughout the day and on off days from PTTP, but I find that my right shoulder often still "floats" up. If I look into a mirror, I'll often notice my right shoulder hovering very noticeably higher than my left. During deadlifts, I really focus on "packing" that shoulder down and back and keeping my lat very, very tensed, and that's seemed to help strengthen the area, but it's obviously still weak.
So, I guess my question is:
1) Do you see anything wrong in my press that indicates a technical issue that I could improve to help avoid injury and progress past this 115lb plateau? I'll try to do a from-the-front view next session, as that might be more helpful for this particular question.
2) Has anyone experienced similar issues and how have you helped correct them? Keep in mind, I'm already doing daily mobility, stretching, and supposed shoulder-prehab/rehab band exercises, so I don't know what more I should be doing.
3) Are there good variations on the press that I can do to still improve my overhead strength without doing strict barbell presses every day? I tried behind-the-neck presses, and while I loved them for the strengthening in my medial delts, traps, and upper back, they caused a severe pinch in my right shoulder so I had to abandon them.
Thanks in advance.
115x5
105x5
Deadlifting on PTTP has been going well - gains in strength feel fairly obvious and consistent. I've been struggling with the press, though. I know that for a variety of reasons the press will make smaller gains and a far lower ceiling, and maybe my ratio of a 265DL to a 115OHP is about "right." However, any time I cycle up to 115lbs, I end up "tweaking" something in my right shoulder / upper back. The weight's not even heavy enough to really be moving slowly. I don't know the musculature of the shoulder girdle / scapula very well, but it feels like something that runs all the way from halfway up my neck, down my spine, underneath my scapula, and into the area of my lat spasms and takes days to work out. Maybe that's multiple muscles. Maybe it's one.
I've had problems with this shoulder for 10+ years - doing an over-under / "towel" shoulder stretch readily shows that I have great exterior rotation on that shoulder, but next to no internal rotational ability at all. I do mobility work before PTTP and stretches after every day to try to help. The shoulder pops and clicks and feels like it gets "stuck" when I come overhead in an arm circle and try to come down in front of my body. It's to the point where I'm considering going to a doctor and seeing if I can get a script to go get an MRI just out of curiosity to see what's going on in there.
I try to do band pull-aparts and face pulls as often as I remember throughout the day and on off days from PTTP, but I find that my right shoulder often still "floats" up. If I look into a mirror, I'll often notice my right shoulder hovering very noticeably higher than my left. During deadlifts, I really focus on "packing" that shoulder down and back and keeping my lat very, very tensed, and that's seemed to help strengthen the area, but it's obviously still weak.
So, I guess my question is:
1) Do you see anything wrong in my press that indicates a technical issue that I could improve to help avoid injury and progress past this 115lb plateau? I'll try to do a from-the-front view next session, as that might be more helpful for this particular question.
2) Has anyone experienced similar issues and how have you helped correct them? Keep in mind, I'm already doing daily mobility, stretching, and supposed shoulder-prehab/rehab band exercises, so I don't know what more I should be doing.
3) Are there good variations on the press that I can do to still improve my overhead strength without doing strict barbell presses every day? I tried behind-the-neck presses, and while I loved them for the strengthening in my medial delts, traps, and upper back, they caused a severe pinch in my right shoulder so I had to abandon them.
Thanks in advance.
115x5
105x5