George Locke
Level 2 Valued Member
A while back I was working on my push ups, and I found that my shoulders would get sore in a way that didn't feel great. Like, the soreness would start on the day of training rather than the day after like typical DOMS. I've had similar symptoms in the past from barbell bench press.
I've always done more horizontal than vertical pressing, and I think the strength of my pecs has outpaced that of my delts. I thought I might improve the situation by doing a block where I emphasized KB press. So that's been about two months where I did KB press Monday/Wednesday and close push ups on Fridays. (Great progress on the KB press, I'm happy to say. Went from a shaky 1RM with 24kg to a solid 2 reps on the RHS and a shakier 2RM on the left, along with increased reps on my 40# bell.)
So now I thought I would move back to horizontal presses. Yesterday I did some OAPU's (elevated on a desk a few inches below hip height) doing sets of 1-3 on what felt like a 4RM, and by the end of the day I got that same pain. It's a bit worse now.
I have no injury history aside from a self-diagnosed strain in my rotator cuff caused by a heavy deadlift performed without setting my shoulders (that was ~January and it still feels sore in the mornings sometimes). This symptom occurred sometimes before that happened, so I'm pretty sure it's unrelated.
It feels similar to DOMS in my anterior deltoids, but it's more tender. There's some passive tone in a particular chord of both my delts (the frontmost/lowest part of the muscle), and that's where the pain is located. With the close push ups, I found that mental focus on chest tension seemed to help.
Does this sound like connective tissue problems/tendonitis? Should I work with more reps in reserve or with a greater elevation? Should I try archer push ups? (Close push ups were getting to a 10+RM depending on distance - diamond push ups feel wrong on my outer wrist bones.) Should I consult a doctor/PT/SFB?
I've always done more horizontal than vertical pressing, and I think the strength of my pecs has outpaced that of my delts. I thought I might improve the situation by doing a block where I emphasized KB press. So that's been about two months where I did KB press Monday/Wednesday and close push ups on Fridays. (Great progress on the KB press, I'm happy to say. Went from a shaky 1RM with 24kg to a solid 2 reps on the RHS and a shakier 2RM on the left, along with increased reps on my 40# bell.)
So now I thought I would move back to horizontal presses. Yesterday I did some OAPU's (elevated on a desk a few inches below hip height) doing sets of 1-3 on what felt like a 4RM, and by the end of the day I got that same pain. It's a bit worse now.
I have no injury history aside from a self-diagnosed strain in my rotator cuff caused by a heavy deadlift performed without setting my shoulders (that was ~January and it still feels sore in the mornings sometimes). This symptom occurred sometimes before that happened, so I'm pretty sure it's unrelated.
It feels similar to DOMS in my anterior deltoids, but it's more tender. There's some passive tone in a particular chord of both my delts (the frontmost/lowest part of the muscle), and that's where the pain is located. With the close push ups, I found that mental focus on chest tension seemed to help.
Does this sound like connective tissue problems/tendonitis? Should I work with more reps in reserve or with a greater elevation? Should I try archer push ups? (Close push ups were getting to a 10+RM depending on distance - diamond push ups feel wrong on my outer wrist bones.) Should I consult a doctor/PT/SFB?