2 Main Reasons You Have Shoulder Pain Pressing Overhead, AND How to Help.

Here, we’ll discuss proper form, common limitations, and how to improve limited areas to help decrease pain with this movement.

Before getting into why you have pain, let’s be sure you’re pressing a barbell overhead correctly:

Assessing Your Form

 Starting position:

• Feet shoulder width apart

• Grip just outside of shoulder width and wrists in a neutral position

• Bar should begin at the height of your collarbones once taken off the rack

• Squeeze butt and belly to place spine in a neutral position

 As You Move:

• As you begin to move, tuck your chin to clear the bar path

• Once the bar passes your head, head and neck can move back to a neutral position 

• To create a straight bar path, imagine bringing yourself underneath the bar vs trying to push the bar backward

 End Position:

• The spine should be in a neutral position, making sure your rib cage is down or stacked over your pelvis

• Barbell is directly overhead

• To create a stable shoulder position overhead, rotate the shoulders out by trying to imagine “bending the bar” or “armpits forward”

• Elbows in full extension

• Core engaged

Common Limitations

 Now for the 2 most common reasons people have pain when pressing overhead:

1. Limited Mobility:

Your shoulder joint, shoulder blade and thoracic spine (or upper back) all work together to move your arm overhead. If you are lacking mobility at the shoulder or thoracic spine, this movement becomes inefficient.

Checking Your Overhead Mobility:

Either seated against a wall or laying on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor, grab a PVC pipe and raise both arms over your head without allowing your back to bend. Your arms should touch the wall here.  

If you are unable to achieve this position, you may be limited at the shoulder, the thoracic spine, or both. Try these exercises to improve your mobility.

Mobility Exercises:

a)     Wall sit back - in a standing position, place both hands on a wall at about shoulder height. Hinge your hips backward while keeping your elbows straight until you feel a stretch into the shoulders and upper back.

b)    Lying Weighted Flexion - while laying on your back, place a small weighted plate on a PVC pipe and gently bring your arms into an overhead position until you feel a nice stretch in the shoulders.

c)     Extension Over a Foam Roller - lying on your back, place the foam roller horizontally across your upper back. As you arch over the foam roller, also press your arms overhead in a pain free range until you feel a stretch in the shoulders and upper back.

2. Limited Stability

 If you are able to pass the mobility test, your problem may be a lack of shoulder stability.

 Throughout the body there are muscles that do the heavy lifting called “prime movers,” and there are smaller muscles called “stabilizer muscles” that help keep each joint in a stable position while moving. The most efficient movement happens when prime movers and stabilizers work together.

 When the stabilizers are weak or are not activating correctly, it can lead to pain because either the prime movers are having to do both jobs, or the shoulder is moving in an unstable position.

 Most of us can benefit from improving shoulder stability, so here are a few exercises.

Stability Exercises:

a)    Shoulder External Rotation - with a resistance band or light weight

b)    Y’s, T’s, and W’s - can be done lying face down, on an incline bench, or standing using a resistance band. Arms are raised in the shape of each letter, with the movement coming from the shoulder joint and the shoulder blade.

c)     Overhead Carries - can be done with a dumbbell or an kettlebell with the bottom up for an extra challenge

d)    Turkish Get Up - using a bottoms up kettlebell will require more stabilization

e)    Standing or Kneeling Windmills - using a bottoms up kettlebell will require more stabilization

While You’re Training

During your journey to press overhead without pain, we suggest decreasing the load or volume of your overhead press depending on when you are experiencing pain. You can check out our other post “3 Ways to KNOW: “Do I Push Through the Pain” for more details!

We hope this helps you continue being active inside your gym and community. If you have any questions or would Iike to learn more, feel free to text us at (937) 802-4283

Dr. Val