Problem with neck and shoulder discomfort

[Jane P.]

My upper back and shoulders are where I store tension. I also have a problem when I do shoulder presses with my neck and shoulder area tensing up the next day.

Are there any dvds or you tube workouts that would help with this?

[donnamp]

Hi Jane,

i did this one with Jessica Valant last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJVDdnTc0L0

She has some others on her channel as well

https://www.youtube.com/@JessicaVala...rch?query=neck

Hope they help.

Donna

[Vintage VFer]

I think I'm going to stop doing shoulder presses. They never feel good and I don't think my neck or shoulders like them.

[Mopsy]

My first thought was simply to stop doing overhead presses. I haven't done them in ages, for the very reason you mention. As a matter of fact, I do very little overhead work, even unweighted moves in cardio workouts. My PT gave me substitute exercises, and I'm sure Google should be able to help, also.

For me, the problem is my shoulders shrugging up towards my ears as the arms go up. Occasionally I'll do unweighted work, just to practice keeping my shoulders down.

[Venus]

This is my go-to for neck and shoulder pain:

Jen Hilman Neck & Shoulder Pain Relief Exercises & Yoga Stretches - 23 min

And I like this video for neck tension:

Yoga with Joelle: Yoga for Headache Relief - 10 min

Both have many more related videos available:

Jen Hilman neck and shoulder yoga/stretches

Yoga with Joelle neck and shoulder yoga/stretches

Also, I found a Shape article about shoulder press variations and it offered an alternative for shoulder pain (it's the final variation in the article):

Shoulder Press Variation for Shoulder Pain: Neutral Grip Press

[Venus]

Originally Posted by donnamp

She has some others on her channel as well

https://www.youtube.com/@JessicaVala...rch?query=neck

Hope they help.

Donna

Thanks for posting about Jessica Valant. I keep meaning to try more of her videos and then forget. I tried one of her neck stretches videos last night.

[buffmama]

If you want to do overhead work I would try doing it unilateral and see if it makes a difference. You can also try using lighter weights and see if that makes a difference.

[Jane P.]

I was doing overhead work, because I wanted to see if I could progress to a hand stand (against the wall). Maybe I should give up on that idea. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

[Tugger31]

I have stopped doing overhead shoulder presses and don't miss them at all! My physical therapist also recommended then when doing side lateral raises to do them with your palms forward instead of with your palms facing the sides of your body. That simple rotation really opens up the chest area and helps with range of motion at least it did for me!

[fatkat555]

Originally Posted by Jane P.

I was doing overhead work, because I wanted to see if I could progress to a hand stand (against the wall). Maybe I should give up on that idea. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

I’ve been trying to work on this as well. I’ve tried the headstand/handstand bench to take the arms/shoulders out of it and I think I prefer to have my weight distributed better (feels dumped on shoulder girdle with the bench). I’ve had a separated shoulder and possible old labral tear on my right shoulder so I’m going very slowly.