Help with bodyweight exercises for shoulders

[martialmartian]

Hi all,

I've done a quick search here for the answers but couldn't find any

What I'm looking for is suggestions for bodyweight exercises for building up my shoulders.

I know that pushups and variations of such are a good for this so I'm looking for further suggestions/links etc that I might find useful.

thanks.

[SimonW]

I'd expect handstand press-ups, or something similar, are good for your shoulders if you can do them (I'm too scared to try).
I have a feeling that inclined press-ups are slightly more shoulder intensive too? :confused:
These (http://www.frixo.com/sites/fitness/exercises/spress.html) look pretty good.

[SickDevildog]

Hi all,

I've done a quick search here for the answers but couldn't find any

What I'm looking for is suggestions for bodyweight exercises for building up my shoulders.

I know that pushups and variations of such are a good for this so I'm looking for further suggestions/links etc that I might find useful.

thanks.

A Pullup/Pushup Circuit will hit your shoulders pretty good (inclines are better), cant really think of much else. Try varying your grip with he pullups, wide grips seems to hit the rear delts more.

I noticed when doing pushup pullup circuits my rear delts would be fried afterwards, might have something to do with the antagonists, no clue.

Check out www.bodyweightculture.com (http://www.bodyweightculture.com) for some good BW excercises, they got some really creative stuff in there.

If you got a couple of spare dollars you could always make yourself a sandbag and/or waterball for all the stuff that can be done with a barbell and then some:

Waterball
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/thewaterball.html

Sandbag
http://www.rosstraining.com/sandbagconstructionkit.pdf

[martialmartian]

That seems like a decent link...cheers.

[martialmartian]

Just waiting on my registration through bodyweight culture. These are exactly the sorts of links I was looking for... thanks.

Now i need to figure out a regime that suits me and do it...

[SickDevildog]

What are your goals, training history, frequency, etc?

Do you want to do BW excercises only, or are you willing to use some kinds of equipment like bands, weights, sadnbags, kettlebells, etc?

Hows your Diet and whats your training schedule look like, including MA practice?

[Orangeseger]

I like handstand push-ups. I'm a nut for handstands and jumping exercises, so I do them a lot. I try to do the handstand push-ups close to a wall, so if I start to lose my strength or balance I have a wall to keep me from falling on my face. (Done it, it kills.)

[SickDevildog]

So the next step for you would be jumping handstand pushups, heh, you'd be the first guy to make HSPUs a plyometric excercise :)

[Yost]

So the next step for you would be jumping handstand pushups, heh, you'd be the first guy to make HSPUs a plyometric excercise :)

You'd think so, but no. (http://www.beastskills.com/ClappingHSPU.htm)

And to the original poster, the same site (Beast Skills) has quite a few bodyweight exercises on it.

[martialmartian]

I train in muay thai and a bit of grappling. However, prior to starting these I'd been swimming a lot. My left shoulder hurt a lot and was diagnosed by a physio as being unstable and needed built up.

I found after training muay thai that my arms were fine. However, recently my right shoulder hurt too. While training last my arm just became very weak and I couldn't hold a pad up because of the pain.

It's definitely a case of needing to build my shoulders up to help strengthen and protect against injury. . . as well as conditioning in general (which of course we get in muay thai- problem was a month off missed training due to holidays and other commitments...)

[bwhite55]

I train in muay thai and a bit of grappling. However, prior to starting these I'd been swimming a lot. My left shoulder hurt a lot and was diagnosed by a physio as being unstable and needed built up.

I found after training muay thai that my arms were fine. However, recently my right shoulder hurt too. While training last my arm just became very weak and I couldn't hold a pad up because of the pain.

It's definitely a case of needing to build my shoulders up to help strengthen and protect against injury. . . as well as conditioning in general (which of course we get in muay thai- problem was a month off missed training due to holidays and other commitments...)

you might have a torn or hurt labrum(connective tissue in the shoulder) or something else might be messed up? if its not a bad tear, you could get around surgery(that's what i'm doing right now) i tore my labrum in both shoulders sometime since hs, and my orthopedic(best on in SE USA, imo) doctor said that i could have surgery, but it wouldnt be worth it, just avoid overhead type presses. i do it with lighter weight, but when it starts botherin me i stop. you can do inclines, dips(when you go down squeeze the delts, traps, and rhomboids. i've done this many times and felt it alot in the shoulders and upperback.) muscle ups(i just recently discovered those), pullups, etc. i wouldn't do handstand pushups if that's the case, but i'd find some way to substitue it w/ these sites.

[martialmartian]

I doubt it's a tear. It doesn't hurt now, and i have full range of motionIt's definitely justa case of the muscles being weak at the moment.... I'll just build them up gradually. Handstand pushups would be something to work towards but i think inclined pushups will be my first goal....

what's bugging me is that before I went on holiday I was totally fine- doing well in my training and I was a lot stronger. I got the odd shoulder pain during BJJ so I;d just take it easy then... shows the problems a month of little training can do when you're used to 3-4 times a week huh?

[bwhite55]

I doubt it's a tear. It doesn't hurt now, and i have full range of motionIt's definitely justa case of the muscles being weak at the moment.... I'll just build them up gradually. Handstand pushups would be something to work towards but i think inclined pushups will be my first goal....

what's bugging me is that before I went on holiday I was totally fine- doing well in my training and I was a lot stronger. I got the odd shoulder pain during BJJ so I;d just take it easy then... shows the problems a month of little training can do when you're used to 3-4 times a week huh?

yeah, i got full range of motion as well, all there is is slight discomfort and popping when i do overhead stuff, so don't think that there's no pain you are fine.

[martialmartian]

Was actually thinking about that just half an hour ago- just cos it doesn't hurt doesn't mean that nothings wrong...

I'll be careful... started today doing some pushups, 3 x 20 before breakfast, then again at lunch when I also did dumbell shoulder presses 3x 12...

That'll do me for today. Going to incorporate this in every day as well as letting time for rest... Probably skip training tonight just in case I really hurt it.

Cheers

[bwhite55]

Was actually thinking about that just half an hour ago- just cos it doesn't hurt doesn't mean that nothings wrong...

I'll be careful... started today doing some pushups, 3 x 20 before breakfast, then again at lunch when I also did dumbell shoulder presses 3x 12...

That'll do me for today. Going to incorporate this in every day as well as letting time for rest... Probably skip training tonight just in case I really hurt it.

Cheers

there's no shame in seeing a doctor if you do experience pain. a 1 hour doctor visit w/ an orthopedic or other type of specialist can save you years and years of trouble.

[tetsu ryu]

there's no shame in seeing a doctor if you do experience pain. a 1 hour doctor visit w/ an orthopedic or other type of specialist can save you years and years of trouble.

Yeah. Bwhite is right. You should go see a doctor... And that little routine you posted. Is that the only thing you do? Pushups and OH presses? You need to do lowerbody stuff like bodyweight squats! I'd love to help you with your routine in the routine critique forum as I used to be a bodyweight maniac. I used to be stubborn to lifting weights but they grew on me! :D I can whip you up a pretty good routine in no time! ;)

[bwhite55]

Yeah. Bwhite is right. You should go see a doctor... And that little routine you posted. Is that the only thing you do? Pushups and OH presses? You need to do lowerbody stuff like bodyweight squats! I'd love to help you with your routine in the routine critique forum as I used to be a bodyweight maniac. I used to be stubborn to lifting weights but they grew on me! :D I can whip you up a pretty good routine in no time! ;)

you mind helpin me out? i'm new to the bodyweight game. i was a heavier lifter and thats what i love to do, but i don't wanna have joint problems and stuff by the time i get into my mid 30's.

[Mr Punch]

Martialmartian, you injured your shoulder, THEN you were told to build it up? Unless your physio gave you slightly more information than that sounds like he's full of it!

He should be telling you exactly what's wrong with your whoulder and specifically what exercises to do.

Handstand push-ups are disastrous for people with shoulder problems, esp in the small stabiliser muscles and rotator cuffs, because the angle of the scapula puts a lot of lateral pressure on those small muscles.

If you can handle normal pushups you should next try frog pushups: put your feet on something between hip and knee height, bend your knees and then try the pushups. The angle feels odd at first, but it'l build up your shoulders maybe in the way that you want without putting the undue stress on them that handstand ones would, and they also prep you if you want to try handstand ones later.

Plus, just concentrating on your shoulders when you already have an injury history, however slight, is a recipe for disaster... you should be concentrating on the whole chain, not just the weak link.

[emaun]

I would do hindu push ups. It gets the entire upper body and even the arms and abs.

[Knight_Errant]

Has anyone mentioned clapping pushups and one-arm pushups?

[g-bells]

be sure to work the back of the shoulder ie bent over lateral raises, or you'll definately be experiencing troubles

[NobleNeophyte]

I'm a little late to read this thread, but I found a great exercise for the shoulders that I learned from a former Jamaican Olympic marathon runner.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, fully extend arms to your sides, palms facing up (full "wingspand")
With palms facing up, make a medium-sized forward arm circle, bringing arms back to the same level they started. Do that 25 times forward, 25 times backwards, with about 2 seconds in between each rep to start. As you progress, add more reps, and increase the time between reps and sets accordingly.

It gives one heck of a burn, but at the last rep, bring your arms up to the sky, and slowly drop them into a prayer-like position at the chest. Feels wonderful