Tag: Shoulder pain
Shoulder Pain When Doing Overhead Triceps Extensions? Possible Causes and Solutions
The overhead triceps extension, also known as the French press, is one of the best ways to target the long head of your triceps. Hitting this triceps head means putting your arms into flexion, and the best way to do this is to raise them overhead.
Overhead triceps extensions take the target muscles through a large range of motion and provide the triceps with a deep stretch at the bottom of each rep. If you are serious about developing horseshoe triceps, overhead extensions are an excellent option.
However, this exercise has a downside: it can also cause shoulder pain. Pain in the stabilizing muscles is only to be expected and nothing to worry about. In contrast, joint pain could indicate that something more serious is wrong and needs fixing.
In this article, we reveal the possible causes of shoulder pain while doing overhead triceps extensions and how to prevent it.
Causes of Shoulder Pain During Overhead Triceps Extensions
There are several reasons that overhead triceps extensions can cause shoulder pain. Some are easy to fix, while others are less so. Some causes of shoulder pain may require rest or medical attention.
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions
Use the following information to determine why overhead triceps extensions hurt your shoulders.
Poor mobility
Overhead triceps extensions involve raising your arms so your biceps are next to your ears. This requires above-average shoulder joint mobility, and your lats, pecs, and delts must also be flexible.
Tight muscles or immobile joints mean you’ll have to strain to get your arms into the correct position for overhead triceps extensions. Needless to say, if this is difficult for you to do, shoulder pain may be the result.
Related: Five-Minute Mobility Workout for Lifters
Improper technique
Many lifters turn overhead triceps extensions into a bastardized behind-the-neck overhead press. This may be because they lack the mobility necessary to get into the right position, are using too much weight, or simply don’t know any better.
There are two ways to perform most exercises – the right and the wrong way. The right way is generally safe, comfortable, and keeps the tension on the target muscles. The wrong way compromises your joints, takes stress off the target muscles, and is more likely to cause injuries.
Overhead triceps extensions are quite an unforgiving exercise, and even small technical errors can cause pain in all the wrong places.
Poor posture
Posture is the alignment of your joints, and it can be good or bad. Bad posture, such as rounded shoulders or slouching, makes it much harder to get into the correct position to do overhead triceps extensions safely.
This poor posture means you’ll need to change your technique to perform the exercise. Invariably, this puts more stress on your shoulders than it does your triceps.
Using too much weight
Overhead triceps extensions are an isolation or single-joint exercise. Once your upper arms are next to your head, only your elbows should move. Such a strict movement means you won’t be able to lift a lot of weight. As a result, overhead triceps extensions work best with light to moderate loads and medium to high reps.
However, despite this, some exercisers try to use very heavy weights with overhead triceps extensions, which puts a lot of stress on all the muscles and joints involved, including the shoulders.
An underlying shoulder problem
Shoulder problems are common among bodybuilders and weightlifters. The shoulder is a very hard-working joint and is involved in virtually every upper-body exercise you perform. As such, many lifters have chronic shoulder problems, such as bursitis, tendonitis, strains, and sprains.
While you might be able to do some exercises without pain, the overhead triceps extension involves an awkward arm position. Because of this, they may aggravate any existing shoulder injuries.
Not warming up properly
Warming up is crucial as it prepares your body for the workout and exercises you are about to perform. Overhead triceps extensions need a thorough warm-up because of the position of your arms. Not warming up could mean your shoulders feel stiff and immobile, which could cause pain if you force your upper arms up and next to your ears.
Poor shoulder stability and strength
While overhead triceps extensions are undoubtedly an arm exercise, you need strong, stable shoulders to keep your biceps next to your ears. Weak deltoids or unstable joints could cause shoulder pain, despite not targeting them directly.
Lack of shoulder muscle endurance could also mean your deltoids fatigue before your arms, and you’ll feel them burning painfully toward the end of your set.
Overhead triceps extensions don’t suit your body type
Exercise is good for everybody’s body. However, because of biomechanical differences such as shoulder width and arm length, not all exercises suit all lifters. Despite warming up, using good form, and lifting a sensible weight, overhead triceps extensions may still hurt your shoulders.
It’s not the exercise’s fault, but your genetics. Don’t worry, though; there are other ways to train your triceps long head.
How to Prevent Pain When Doing Overhead Triceps Extensions
Now that you know the possible causes of shoulder pain when doing overhead triceps extensions, here are some strategies to avoid it.
Warm up properly
Warming up increases tissue temperature, blood flow, joint mobility, and muscle flexibility. These things make getting your upper arms into the correct position to do overhead triceps extensions easier, reducing the risk of shoulder pain.
Focus on your shoulders, upper back, and elbows when preparing for overhead triceps extensions.
A warm-up for strength training should include the following:
Pulse raiser (light cardio)
Joint mobility
Dynamic flexibility
Movement prep/practice reps
Read more about warming up for strength training here.
Stretch your lats and pecs
It’s generally best to avoid statically stretching muscles before training them. Static stretches can reduce force production and make you weaker. However, with overhead triceps extensions, stretching your pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi should make achieving and maintaining the correct arm position easier.
Don’t worry about losing strength for your workout, as these muscles are not directly involved in overhead triceps extensions.
Check out this article to learn more about stretching your pecs and this article to discover the best exercises for stretching your lats.
Practice and perfect your technique
While overhead triceps aren’t the most technical bodybuilding exercise, they’re not the simplest, either. If you are new to this movement or have picked up some bad habits and don’t do them as cleanly as you should, it’s time to start practicing and mastering your form.
Do this exercise with a light dumbbell to ensure you are performing it correctly. Use a mirror or training partner for feedback. Also, consider videoing yourself for a post-set analysis. Do practice sets before your main workout and a few more before or after your other workouts so you can work on your form.
Fix whatever technical errors you spot to reduce your risk of shoulder pain.
Try using different training implements
There is more than one way to do overhead triceps extensions. Dumbbells might be the most common, but you may find cable or barbell overhead triceps extensions more common. You can also use an EZ bar or a “triceps bomber” bar, which has parallel grips.
All these options put your hands and upper arms in a slightly different position, which may be more comfortable for your shoulders.
Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions
Use lighter weights and a slower tempo
If heavy weights hurt your shoulders, but light weights don’t challenge your triceps enough, try doing your reps more slowly. So, instead of the usual one-second up/one-second down tempo most lifters use, try a 2:2 or 3:3 tempo.
Lifting and lowering more slowly makes light weights feel heavier while taking stress off your joints.
You don’t have to lift heavy weights to fatigue your muscles; a slower tempo and light weights can be just as challenging.
Strengthen your rotator cuff
Overhead triceps extensions require strong rotator cuff muscles to stabilize your shoulder joint. The rotator cuff is the collective name for the small muscles beneath your deltoids.
The muscles that make up your rotator cuff are:
These muscles are often weak and the cause of many shoulder problems. Strengthen your rotator cuff by performing cable or resistance band internal and external rotations.
Fix your posture
Poor posture, especially a slouched upper back and rounded shoulders, makes it impossible to get your arms into the correct position to do overhead triceps extensions. Trying to do this exercise when you’ve got bad posture puts a lot of stress on the shoulders.
Pronged sitting and too much time using screens mean that many people have poor posture.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to tell you how to fix your posture, but stretching your chest and strengthening your upper back with face pulls and band pull-aparts will help. Mobilizing your thoracic spine will also be beneficial.
Get any underlying shoulder problems diagnosed
If your shoulders hurt despite using these tips, you may have an underlying joint, tendon, or muscle problem that needs diagnosing and fixing. While muscle pain in the areas you are training is normal, pain in nearby muscles and joints is not.
Pain is your body’s way of saying something is wrong, and it’s best not to ignore it. Training through pain is a great way to make minor injuries worse.
If overhead triceps extensions hurt your shoulders, stop doing them and find out the source of your pain.
Use alternative exercises
While overhead triceps extensions are an effective exercise, they aren’t the only way to target the triceps long head. There are other exercises that are just as effective but put much less stress on your shoulders.
Good options include:
Take overhead triceps extensions out of your workouts and do any of these shoulder-friendly arm exercises instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a question about shoulder pain and overhead triceps extensions? That’s okay because we’ve got the answers!
1. I had sudden shoulder pain during overhead triceps extensions. What should I do?
Sudden onset or acute pain suggests you may have strained a muscle or sprained a ligament. In either case, you should stop what you’re doing to avoid making your injury worse.
Depending on the severity of the damage, you may also need to use RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) to promote recovery.
Do not return to training until the pain has subsided. If the pain is severe, get it checked out by a medical professional. You can still work out, but you must avoid aggravating the injured area. Train around the injury and not through it!
2. Are overhead triceps extensions safe?
Overhead triceps are not the riskiest triceps exercise, but nor are they the safest. They tend to place a lot of stress on the shoulder joint and can be uncomfortable. However, providing you have stable, mobile shoulders, and perform them with good form, it would be an exaggeration to say that overhead triceps extensions are dangerous.
3. Do I even need to train my long triceps head separately?
While isolating any of the three triceps heads is impossible, you can emphasize each one by altering the position of your upper arm. Bodybuilders often do this to create the perfect horseshoe-shaped triceps.
However, suppose you are a recreational lifter who doesn’t care about developing a championship-ready physique. In that case, you probably don’t need to train the long head separately. General triceps training will most likely give you the results you want.
4. Can I do overhead triceps extensions even though they hurt my shoulders?
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should! Pain is your body’s way of telling you to stop and that something is wrong. Training through pain is a good way to turn a minor injury into something more significant.
If overhead triceps extensions hurt your shoulders, try to determine the cause of the problem and then apply the solutions outlined in this article. And remember, the overhead triceps extension is NOT compulsory, and there are plenty of other exercises you can do that are far more shoulder-friendly.
5. Are single-arm triceps extensions safer or better than the two-armed version?
We all respond to exercises differently, and you may find that single-arm overhead triceps extensions are more comfortable than the regular version. Try them and see! They involve a very similar movement, but using one arm at a time means you may be able to position your shoulder at a more forgiving angle. You can also use your free arm for stability and support.
Closing Thoughts
Just because overhead triceps extensions are effective for building muscle doesn’t mean you have to do them. If they bother your shoulders, you should seek alternatives. After all, there are plenty of similarly effective exercises that target the long head of your triceps.
However, if overhead triceps extensions hurt your shoulders, it may not be the fault of the exercise. For example, your shoulder pain could be the result of poor posture, inadequate mobility, a weak rotator cuff, or using too much weight.
Fix these problems, and you may find that overhead triceps extensions no longer cause discomfort.
Remember, though, you should avoid training through pain. Don’t ignore it, as it could be an indicator that something is wrong. The pain could get worse if you fail to do something about it.
Read also:
Suffering From Shoulder Pain? Self-Diagnose With These Easy Tests
Shoulder pain self-diagnoses you can do at your home.
Suffering from shoulder pain? You have come to the right place.
Shoulders are one of the most complex and vulnerable joints in our body. Given the complicated anatomy and range of muscles and movement involved, it is a miracle we do not run into shoulder trouble often.
Most people with underlying shoulder issues experience pain when they are performing a physically intensive task. Compromised shoulder movement due to stiffness or pain can cause substantial disability and affect an individual’s ability to carry out daily activities.
Occupations that require a person to perform repetitive tasks, lift heavy loads, and cause shoulder vibrations are associated with a higher risk of shoulder disorder.
How the shoulder works
The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint that has three main bones: the humerus (long arm bone), clavicle (collarbone), and scapula (also known as the shoulder blade).
The three bones are cushioned by cartilage. Further, there are two main joints:
Acromioclavicular – Located between the highest part of scapula and clavicle.
Glenohumeral (aka shoulder joint) – Made up of top, ball-shaped part of the humerus bone and outer edge of the scapula.
Fun fact: The should joint (glenohumeral) is the most mobile join in your body.
Rotator Cuff
Shoulders get their range of motion from the rotator cuff. The stiffer a person’s rotator cuff, the more restricted his range of motion will be. The rotator cuff is made up of four tendons.
But what are tendons, you ask?
Tendons are tissues that connect muscles to bone. If tendons or bones around the rotator cuff are swollen or damaged, it might be painful or difficult to lift your arm over your head.
Symptoms of a Shoulder Injury
The ball-and-socket structure of the shoulder gives you a great range of motion, but it comes at the expense of stability.
The shoulder joint is the most dislocation-prone in your body. On top of that, repeated stress (at work or while playing sports) can lead to tears and other shoulder injuries.
A preliminary shoulder injury test includes asking yourself the following questions:
Can you move your arm normally, or is your shoulder too stiff or painful?
Is your shoulder strong enough for routine tasks?
Do you feel that your shoulder could pop out of the socket?
Related: Get Bulletproof Shoulders with this Essential Stability Workout Program
Self-Diagnoses For Shoulder Pain
Here are a few simple DIY shoulder tests that can help determine the reason behind your shoulder pain. You will need the help of a partner to perform these shoulder self-diagnoses.
1. Supraspinatus Tear (Empty Can Test)
The empty can test is a common shoulder pain self-diagnose exam. The diagnostic is used to assess the status of the supraspinatus (one of the four rotator cuff muscles).
The muscle is used in arm abduction (raising) and is located on the upper part of the shoulder joint.
Steps:
Sit on a chair with your arms at your sides and hands supinated (palms facing forward).
Lift the sore arm forward and to the side at about 30-45 degrees.
Slowly turn your wrist (as if you were trying to empty a glass of water) until your palm faces down to the floor.
In this position, get your partner to slowly push your arm down while you attempt to resist the force.
If you feel pain or are not able to maintain the arm position due to weakness, you may have a supraspinatus tear.
2. Labrum Tear
The shoulder labrum is a thick piece of tissue attached to the rim of the shoulder socket that helps keep the ball of the joint in place. It can tear in three ways:
Completely off the bone.
Within or along the edge of the labrum.
Where the bicep tendon attaches.
The labrum tear test for shoulder pain has two parts: the apprehension test and the relocation test.
Apprehension Test:
Lie down on your back on a flat and elevated surface.
Move your arm out to the side so that it is perpendicular to your torso and parallel to the floor.
Flex your elbow so that your upper arm is at a ninety-degree angle with your lower arm.
Your partner should slowly rotate your arm so your hand moves toward your ear. Make sure you are maintaining the ninety-degree elbow flexion throughout the test.
If you are apprehensive (hesitant) about shoulder movement beyond the joint, this test is considered positive for a possible labrum tear.
Relocation Test:
In some cases, you might feel your shoulder is unstable and wants to move out of the socket or relocate – especially during extreme external rotation.
If you are facing the same problem, have your partner gently press on the front of your shoulder to relocate the joint.
After this, if you feel less relocation and your shoulder feels in place and more stable, then this test is considered positive.
Also Read: 5 Things You Should Never Do During Shoulder Workouts
3. Impingement
The space where your rotator cuff tendons and shoulder bursa reside becomes smaller when your arm is raised overhead. Impingement happens when the tendons of the rotator cuff get pinched in the bones of the shoulder.
Steps:
While seated, have a partner raise the arm of your sore shoulder to the front and overhead as far as possible.
Your partner should support your shoulder blade (scapula) with one hand and use the other hand to raise your arm.
If you experience shoulder pain while your arm is being raised, the impingement test is considered positive. The pain is probably caused by impingement of the tendons or bursa in that part of the shoulder.
4. Frozen Shoulder
A frozen shoulder is one of the most common types of shoulder issues. It is also known as adhesive capsulitis. It usually occurs over time and can cause shoulder pain, tightness, and limit the functionality of your arm. A frozen shoulder can make it difficult for you to reach overhead and scratch your back.
A frozen shoulder cannot be diagnosed through an X-ray or MRI. It has to be examined by observing the troubled shoulder while it is moving through its range of motion.
Frozen Shoulder Test #1 Steps:
Stand in front of your partner and ask them to observe you as you move your sore arm. Your partner should closely notice the range and quality of motion of the shoulder joint.
Slowly raise both your arms to the front and overhead. If you are suffering from a frozen shoulder, you might only be able to lift your sore arm to a point just past parallel with the floor. Additionally, as your scapula elevates towards your ear, you might experience incremental shoulder pain.
From the overhead position, slowly lower your arms down to the starting position.
Lift your arms out to your sides. As with lifting your arms overhead, you might be suffering from a frozen shoulder if you are only able to lift your arms to a point parallel to the ground.
Frozen Shoulder Test #2 Steps:
Stand with both arms extended straight at your sides so that they are parallel to the floor.
Flex your elbows so that your upper arm is perpendicular to your lower arm.
Rotate your arms outward.
If you are suffering from a frozen shoulder, the painful arm will not rotate as far as the healthy shoulder.
Check Out: How To Fix Rounded Shoulders For Optimal Posture
5. Bicep Tendonitis
Bicep tendons are long and strong cord-like structures that connect the bicep muscle to the bone in the shoulder socket. Biceps tendinitis is an inflammation or irritation of the upper biceps tendon.
Steps:
While seated, raise your sore arm forward so that it is parallel to the floor.
While holding the position, turn your wrist so that your palm is facing the roof.
Ask your partner to push your arm down, while you resist.
If you experience shoulder pain while resisting your partner’s attempt to lower your arm, you are probably suffering from bicep tendonitis.
6. Rotator Cuff Tear
A rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that hold the shoulder joint in place and allow you to move your arm and shoulder.
The rotator cuff includes the following muscles:
Subscapularis
Infraspinatus
Supraspinatus (from the empty can test)
Teres minor
These four muscles arise from the scapula and insert into the humerus. The tendons of the rotator cuff muscles blend with the joint capsule and form a musculotendinous collar that surrounds the posterior, superior, and anterior aspects of the joint, leaving the inferior aspect unprotected.
This shoulder set-up is a big reason behind most of the shoulder dislocations as the humerus slides inferiorly through the unprotected part of the joint.
During arm movements, the rotator muscles contract and prevent the sliding of the head of the humerus. This provides stability and a full range of motion to our shoulder joints.
While we wait for human evolution to catch up to this flaw, use the following test to determine if your shoulder pain is caused by a rotator cuff tear:
Steps:
While seated, ask your partner to lift your painful arm to the side so that it is parallel to the floor.
After a few seconds in this position, ask your partner to let your arm drop.
If you are unable to maintain the parallel position by yourself, your shoulder pain might be due to a rotator cuff tear.
Make sure you are not compensating for a torn rotator cuff by elevating the scapula towards your ear to hold the parallel position.
Related: These Exercises Are Key to Developing Great Shoulder Stability
7. Sulcus Test
The sulcus test is used to assess the glenohumeral joint (responsible for connecting the upper extremity to the trunk) for inferior instability due to a laxity of the superior glenohumeral ligament and coracohumeral ligament.
Note: This test is best performed by a trained professional. We would recommend passing on your friendly neighborhood brofessor‘s help for this test.
Steps:
While seated, let your arms hang at your sides.
Taking hold of your wrist or elbow, your practitioner pulls the arm down.
While doing this, the healthcare professional is looking for the appearance of a small divot, or sulcus, at the top of your shoulder joint.
The presence of a sulcus is a sign that your shoulder might be pulling away from the socket, hence indicating shoulder instability.
8. AC Joint Separation
The acromioclavicular (AC) joint is a joint in the shoulder where two bones meet. One of these bones is the collarbone or clavicle. The second bone is a part of the shoulder blade (scapula), which is the big bone behind the shoulder that also forms part of the shoulder joint.
The AC joint is a plane-type synovial joint, which under normal physiological conditions allows only gliding movement. As it also attaches the scapula to the thorax, the AC joint allows an additional range of motion to the scapula and assists in arm movement such as shoulder flexion and abduction.
The AC joint may become separated in a traumatic event like a sports injury or a car accident. The test for an AC joint separation is called the AC joint compression test.
Steps:
While seated, have your partner place one hand on the front of your shoulder and one hand on the back of your shoulder.
They then push their hands together, compressing the AC joint.
If you experience shoulder pain, then the test is positive. Additionally, pain while raising the arm upward and while sleeping are also indications of an AC joint separation.
When to seek medical help?
Usually, shoulder pain is caused by the factors mentioned above and can be fixed at home with rest and ice. You could also bandage it to hold it in place if necessary or use a cuff or elbow support until you see improvement.
But you should not delay getting professional help if you experience heat and tenderness around the joints, shoulder deformity, fever, inability to move your shoulder, lasting bruising, numbness, or pain that persists beyond a few weeks of home treatment.
We do not want to be the article that relates everything to a possible heart attack (or cancer) but if your shoulder pain is intense and sudden and not related to an injury, call 911 immediately. It may be a sign of a stroke.
Do you perform shoulder-specific warmups before a workout? Let us know in the comments below.
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