I heard that shoulder injuries are VERY common in the bodybuilding community, and difficult to avoid

 

Is this true? What can I do to avoid them? Are there certain exercises, or variants of exercises that are known to be damaging to shoulders? Does stretching help at all? 

 

I'm very new to this and unknowledgeable about these subjects, but want to stay safe in the gym and avoid injury (ofc)

 

lmk! Thanks guys!

Hi there !

 

Yes they are very common because most people dont warm up properly. Most people go in to the gym and warm up with bench with light weights. What I do every single workout no matter what I train is to use stretch bands exercises to really stretch out and warm up all parts of my shoulders. I have never had a single problem in my shoulders since I have always been doing this.

Just warm up and you'll be fine. I know sometimes it's hard and you don't feel like it but you're literally risking your shoulder health at the expense of a few minutes warming up. Also, make sure you're using proper form. It's not just focused on making you more effective at the movement but also on reducing the risk of injury from lifting. It's super important!

warm up your shoulders before doing any weight training and you will hopefully be fine if you follow good form. For warmup I use stretching bands they are easily available and very cheap. get one and keep in your gym bag. hold both arms straight bit wider than your shoulders and stretch band using your shoulder muscles. watch scott doing it in one of his chest workout videos cheat and recover.

Ill look at getting some stretching bands

 

 

Even just stretching and using extremely light weights to warm up has completely removed all the popping/cracking sounds. And my joints dont feel as sore afterwards.

 

Honestly didn't think it'd be that easy, thanks for the advice everyone!

After doing this for long enough you will strenghten the joints even further and the pain should be completely gone when increasing the weights on for instance the bench. No problem !