I am currently struggling with a shoulder issue only cropping up during my LBBS. I am a novice who consistently started following SSLP a few months ago and I have been making consistent gains in each lift thus far. Two weeks ago I moved my squat up to 190lbs and on my third set, while coming out of the bottom, the shelf of my left delt physically popped in some accompanied by sharp pain. When I finished the lift, it felt sore but fine. It continued to do that each rep afterwards, for 3 reps. It caused some pain in my bench press and at the top of my deadlift. The dull pain in my posterior shoulder stuck around for about a day or so and then subsided.
Next session, all was good until the third set, same thing on the last two reps. The pain stuck around a day, but over the weekend subsided and this happened again on the next session. I had kept the weight steady hoping it would go away with some form work, but I then lowered the weight to 175 and focused on form and keeping the rear delts tight, valsalva tight, elbows not too high, and not leaning into a good morning squat (knees in place from the bottom.) It still popped up again on the last rep. At this point, I am wondering if I should visit my doctor or switch to high bar and save myself the trouble of them basically telling me to just stop doing what’s causing me pain. I am able to squat with no issue during warmups up to 155lbs as of last session.
I wanted to get any input if this is something you guys have heard of before in regards to the rear delt movement and accompanying pain, if you would recommend a visit to my physician, and if I should treat this as an injury even with fairly quick recovery between training periods.
Since I have little experience with shoulder anatomy, it’s difficult to describe based on sensation. I’d say it’s pain in the rear rotator cuff musculature that, after the squat, is aggravated by pushing out to the left or to the rear (sliding a window open or rotating a steering wheel) or simulating placing a bar on my back in the low bar position . For as long as I can remember there has been consistent popping and clicking whenever moving through range of motion in my left shoulder.
I do feel some pain at the bottom of the bench press, but only immediately after the squat issue as well as some pain at the top of the deadlift. The OHP is not really affected and I just recently introduced power cleans, so the weight is very low while I learn the lift. I don’t feel any pain throughout other lifts if my squat sets didn’t have the shoulder pain.
It’s hard to describe and I’m trying to get someone who could film my back while I squat, but as I come up out of the bottom of the squat, I physically feel my shoulder pop underneath the bar and move position. There is a sudden pain that subsides at the top of the squat and the shoulder seems to be back in position at the top. I seem to frantically finish the rep to the top and I don’t have time to think about the sensation or at what exact point it comes up during the lift.
Hope that helps, I will schedule a consultation as well.
Ok, yeah I’d say let us consult on this to help out.
Likely can be a rotator cuff tendinopathy but difficult to state without more details. Typically I am not concerned about crepitus (the popping you are describing). Any history of dislocations?