The 8 Shoulder-Saving Exercises Every Olympic Lifter Needs
- Joshua Roxas
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Nagging shoulder pain while performing your Olympic lifts can be discouraging. If you’re a beginner or even experienced, it’s certainly no fun to not be able to perform your best jerks and snatches when it hurts your shoulder.
To conceptually understand injury/pain prevention with any preexisting injury, especially in an explosive sport like Olympic lifting, training sessions will require a more specialized warm-up, while not only loosening the joints and raising your body temperature through dynamic movements, but also strengthening certain muscles that will help stabilize and ensure a smoother movement.
In this case of shoulder pain and injury, we’ll look into specific exercises you can perform to prepare your shoulders so you can perform overhead lifts with little to no shoulder pain for your next Olympic weightlifting session.
Static Stretching Exercises for Mobility
You may be wondering why it is important to include static stretches when preparing for a strength and power sport. Yes, in situations before a regular session at the gym, it will certainly hinder your performance for gains. But in the case of Olympic weightlifting, coach Greg Everett, from Catalyst Athletics, suggests that newer lifters should incorporate static stretching to increase overhead mobility. Having the capability to hold a front rack or an overhead position should be of more concern, as it usually is the main limiter for starting lifters.
Here are some static stretches that you can include in your warm-up:
PVC Pipe Front Rack Shoulder Stretch
Grab a PVC pipe with a hook grip (or with a full grip if you’re unable) and hold the end of it.
Hold up the pipe and turn the other end of the pipe towards the same-side shoulder or upper arm, which should resemble a front rack position.
With the rest of the pipe pointing towards the ground, pull the pipe towards the opposite side under your tricep or shoulder. Hold and stretch in this position, and repeat on the other side.
Single Arm Lat Stretch
Use a corner of the wall or the side of a squat rack, so you can bring your torso forward for a deeper stretch.
Bring your elbow high up on the surface as comfortably as you can.
Use your opposite hand to push the other hand as far as you can while keeping the hand close to your back. Hold and stretch in this position.
Door Jam Chest Stretch
Similar to the single arm lat stretch, use the corner of the wall or side of the rack for a deep stretch.
Bring out your forearm to the surface while keeping your whole arm at a 90-degree angle.
Pull yourself forward outside the surface for a nice chest stretch.
Horizontal Lat Stretch
Find a surface like a plyometric box at your gym for the stretch.
While standing or kneeling, place both of your elbows on the edge of the box while pulling your head towards the ground for a stretch in the lats. Make sure to arch your back for a better stretch.
Stability Exercises
Stabilization and activation are great for engaging and preparing specific muscles before a lift. Here is some resistance prep work you can do.
Banded L Holds
Squat University applies the banded L hold exercise to engage the muscles at the back and rear shoulder, vital for stabilizing overhead positions. This is an essential exercise if you have strength-stability issues with your shoulder.
How to:
Wrap the band around both your forearms.
Have your arm bent at a 90-degree angle with your forearms parallel to the floor. Pull the band apart for 3 seconds.
Afterwards, move your arms with your upper arms parallel to the floor while still at 90 degrees. Pull for another 3 seconds.
Then move our arms to an overhead position and pull the band for 3 seconds.
Slowly move back to each previous position, holding the positions for 3 seconds again, before starting the next repetition. Repeat this for 3–5 reps with however many sets to warm up the shoulder.
Lock 3
If the posterior muscles are not aligned with the shoulder joint, this creates issues for the anterior part of the shoulder. This exercise aims to prevent misalignment by priming your rear shoulders and rhomboids, especially when performing overhead work.
Here are 3 parts of the Lock 3 exercise:
Lie down on your belly with your arms internally rotated so that your palms are facing up. With light dumbbells, bring your hands up while keeping your hands and arms straight and close to your sides. Make sure your eccentric is controlled with a 1–2 second pause at the bottom. Repeat this for 15–20 reps.
For the second part, in the same position, externally rotate your palms facing down. Perform the same movement by bringing your hands up, arms straight, and as close to your sides as you can. Repeat for 15–20 reps.
Lastly, bring the arms into a now horizontal position with your palms still facing down, repeating the same upwards motion. Repeat for 15–20 reps.
Single Arm Rear Delt Row
This is one of my favorites for warming up and priming the rear shoulder. Like the Lock 3, this will also prep and stabilize your shoulder for overhead work during your front racks, jerks, and snatches. There are two ways of doing it: with a band or a cable. I recommend doing cable so you can choose a load specific to you, whether it’s simply 5 kg, 10 kg, etc. This is also a great accessory exercise, so you can increase the load over time, increasing stability for the shoulders.
How to:
For the setup, line the cable (or band) across your chest to the same height as your shoulder opposite to the machine while kneeling (having your knee up the same side as the cable machine), then adjust so that the cable is slightly below the shoulder line for a deep stretch.
For the exercise, grab and pull the cable for tension while having the cable across your chest. Proceed to the kneeling position.
Feel that tension and stretch on the rear shoulder, and pull the cable across your chest as much as you can. Then slowly and controlled, return to the original position with a 1–2 second pause at the end to feel that stretch. Repeat for 15–20 reps for any number of sets.
Seated Shoulder External Rotations
Seated external rotations help strengthen external rotation of the shoulder and maintain torque, explained by Squat University.
How to:
*For the exercise, you can sit on a flat bench or on the floor, preferably on a flat bench.
Bring your knee and foot up the bench with your other leg on the floor. Then hold a light dumbbell pointing up at a 90-degree angle.
With this starting position, lower the dumbbell directly to the side as low as you can go until you feel a deep stretch while still holding that 90-degree angle. After pausing at the bottom for 1–2 seconds, bring the dumbbell back up to its original position. Repeat for 15–20 reps.
Conclusion
Please apply the exercises mentioned above with precaution. I listed the exercises as helpful ways to aid and supplement your Olympic weightlifting journey for smoother and pain-free training sessions.
If you continue to experience shoulder issues, consult a physical therapist about your shoulder pain.
Olympic weightlifting can be a long road with injuries, but lifters of the sport deserve to reach their full potential with a healthy body, especially healthy and strong shoulders.
Thank you for reading!
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