How to train around a bad shoulder at home

Figure out what kind of bad shoulder you've got

There's a big difference between a shoulder that's tight and cranky from sitting at a desk all day, and one that catches or pinches when you lift your arm overhead. The first one usually loosens up with movement. The second one, especially if it's sharp or radiates down the arm, is worth getting looked at before you load it with weight.

If you've got that pinching, catching feeling when you raise your arm, that's classic impingement territory. There's a whole page on it with drills that actually help rather than just resting and hoping.

Train the stuff that doesn't hurt

This is the part guys skip. If overhead pressing hurts but your legs and core feel fine, train your legs and core. You don't need to shut the whole thing down because one joint is grumpy.

Squats, lunges, carries, planks, all of that can keep going while your shoulder settles. It also keeps you in the habit of training, which matters more than people think. Once you stop entirely for two weeks it's hard to start back up.

• Goblet squats and reverse lunges for legs
• Farmer's carries or suitcase carries, one arm at a time if needed
• Plank and dead bug for core, both are shoulder-friendly if you keep weight off a painful wrist or elbow position

Swap the angle before you swap the exercise

A lot of shoulder pain shows up in specific positions, not all of them. Overhead pressing might hurt but a low incline press might be fine. Wide push-ups might bother you but a narrower hand position doesn't.

Before you cut a whole movement pattern, try changing the angle first. Diamond push-ups keep your elbows tucked closer to your body, which is often kinder on the front of the shoulder than a wide-hand push-up. A banded chest fly lets you control the range and stop before it pinches, which a dumbbell press doesn't always let you do as easily.

• Try diamond push-ups instead of wide push-ups
• Try banded chest fly instead of a heavy dumbbell press
• Try a lower, more supported row angle if overhead work is the problem

Build the small muscles that actually stabilize the joint

The shoulder is a shallow joint held together mostly by small muscles doing a lot of work. Band pull-aparts, scapular push-ups, and pendulum swings look boring but they do more for a cranky shoulder than another set of heavy pressing ever will.

I do a few of these most mornings, not because they burn calories, but because a shoulder that moves well tends to stop complaining. It's cheap insurance against the same problem coming back in six months.

• Band pull-apart, 2 sets of 15, light band
• Scapular push-up, slow and controlled
• Pendulum swing if things feel stiff and achy rather than sharp

Know when to actually back off

Some soreness after training new positions is normal. Sharp pain during the movement, pain that gets worse over days instead of better, or anything that shoots down your arm is not something to push through. That's a sign to drop the load, not grit your teeth.

If it's been more than a couple of weeks of modifying and it's not settling down, or if you're getting numbness or tingling, that's a conversation for a physio or doctor, not another set of push-ups.

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