Shoulder Training Without Injury: Build Delts, Save Joints
TL;DR: Balance pressing with rear delt and rotator cuff work. Avoid upright rows and behind-neck pressing. Control the eccentric.
Stronger delts without cranky shoulders requires smart exercise choices, angles, and prehab.
Exercise selection
- Use 20–45° incline presses to reduce shoulder stress.
- Prioritize lateral raises (standard, leaning, cables) for medial delts.
- Face pulls, rear-delt flyes, and band pull-aparts for posterior balance.
Form & dosage
- Keep elbows slightly in front of the body on presses.
- 2–3 delt sessions/week; 10–18 hard sets total across heads.
- Use higher reps (10–20) and controlled tempo on raises.
Prehab
- Scapular stability drills, external rotations 2–3x/week.
- Limit painful ROM; swap barbell for DBs/cables if joints complain.