Shoulder Muscles Dilemma

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LaNetsah
LaNetsah Posts: 35 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone!
I need some advice as I am getting pretty frustrated with my shoulder muscles. My overall fitness is at an all-time high, I do about 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day, and have formed some good strong muscles. The only muscles that have not improved one bit are my shoulder muscles... specifically, my Deltoid and Trapezius muscles. It drives me insane because I do shoulder workouts every day and every day it just burns like hell and doesn't improve.
What can I do to solve this dilemma of mine? Are there any shoulder exercises you guys can share?
Please shed some light on my situation. Thank you!
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Replies

  • LaNetsah
    LaNetsah Posts: 35 Member
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    Pleeeease...
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Hello everyone!
    I need some advice as I am getting pretty frustrated with my shoulder muscles. My overall fitness is at an all-time high, I do about 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day, and have formed some good strong muscles. The only muscles that have not improved one bit are my shoulder muscles... specifically, my Deltoid and Trapezius muscles. It drives me insane because I do shoulder workouts every day and every day it just burns like hell and doesn't improve.
    What can I do to solve this dilemma of mine? Are there any shoulder exercises you guys can share?
    Please shed some light on my situation. Thank you!

    Working out your shoulders every day is not good, they need about 2-3 days to recover from a proper workout with the right nutrition.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
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    Compound lifts make the shoulders grow fast. I have been doing the main five (squats, deads, overhead press, barbell row and bench press) since April and even my back is growing. It also depends how heavy you lift too.

    p.s. I do not do any isolation exercises at the moment.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    Everyone else can tell me how wrong I am, but 2-3 hours of cardio may be part of the problem. Congrats on it! I'm impressed! I wish I had the time and stamina to do it, and I'm sure weight-wise you see great results. I would think, though, that much cardio would keep you from giving enough energy to weights. Your legs probably are fine, since they get used during the cardio, but shoulders don't. I'd say increase protein, do weights first, and shave back the cardio a tad.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    I went back and looked at your diary. Yeah, you are really low on protein. Are you eating vegan? If so, good for you. I don't know much about macros in vegan diets, but you seem to need more protein.

    Good luck!
  • MandaJean83
    MandaJean83 Posts: 677 Member
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    Hey girl! I am by no means a weight lifter (yet....although someday I hope to be!)...but I have read up on the subject recently. I checked out your diary and it looks like you are eating 1200-1300 cals per day. And you are doing extensive amounts of cardio, burning most of those cals away by the end of the night! In order for muscle to grow and for you to get stronger, you HAVE to have a calorie surplus. You are not even breaking even at 1200 after you subtract all the calories you exercised away with cardio.

    I think you need to do check out some complex movements (see either the Stronglifts program, or New Rules of Liting For Women), take the appropriate amount of rest between workouts, and eat more calories while trying to get in as much protein as you can. :)

    Good luck! I want nice shoulders just as much as you!!!!
  • jennajocummings
    jennajocummings Posts: 104
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    Everyone else can tell me how wrong I am, but 2-3 hours of cardio may be part of the problem. Congrats on it! I'm impressed! I wish I had the time and stamina to do it, and I'm sure weight-wise you see great results. I would think, though, that much cardio would keep you from giving enough energy to weights. Your legs probably are fine, since they get used during the cardio, but shoulders don't. I'd say increase protein, do weights first, and shave back the cardio a tad.
    this
  • notthatthis
    notthatthis Posts: 218
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    So, what are your shoulder exercises and do you include working the all of the isolation exercises for the rotator cuff muscles, something that even people doing heavy compounds should do.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Sounds like you are over-training in a major way. You're probably putting yourself at risk of injury. I would start by cutting way back on the cardio, eating more protein and only training your shoulders every 2-3 days at the most
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    Sounds like you are over-training in a major way. You're probably putting yourself at risk of injury. I would start by cutting way back on the cardio, eating more protein and only training your shoulders every 2-3 days at the most

    This.
  • Mummyadams
    Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
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    Sounds like you are over-training in a major way. You're probably putting yourself at risk of injury. I would start by cutting way back on the cardio, eating more protein and only training your shoulders every 2-3 days at the most

    This.
    This!

    BTW - Cardio for 2-3 hours a day - whhhyyyyyy????
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Compound lifts make the shoulders grow fast. I have been doing the main five (squats, deads, overhead press, barbell row and bench press) since April and even my back is growing. It also depends how heavy you lift too.

    p.s. I do not do any isolation exercises at the moment.

    that

    and the ones that say do less cardio...
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Hello everyone!
    I need some advice as I am getting pretty frustrated with my shoulder muscles. My overall fitness is at an all-time high, I do about 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day, and have formed some good strong muscles. The only muscles that have not improved one bit are my shoulder muscles... specifically, my Deltoid and Trapezius muscles. It drives me insane because I do shoulder workouts every day and every day it just burns like hell and doesn't improve.
    What can I do to solve this dilemma of mine? Are there any shoulder exercises you guys can share?
    Please shed some light on my situation. Thank you!

    Working out your shoulders every day is not good, they need about 2-3 days to recover from a proper workout with the right nutrition.

    This. That said here are some exercises

    Overhead press
    Cable Rope Face Pulls
    Overhead Barbell Press
  • AphelionPDX
    AphelionPDX Posts: 105
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    I was told the only strength training that can be done on a daily basis is abs. You're supposed to give your muscles at least a day's rest. For example, I have been doing my strength training (all muscle groups) 3x/week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Also, eat more protein!
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
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    I do about 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day,

    Shoot, I missed this...um...this is excessive. Are you training for something? Even then...an hour of cardio or less if it is high intensity intervals is sufficient.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    Yeah, why so much cardio? The only reason I would see the need for 2-3 hours a day is to train for an endurance race/sport. Cardiovascular heath can be maintained with less than half that time a few times a week.

    How much time are you in the gym each day? Do you take any rest days?

    Eat more protein. You seem to be working out a lot and not providing your body the chance or nutrients to recover and rebuild. Shoulders are not a huge muscle group, but can get hit while working other parts like chest and back.

    Mostly, yeah, what other people have already said.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
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    This is why you should drop the cardio to 2 x a week and lift heavy 3 x a week. Start with stronglifts. You will never complain about not working ANY of your muscles again. :flowerforyou:
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    Working a body part everyday is a great way to stop or even reverse progression.

    Work a body part 1-3 times a week.
  • lesita75
    lesita75 Posts: 379 Member
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    This is why you should drop the cardio to 2 x a week and lift heavy 3 x a week. Start with stronglifts. You will never complain about not working ANY of your muscles again. :flowerforyou:
    +1
  • LaNetsah
    LaNetsah Posts: 35 Member
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    Woah. THANK YOU EVERYONE!! :)
    I was not aware that that 2 to 3 hours of cardio is much. I just love exercising, I do my Qi Gong and some kind of aerobics in the morning, then I have a swim in the afternoon (it's summertime where I live so I can't miss the beautiful weather) and I take a 1 hour jog/walk in the evenings to clear my head. Not doing any strength training at the moment because I am already pretty muscly, I need to work on dissolving the fat. I have always exercised a lot, my problem was that I loved my food even more than my exercise.
    I do have a rest day once a week... but even on my rest day I end up either swimming or doing aerobics... so maybe not so much of a rest day.
    Actually, I am vegan, and usually I eat plenty of protein, but I am on a low-protein cleanse at the moment, it ends in a couple of days, so I can have some lovely lentils and beans back into my diet.

    Thank you all again for the advice! I will try make the necessary changes! Let's see how it goes :D
    Have a lovely day/night!

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