My issue is my shoulders. Hoping it is just rotator cuff tendinitis, but things like incline curls are murder only my shoulders. Skullcrushers hurt too. I rehab them the best I can, but sleep tends to be where I get my exacerbations. Any time I accidentally sleep with my elbow above my head it is bad news.

I need to spend more time stretching. Ultimately I think it is my labrum, but not at all interested in surgery.

Things like lat pulls, shrugs, Arnold presses, upright rows are no problem for me.
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Any time man. That Athlean-X guy made one about IT band pain and it changed my life. Hopefully these help you. I’m glad your shin splints are better. Shin splints fucking suck.
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Everything you just described leans to AC joint not rotator cuff.
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I don’t know. I have no AC tenderness, no pain reaching across my body, no pain laying on my side. My most painful motion is elbow flexed to 90, shoulder flexed so the arm is parallell to the ground, then internally rotating.

That’s why my guess is labrum or RC
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You guys probably know way more about it than I do, but youtube research has talked me out of upright rows (plus, for me, it's always felt kind of awkward)... I think Athlean-X dude has a video talking about avoiding strain/resistance with internal rotation.
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Upright rows are fine as long as you don't go too high. Once the bar gets higher than nipple level you are getting into the 'danger' zone and can easily injur shoulders.
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Th elbow above head causing pain is a common symptom of AC. Do you ever feel/hear any popping when moving arm around?
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Can you tell me what you are hoping to accomplish with upright rows that can't be accomplished more efficiently with other exercises? To me they seem rather pointless, especially if it's not something that feels right for you. Side delts? Do side raises. Front delts? Do front raises. Traps? Do shrugs.
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All the time. Mainly with external rotation with elbow flexed starting from internal rotation and 90 degrees shoulder flex ion. (Like a throwing motion but arm forward instead of abducted)
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I find I don’t really need to work the anterior delt much, as you hit it with a lot of other motions (bench, overhead press)

I do my upright rows with dumbbell and my palms mostly face each other. I also don’t get my elbows above my head.

I have heard narrow grip with a barbell can be rough on the shoulders
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I rarely to uprights but when I do I either use the EZ Curl bar or use a rope on the cables.

Easier on joints than a straight barbell.
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Gotcha, I've heard a fee different things as far as bar/hand position or elbows not getting too high.

That's actually another reason I stopped doing them... there was a goof Nippard video about the most pointless exercises and that was one of them. And while I don't take much of what they say and immediately change my routine, between multiple pros having multiple reasons for not doing them and some shoulder awkwardness, I quit doing them.
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I love Jeff Nippard. Also like Ryan Humiston and Jeremy Ethier.
Athlean X is a a little click bait for me. “Everything is ruining your gains!!!!”
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Haven't heard of Humiston, but will check him out. I also follow Ethier and that one Baaahston guy.

And yeah, Athlean-X has a lot of clickbait headlines and will also sometimes criticize Nippard and others for the "workout smarter" mentality. I like his best/worst lists just for providing some things to think about in terms of simplifying workouts.

I've probably gotten the most from Nippard's research and some of Ethier's videos (he's been focusing a lot lately on chest, with a lot of pointers on getting the most from bench pressing without having your arms and shoulders doing all the work).
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This is exactly what I do. lots of cable side lateral + rear delt work on any push focused days. I don't even military anymore, just super high incline with dumbells.
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