Shoulder pain when lifting is often a control problem around the joint rather than damage inside it. When your traps do your lats’ job and a tight levator scapulae crowds the shoulder blade, the joint loses the space it needs to move. Switch the right muscles on, free up that space, and the shoulder stops complaining.
She came in with pain on lateral raises. Before we’d even started, she told me it already hurt. By the end of the session, the pain was gone. Here’s the exact sequence I used, in the order I used it, and why each step is there.
What causes shoulder pain when you lift?
Start with what you can see. When I looked at her elbows, there was a big difference between right and left, and the side that looked worse was exactly where she was getting the pain. Pain rarely turns up in a random spot. It turns up where the pattern breaks down.
Then look at the space. Your shoulder joint needs room to move. The levator scapulae runs from your neck down to the top of your shoulder blade, and when it’s tight and bunched up, it hitches the blade up and crowds the joint. Think of a door on a hinge. If the frame gets pulled out of square, the door scrapes no matter how gently you swing it. Straighten the frame and the door swings freely.
Finally, look at which muscles are doing the work. She had trained with plenty of coaches, online and in person, and had never once been able to isolate her lats. When your lats won’t switch on, your traps take over. The cue I use: if your trap is on, your lat can’t be on, and if your lat is on, your trap can’t be on.
What exercises help shoulder pain from lifting?
There’s no generic rotator cuff band routine here. Every exercise has a job, and they go in a specific order: activation first, then stretching, then loaded work. Five steps.
1. The T-raise, without cracking the ice
We started with the T-raise from the Lock Big 3, the shoulder series from master physiotherapist Andrew Lock. Squeeze your upper back together as you raise. It hits the triceps too, and that matters, because the triceps is a shoulder stabiliser.
The cue: imagine a thin sheet of ice at the bottom of the rep. Control the way up, control the way down, and don’t crack the ice. She felt it straight away, which is exactly what you want.
2. Banded lat activation
Next, a band to wake up the lats. The cue is to hide your armpit. I’ll admit I tickle the armpit to make the point, because the moment someone clamps down to protect it, the lat fires. You’ll see her elbow drive right into her hip. That’s the lat, finally doing its job.
3. The levator scapulae stretch (it’s not a triceps stretch)
This one looks like a triceps stretch. It isn’t. Get into the triceps stretch position with a band, then move your head on a diagonal, away from the arm. You’ll feel the levator scapulae stretch from your upper back right up into your neck.
The second she got into that position, she said that was exactly what had been giving her grief. We weren’t forcing the shoulder. We were giving the joint its space back.
4. The lat pulldown, done differently
Now we load it. On the pulldown, I had her lean away more than I normally would, to exaggerate where she felt it in the lats. I don’t coach everyone this way. For her, because her lats wouldn’t switch on, it was the way in. For the standard technique, see our lat pulldown breakdown.
The technical cue is thoracic extension: lift and open the upper back, and your shoulders move into external rotation. The simple version is chest up to the roof. Start every rep by lifting your chest as high as you can, hide your armpits and pack everything down. You’re not pulling the bar down to your chest. You’re pushing your chest up to the bar.
5. The Y-raise with a stick
Last, on the floor with a stick, the Y-raise for the mid traps and upper back. Setup is everything. Feet together. Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can. Drive your belly button into your spine. Lock your arms and elbows, make a pistol with your fingers and set your hands at about 45 degrees. Then lift the stick.
Keep the abs switched on. It makes a big difference, and people who relax their abs barely feel it in the upper back. You can hold it, do it for reps, or work in 60-second blocks. And go light. I added about a kilo and it made a huge difference. You don’t need to go heavy on this at all.
What happened on the retest?
We went back to the movement that hurt at the start. I asked her to lean forward and try it again. Pain? No. Gone.
Her words afterwards said more than the retest. She’d trained with a lot of coaches, including online coaches, and had never been given this many cues. It finally clicked on the pulldown, and for the first time she could actually isolate her lats. That’s the difference between telling someone to do an exercise and coaching them through it.
Why does the order matter?
Because you can’t load a pattern that doesn’t exist yet. Activation switches the right muscles on. The stretch gives the joint its space back. Only then does loaded work, like the pulldown and the Y-raise, teach the body to use that new position under tension. Load it first and you’re rehearsing the old pattern with more weight on it.
When should you see a physio instead?
This is coaching, not a diagnosis. If your pain is sharp, came from a fall or a specific injury, wakes you at night, or comes with pins and needles, numbness or weakness down the arm, get it assessed by a physio or a doctor before you train it. You can see how I assess shoulders in our shoulder health assessment.
If your shoulder has been grumbling for months and every program you try just works around it, come and see us at our Abbotsford studio in Melbourne. Book a consultation and we’ll find where the pattern breaks down.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my shoulder hurt when I do lateral raises?
Often because the muscles controlling the shoulder blade aren’t doing their job. The traps take over from the lats and a tight levator scapulae crowds the joint. Restoring that control, in the right order, took one client’s lateral raise pain away in a single session.
Should I stop training if my shoulder hurts?
Not automatically. Change what you do: switch on the muscles that should be working, stretch what is crowding the joint, and load the new pattern lightly. If the pain is sharp, came from an injury or comes with numbness or weakness, see a physio first.
What is the levator scapulae?
It’s the muscle running from your neck to the top of your shoulder blade. When it’s tight, it hitches the shoulder blade up and takes away the space the shoulder joint needs. Stretch it from a triceps stretch position by moving your head on a diagonal, away from the arm.
How heavy should Y-raises be?
Very light. Adding about a kilo made a huge difference for my client, and you don’t need more. Squeeze your glutes, brace your abs and lock your arms first, because position matters far more than load on this exercise.
How do I feel my lats on a lat pulldown?
Lift your chest as high as you can before you pull, hide your armpits and drive your elbows towards your hips. Think about pushing your chest up to the bar rather than pulling the bar down to your chest.
