overdeveloped trapezius muscles/biceps

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hyperlexian
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31 Jul 2012, 11:00 pm

i had some shoulder joint pain so i went to see a physiotherapist. she figured it is because i am "hanging on my tendons" too much, which is aggravating the joint. she gave me a length of rubber tubing and some exercises to do (not sure if these are the right names, but she called the exercises "Pivot", "Golf Swing" and "Bow and Arrow").

i have been doing them for about 5 days, and i have a noticeable difference in musculature. i tend to build muscle quickly, so that part isn't weird. the problem is that i don't see/feel a discernible difference in my shoulders, but i am getting big traps and biceps instead. :? i think i must not be isolating the weaker shoulder muscles properly and i am relying on the surrounding muscles to do the work instead.

keeping in mind that this is my exercise equipment at home:
-rubber tubing
-uhhhh household stuff
...any ideas for additional exercises i can do, or advice as to how to either improve my technique? is this a common issue?

oh, by the way i am doing men's pushups for extra exercise as well, and i do some moderate heavy lifting at work. i also do other general exercise (walking, swimming, hip hop dancing), if that is useful to know.


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Kurgan
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01 Aug 2012, 7:52 am

Your middle deltoids are hard to hit. The only way to hit them properly is with shoulder presses or lateral raises. If the rubber tubing is long enough, the latter can he done. Furthermore, a used dumbbell set can be obtained very cheaply.



hyperlexian
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01 Aug 2012, 12:51 pm

thank you! i will see if i can do the lateral raises.

(i am moving to another country in late september so i don't want anything more that is heavy to move or dispose of. after that point i might consider getting a set as i like building muscles for some reason, though that may not last)


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1000Knives
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01 Aug 2012, 2:10 pm

Well for shoulder presses, you could always grab any object and just lift it over your head until your arms are locked. So even, say, milk jugs, boxes, whatever.

As far as why the biceps and traps may be getting developed, here's my theory. You say you do heavy lifting at your job, so what happens if you pick up any object off the floor, your back and legs do a lot of the work, but your traps get worked very much, too. They especially get worked with any kinda shoulder shrugging motion. As for the biceps, you could be sorta "curling" whatever you're moving, as any kinda odd shaped object, to lift it level (ie, in my case, a desk) you generally have to curl your arms a bit to grip it, and especially if you gotta move with it, your arms will be in a constant partial curl.



hyperlexian
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01 Aug 2012, 3:08 pm

that makes sense, 1000Knives. i will google "shoulder presses' and see how to properly do that. i can see the appeal of going to the gym or having the assistance of a friend, because it's very hard to subjectively tell if i am doing an exercise improperly. i suppose that just because it feels like it is working doesn't mean it i am correctly completing it.


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Kurgan
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01 Aug 2012, 4:03 pm

hyperlexian wrote:
that makes sense, 1000Knives. i will google "shoulder presses' and see how to properly do that. i can see the appeal of going to the gym or having the assistance of a friend, because it's very hard to subjectively tell if i am doing an exercise improperly. i suppose that just because it feels like it is working doesn't mean it i am correctly completing it.


Be sure to never do shoulder presses behind your neck—as this will put your shoulder joints and rotator cuffs at risk. Also, a good idea is to do them with a wider grip than you would with for example pushups, as this will target the side deltoids more. Apart from that, it's a fairly straightforward exercise.



hyperlexian
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01 Aug 2012, 11:13 pm

thanks, Kurgan! i will try some of that stuff for the next week and see how it goes


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