Shoulder Pain with CrossFit: What, Why, and How to Resolve It

Shoulder pain with CrossFit can come from a variety of sources and I’ve had a lot of exposure to it. I’m a Level 2 CrossFit Coach and have performed CrossFit 7+ years. I also treat individuals who have shoulder pain with CrossFit. We do this at our physical therapy clinic in Oconomowoc, WI.

From my experience, I see shoulder pain with CrossFit occur for the following reasons:

Not enough shoulder mobility

Not enough stabilizing muscle strength

Too much volume

In this blog post, we’re going to dive into all those. You’ll learn why each of those can cause shoulder pain. And, you’ll learn how to resolve your shoulder pain with CrossFit, if you fall into one of those buckets.

Lack of Shoulder Mobility Leads to Shoulder Pain with CrossFit

While most people think this is why they have shoulder pain, it’s not. This is the least common reason why people have shoulder pain with CrossFit. But, because people often think this is the cause of their shoulder pain, I’m starting here.

Let’s start with a common misconception about mobility. This is the main reason why people think they lack mobility when they don’t.

Misconception: If something feels tight, it must be tight.

The truth: Every joint and muscle will feel tight when you stretch it. When something feels tight, it doesn’t mean that is what is limiting your movement.

There’s specific standards for motion in each direction at each joint. I measure a lot of shoulders, and I’ve learned most people meet these standards better than they think they do. (At least, most people in Oconomowoc do! I’m guessing those results extend beyond Oconomowoc though.)

But, back to our original point. Anytime something isn’t moving enough and you force it further than it wants to go, you get pain. This pain might not occur the first time – or even the first 100 times. But if left unresolved, it does lead to discomfort. Once you open up the limited space and the shoulder can glide, pain resolves.

Resolving Limited Shoulder Mobility

There’s 3 main directions to mobilize the shoulder. These are: overhead, rotating backwards, and rotating inwards. If your shoulder pain occurs with overhead pressing, mobilize overhead and backwards.

And, if your pain occurs with bench press and push-ups, mobilizing by rotating inwards.

Weakness Causing Shoulder Pain with CrossFit

I’ve also seen that most people have weak stabilizing muscles of the shoulder. This tends to be hard for fit people to grasp, so let’s break it down. The thought process goes like this: I’m strong because I can lift my bodyweight over my head and do 10+ pull-ups. So, weakness can’t be the reason why I have shoulder pain with CrossFit.

Wrong! Unfortunately, weakness can be the reason you have shoulder pain with CrossFit. And this is true even if your baseline level of strength is high! We’re not talking about the weakness of your primary movers (delts, pecs, lats). We’re talking about weakness of the stabilizing muscles that help with the motion.

If you have a high level of shoulder strength, you also need a high level of stabilizing muscle strength. For example, if your max single arm dumbbell strict press is 25 pounds, I’m looking for 5 pound rotator cuff strength. But, if your max is 50 pounds, I’m looking for 10 pound rotator cuff strength. As you get stronger, you need more strength in your stabilizing muscles.

Eliminating the Proportional Weakness

To reduce the disproportional strength, target the stabilizing muscles in an isolated manner. Training overhead presses, bench presses, and pull-ups on their own isn’t sufficient. This doesn’t strengthen stabilizing muscles enough in proportion to the primary movers.

Stabilizing muscles need a bit of TLC, especially with age, to stay in pristine condition. Accessory work beyond the WOD is necessary for optimal shoulder health with CrossFit.

I’ve written a lot of blog articles on improving the strength of the stabilizing muscles of the shoulder. Start here if your shoulder pain is more irritable and you need the basics. If your discomfort is mild or if you want to be proactive, thisthis is a better choice. Pro tip: dry needling is excellent at reducing discomfort. If you know a good physical therapist near you, hit them up!

Too Much Volume Leads to Shoulder Pain with CrossFit

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but it is also nuanced. It’s obvious that doing 100 push-ups on 7 consecutive days isn’t a smart choice. But, it’s less obvious with different movements that train similar muscles. Doing squat snatches, jerks, push-ups, and wall balls in the same week can be as taxing on the shoulders.

Tracking volume with CrossFit is tricky. There’s many different movements that work the same muscles in a similar manner. To explain this at our Oconomowoc clinic, I divide movements as follows:

Overhead pressing

Horizontal pressing

Vertical pulling

Horizontal pulling

My rule of thumb is to not do something that falls into the same category on consecutive days. And, avoid doing the same category more than three times per week. This will avoid the majority of shoulder pain with CrossFit caused by volume.

None of this Sounds Like Me, Help!

If you’re reading and “this is me!” isn’t clicking, you could have shoulder pain with CrossFit for a different reason. This blog post explains most of the shoulder pain with CrossFit that we see, but it doesn’t explain it all.

If you’d like help figuring out what’s going on with your shoulder or how to fix it, fill out the form for a free consultation. It’s easy, quick, and will point you in the direction you need to go to resolve your shoulder discomfort.