No 'doms' after doing shoulders

KRISTINE A

Active Member
Hi Cathe,

Just wondering why I never get doms after doing shoulder exercises. I always work them to failure, but I never seem to have any muscle soreness in my shoulders at all. I usually get them when doing tri's, bi's, chest and legs.

Maybe after STS I will get them, but for now, I don't.

Thank you for your reply (or any of you out there).

Kris
 
Not Cathe here, but I rarely get DOMS in my shoulders. I lift as heavy as a I can too.

I'm curious to see what Cathe and others say about this.
 
PUB is the only workout that gives me (*slight*) DOMS in my shoulders. I've never really thought about that...
 
Same issue here - its frustrating because I feel like I am not working them hard enough. Maybe shoulder muscles are just different?
 
Dumb question--what do you mean "doms"?

Jimmie48 -- DOMS is delayed onset muscle soreness. It's that wonderful soreness you get 24-48 hours after working out as the muscle fibers you've torn down are repairing and rebuilding.

I've learned a lesson about shoulder DOMS. I never used to get it, with the exception of when I would slack off for several weeks and then pull out PUB. That worked every time.

Now however, I work shoulders 2x week - once with a Cathe DVD and once with my trainer. Without fail I get shoulder DOMS after the trainer w/o and the reason is because I always used to think I was going to failure -- but I was not. For me, the first part of failure is when I can no longer lift both dumbells over my head for shoulder presses, e.g. at the same time, so my trainer has me go one at a time. Then -- when I can barely get one of those dumbells up to ear level, let alone all the way up, and my trainer has to "tap it up" part way thru. That's failure for me - and that's when I feel the soreness soon after. Ahhhh -- gotta' love it. Are you really at failure? Or is it fatigue? Do you have a spouse, SO or friend who can watch you and be sure you are going to failure? If so, have them be ready for that "tap up" so you can do the exercise safely. Try it once or twice and see what happens. HTH
 
Great info from Lorrie - Oxygen magazine has an article in their Feb. issue for shoulders that describes using pre-fatigue sets for the Delts. Something like - 12-15 lateral raises then 12-15 overhead presses (repeat without rest 3 times) - then Rest for three minutes and choose a barbell you can lift for 12-15 reps overhead - do upright rows for 15 and immediately go to overhead presses for 15 without rest. Repeat this cycle until failure - and then do another for good health.
I tried this and did have DOMS! Good luck!
 
Great info from Lorrie - Oxygen magazine has an article in their Feb. issue for shoulders that describes using pre-fatigue sets for the Delts. Something like - 12-15 lateral raises then 12-15 overhead presses (repeat without rest 3 times) - then Rest for three minutes and choose a barbell you can lift for 12-15 reps overhead - do upright rows for 15 and immediately go to overhead presses for 15 without rest. Repeat this cycle until failure - and then do another for good health.
I tried this and did have DOMS! Good luck!


Not Cathe but......

I LUV'd the article mentioned above and am planning on trying it ith biceps as well since I have stopped getting DOMS the last year...

Also..... DOMS - Not everyone gets them- its not the indicator for results..Your body & muscle development is... The cleaner I eat the fewer DOMS I experience ( & less intense) because my body recovers more quickly

Shoulder DOMS: As a 2 year rehab shoulder patient I must say that shoulder work should be done with a complete understanding of when you are over training and/or losing form.

You work shoulders in nearly every upper body workout indirectly- just be careful not to cause injury because you are trying to "get DOMS" ..... I say workout SMART - listen to your body...Push it to the point you feel comfortable... If after clean eating and not getting results in that area of your body you still are not satisfied with results then go to a new plan maybe even hire a trainer for 1 session with focus on shoulders.
 
Hi Cathe,

Just wondering why I never get doms after doing shoulder exercises. I always work them to failure, but I never seem to have any muscle soreness in my shoulders at all. I usually get them when doing tri's, bi's, chest and legs.

Maybe after STS I will get them, but for now, I don't.

Thank you for your reply (or any of you out there).

Kris

Hi Kris!
I saw your thread yesterday and was going to post and agree with you that I also never seem to get DOMS in my shoulders. However, after doing High Step Challenge yesterday, I have to say that today my shoulders are BIG TIME sore!! I think it's from all the different resistance band workouts. Those always get me! I actually woke up in the middle of the night to feel the "good pain" in my shoulders (amongst other places!) Do you have this one? Great total body circuit!

:)Christine
 
I have no trouble at all getting DOMS in my shoulders - especially after yesterday's upper body 1RM testing! Warning, ladies, be sure to stretch extra after doing all that heavy lifting! (I didn't stretch at all, an absolute no-no! and something I never do, but yesterday was a weird day)
 
Oh, I also take L-Carnitine an hour before strength workouts - that really helps with decreasing DOMS in general, and repairs my muscle tissue quicker.
 
Wow - I was just thinking this very thing yesterday - I never (or rarely) get DOMS in my shoulders. I get them in my rear delts once in awhile, but that's it. Hmm... now that I think about it, perhaps I'm not working them as hard as I should be. Thanks for this thread - I will try to 'work,work!' and see how it goes...
 
I can't remember when I've gotten shoulder DOMS in the past.

DOMS isn't necessary for an effective workout, and many things can contribute to not getting it. And maybe there are reasons why this muscle group is less prone to DOMS, like the fact that it's a relatively small muscle group (each of the three heads), or that the movements we do in everyday life are enough to help ease DOMS.

Just because you're not getting shoulder DOMS isn't a reason to work the muscles harder. The shoulder is a rather unstable joint, and more prone to injury than almost any other joint in the body. Packing on the weights to try to get DOMS would increase that injury risk, IMO.
 
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I have to agree w/Kathryn here. My shoulders very rarely get sore, but I think it's b/c the delts are a pretty small muscle group so it's really hard to lift major weights w/them. Like, when I increase weights for legs I increase them by about 20 lbs. But when I increase weights for delts it's a struggle just w/those 2.5 lb platemates.

And you do NOT want a shoulder injury! They're the toughest to recover from & effect pretty much your entire UB routine.
 
I agree with teddy16410

Not Cathe but......

I LUV'd the article mentioned above and am planning on trying it ith biceps as well since I have stopped getting DOMS the last year...

Also..... DOMS - Not everyone gets them- its not the indicator for results..Your body & muscle development is... The cleaner I eat the fewer DOMS I experience ( & less intense) because my body recovers more quickly

Shoulder DOMS: As a 2 year rehab shoulder patient I must say that shoulder work should be done with a complete understanding of when you are over training and/or losing form.

You work shoulders in nearly every upper body workout indirectly- just be careful not to cause injury because you are trying to "get DOMS" ..... I say workout SMART - listen to your body...Push it to the point you feel comfortable... If after clean eating and not getting results in that area of your body you still are not satisfied with results then go to a new plan maybe even hire a trainer for 1 session with focus on shoulders.

I used to get DOMS all the time, so much so, that I can't walk right!

But I have been following tosca Reno's "Clean Eating" and my DOMS has reduced by 90%. I have increased all of my weights, too.

I am doing 40 dumb bells with my walking lunges and I'm really putting my mind into the muscle.

Stacey
 

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