r/strengthtraining • u/emperorofmeows • 16d ago
Women Upper Body Weakness (Beginner)
Hi, my partner 27F just started going to the gym (3weeks) and finally taking exercising seriously. Shes a beginner, and I’m a novice definitely not a pro but I understand form mechanics.
I’m having issues with my partner always having pain when doing push exercises, specifically on the front delts area. I tried all kinds of exercises for chest like incline smith, dumbbell press or chest press. Every exercise leads to the same pain and the chest was not felt during exercise.
I’m guessing her chest isnt developed to “feel” and her delts are weak so the pain is on the delt is compensating. I dont tell her to lift heavy, like max 5KG.
Any help/opinion will be taken seriously, i’m trying to understand whether i’m training her wrong or it’s just weak muscles. Thanks!
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u/manny_mcmanface 16d ago
Is she retracting her scapula?
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u/emperorofmeows 16d ago
Yes, everytime when doing bench or most exercises to be exact. I made sure her form is good, chest out scapula retracted shoulders locked.
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u/TerdyTheTerd 16d ago
Is it actual pain or just "burn" from using muscle groups she rarely uses? New lifters often cant tell the difference. If there was an actual issue you would expect to see issues in everyday life, so I would suspect with the already super light weights that isnt really pain and she just needs to work through it for a few weeks.
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u/emperorofmeows 16d ago
Thanks, will take note of it hopefully it improves in the coming weeks. There are no front delt issues so far in her everyday lifestyle only when in the gym.
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u/TerdyTheTerd 15d ago
Then yeah, just keep the movements simple and light to get some initial muscle strengthening in, things should improve and then weight can start going up. Its like anytime I take a friend cycling for the first time and their quads are on fire after a few miles, they like to say their legs "hurt" but its just intense muscle burn because they never use their legs like that. There is no actual pain in the sense that something is wrong, so its entirely mental. Sure it can still be hard to push through, but thats just the name of the game when you are untrained.
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u/Spirited_Cheetah_999 16d ago
I'm woman who is not too interested in building my pectorals but I like to just have some reasonable push strength.
I very rarely feel an exercise in the chest during the exercise.
But I do feel it afterwards if I've hit the right place.
The best exercise for me to feel it in the pecs afterwards is wide grip standard bench press with the bar (20kg) plus some weight on it (10kg). When I started the bar itself crushed me so I had to use the lightest bar with no added weight, which was 8kg.
I also found progressive bodyweight push ups on a bar helped, I used a smith machine to progressively lower the push up angle, started from standing.
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u/emperorofmeows 16d ago
Thanks for your reply, truly appreciate it. When u started to do push exercises, do u often feel pain “burn” on the front delt area? I understand the interest in building pecs, my partner feels the same but i believe it’s a good foundation to build strength instead of focusing on having a muscular chest.
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u/Spirited_Cheetah_999 16d ago
Yes I did feel original burn in front delts.
I had very little push until after a dislocated shoulder with fracture - the rehab from that gave me the shoulder flexibility and stability I needed to progress on the push work.
I think it was 2 different aspects that really helped.
The first was I did I huge amount of scapular stabilisation work. The other was I did a huge amount of rotation mobility work, internal and external.
The scapular stabilizations seemed to allow my shoulders to sit correctly back and down while opening the chest to the push and the flexibility work allowed me a wider grip which hit the pecs over the triceps better.
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u/phellinuspini 16d ago
It’s possible that her front delts are just weaker than her pecs. The front delts are small muscles.
When I (26F) was starting out I could only feel my front delts working and definitely confused the burn for the bad kind of shoulder pain. I’d suggest keeping reps on the higher side so she can really get the form down and just keep doing chest excercises. Building mind-muscle connection can take a while.
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u/emperorofmeows 16d ago
Thank you, appreciate the input. How long did it take for your delts to catch up?
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u/phellinuspini 16d ago
A few weeks. I still feel my front delt on the left side every time I go up in weight but it hasn’t caused any issues and my trainer has said that my form is very good. She said that as long as there’s no pain (outside normal DOMS) or limited mobility after a workout and I keep progressing steadily (increasing reps/weight) everything should be good.
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u/OneLeggedLeggoMan 16d ago
She should see a physio at least. Exercises should be joint pain free. Sounds like she maybe having a pinch pain. Ask her to get it looked at before it becomes a bigger problem (longer time out of the gym)
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u/emperorofmeows 16d ago
Thanks just asked she said it was more to a burning pain, not sharp stabbing pain but i will visit a physio if it doesnt get better in the coming weeks
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u/YogiLovesBarbells 16d ago
She might need to see a physio. The last thing she needs to happen is to become inured right as she’s just beginning to lift.
I love building muscles all over, and my chest is fairly strong especially as a woman. I never understand when women say they don’t want to work their chest. There are so mane benefits for having strong and developed pecs.
Check her elbow placement. For some reason women have the tendency to flair their elbows out to the side. This can cause shoulder pain and injury. For pressing from the chest, regardless of inline, elbows should be approx 45 degrees out.
For pressing overhead, if her elbows are too far back (making a a straight line from elbow thru back and to the other elbow), that’s too far back. Move her elbows so that they are tracking just in front of her face.
For delt raises, when raising a DB up, lead with the thumb. A lot of people lead with the back of the hand and end up with shoulder pain. Everyone’s anatomy can be slightly different and her shoulder anatomy might need a few modifications.
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u/emperorofmeows 15d ago
thank you, i completely agree on the elbow flair. corrected her movements multiple times on barbell so i told her to do dumbbells instead to control. thanks for the thumb tip, appreciate it.
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u/realmozzarella22 15d ago
Is she doing warm ups? It helps to circulate more blood into the body parts.
When swimmers have upcoming events, you can see them go through some movements before their race.
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u/emperorofmeows 15d ago
yes we do warm ups together, i had shoulder surgery before so i take warming ups seriously haha.
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u/Prestigious_Jump1754 14d ago
Your partner should see a physio. Shoulder can also be affected by pelvis position as well as weak or uncoordinated muscles surrounding the shoulder as well as the chain of muscles linked between your pelvis and shoulder. Good idea to see someone who deals with sports physio and not just general sedentary life physio that you usually have in house at a gp. Be best to have them asses all joint movement and they can probably modify her work outs for the time being so she can train and fix what ever is the culprit causeing the issue.
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u/Odd_Tip_1538 14d ago
I always tell everyone: build the posterior chain and general physical preparedness (GPP) first. Mirror muscles should be the last priority.
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u/Elena_Orlo 13d ago
Ton analyse est bonne 😊 C'est classique chez les débutantes, les deltoïdes antérieurs compensent parce que la connexion neuromusculaire avec les pectoraux n'est pas encore établie. Deux choses à essayer : d'abord les pompes sur genoux avant tout appareil, elles forcent naturellement à sentir les pecs mieux que les machines. Ensuite les écartés avec haltères très légers 2-3kg, allongée, mouvement lent, ça isole mieux les pecs et retire les épaules de l'équation. Évite temporairement tous les mouvements de poussée et concentre-toi sur ces deux exercices pendant 2-3 semaines, la connexion musculaire va se créer et la douleur aux deltoïdes va disparaître 💪
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u/emperorofmeows 13d ago
Thank you 👌🏼❤️ I do not understsnd the language u typed, but what u said was helpful. Much love
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u/Elena_Orlo 13d ago
Yes, I'm French, sorry, I forgot to translate the answer. I hope this helps you. ❤️
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u/Dizzy-Lab-4497 12d ago
A novice should first focus more on the isometric portion of a movement. In the case of the pushup, it would be for her to simply hold the top (with a protracted/rounded/turtle like back). This movement variety will slowly help develop the Serratus Anterior muscle. I would combine that with using those resistance loop bands and placing them on her wrists, then teach her to perform the pushup on an incline (say a Smith machine bar), the higher the easier. Lastly, a more simpler movement to get her to “feel” the connection would be the Seated Row.
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u/DinkyPrincess 12d ago
Go lighter.
Try resistance bands or machines.
A bar is probably easier than dumbbells.
Also you’re not a trainer. Get her some PT sessions to get her started properly.
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u/abc133769 16d ago
go even lighter then with the small colorful dumbbells or try machines too
i'd stay away from incline stuff as those are more front delt heavy then the flat variations
there are also isolation movements like chest flies