If you want a challenging yet extremely effective exercise, look no further than the classic push-up. This simple bodyweight movement targets multiple muscles, including those in your core, chest, triceps, and shoulders, all without requiring any weights or special equipment.

Push-ups may look basic, but anyone who has done even one knows they can be hard—especially because the move places a lot of pressure on your shoulder joint, says James Bicos, MD, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon with Corewell Health. As a result, some people experience shoulder pain when doing push-ups, he explains. This can be both uncomfortable in the moment as well as frustrating when you’re trying to complete extra reps. 

Here’s what to do if you notice that push-ups are causing you shoulder pain, plus how to prevent it from happening in the future. 

Why You Might Experience Shoulder Pain When Doing Push-Ups

The shoulders are vulnerable to pain during exercises like push-ups partly due to the physiology of this area, Dr. Bicos explains. 

“The shoulder joint is literally like a marble on a table, and we have static structures like cartilage and bone that provide some stability,” he says. “But because of this range of motion, we also need the stability of the muscles to keep it in place.” When you do a push-up, “immense compressive forces” are placed on the shoulder joint, he says. This can cause pain in the moment, since the shoulder is essentially being compressed to maintain that stability. 

Shoulder pain during push-ups can also be caused by muscle fatigue (think “normal” workout pain—you’ve exercised a lot lately, and those muscles are sore). You might be especially prone to shoulder soreness if you’ve been combining push-ups with other arm exercises, says Meghan Rohde, a board-certified sports physical therapist at Revolution Wellness Collective. “If there are other upper body movements paired with push-ups that involve a similar pushing motion, those muscles can fatigue quickly and form will begin to break down.”

Improper form can also cause shoulder pain that you’ll eventually feel during a push-up. “In the anterior shoulder, the biceps and pec major and minor all attach in a similar area,” Rohde says. “Those muscles work together to provide the primary movement for the push-up, but if posture is forward or arms are out too wide, there isn’t much space for those muscles to do their job.” These form mistakes could lead to biceps tendonitis (a condition characterized by inflammation in your upper biceps tendon) or impingement (which occurs when your shoulder bones pinch your rotator cuff), two frequent causes behind shoulder pain, she adds.

Other times, shoulder pain when doing push-ups may be due to an injury, such as muscle or tendon tears like rotator cuff tears, or sometimes lateral tears, according to Dr. Bicos.

Luckily, it’s not super common to experience shoulder pain during push-ups, experts say, but it can happen. 

How to Deal with Shoulder Pain from Push-Ups

Even if it’s just a dull ache, pain in your shoulder when doing push-ups is usually a sign that something isn’t working right. Follow these steps to try to troubleshoot the issue: 

1. Check Your Form 

Shoulder pain during push-ups can stem from poor form, so the first thing to do is review your technique, Dr. Bicos says. When doing a push-up, you should:

2. Don’t Be Afraid of Modifications

If your form is good and you still feel soreness, you might consider modifying your technique. “Sometimes if you are just getting into working out, push-ups can be very difficult,” Dr. Bicos says. “So, you can start doing push-ups on your knees rather than from a true plank.” This position puts less pressure and weight on your shoulders.

3. Switch up Your Movements

Shoulder pain from overuse may benefit from cross training, Dr. Bicos says. You might need to swap in other moves that put less pressure on your shoulders for a couple of weeks, he notes. That might include other shoulder exercises like dumbbell frontal raises and dumbbell lateral raises, which target these muscles without using the same pushing motion.

4. Check In with a Healthcare Provider About Lingering Pain

Achy shoulder pain that goes away within a day is usually nothing to worry about, Dr. Bicos says. But if any of the red flags below describe your pain, you should make an appointment with your healthcare provider:

You can see a physical therapist without a referral, Rohde notes, and they can be particularly helpful for pain that’s the result of movement. Your doctor might also recommend a shoulder specialist or an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon to help to rule out other major injuries, like rotator cuff tears or labral tears.

How to Prevent Shoulder Pain During Push-Ups

Take care of that shoulder joint and reduce the chances that you’ll develop pain in the future by following these strategies:

The Takeaway

Shoulder pain when doing push-ups isn’t a super-common complaint, but it can happen to some people, especially because you’re putting quite a bit of pressure on your shoulder joint during this challenging bodyweight exercise. To prevent it from happening in the future, experts recommend keeping a close eye on your form: Your core and glutes should be tight, your shoulder blades back, and your neck in a neutral position. And always listen to your body: If something doesn’t feel good when doing push-ups (or any exercise, for that matter), take a break, talk to your doctor, and give your body a chance to recover before pushing (no pun intended) on.