stiff/sore shoulders

For about a montn now, I've started working out again, after a year and a half of 'inactivity' ... and I find that my shoulders are stiff and sore for about a week now. I do various stretching exercises after my workout, but tipping my head to the side (esp. left side) is too painful to do fully.

Do I just need a massage ?

... any suggestions are appreciated !

Thanks !

It couldn't hurt.

Back off on the weights - take a few days off or very easy - and lots of baths, hot showers, etc.

Make sure you're not overtraining. Lots of rest is important too. I find that if I only get 4 hours of sleep the night after a workout, I feel like utter shit the next day and my muscles are very sore.

Where is the pain? What I mean is it like to the side or the back or front?

Sure, won't do any harm, assuming you don't rush over to the therapist the second it happens. Wait until the injury or soreness is out of the acute stage, like a day or so. Try to find a therapist that will do some assessment and treatment of the area, not just one that'll give you a massage with colored crystals and incense.

If would personally suggest you lower the amount of weight you are lifting by 10lbs (approx). I just started lifting about a month ago, and experienced the same problem (only it was in my biceps).

I personally applied a healthy dose of muscle rub (i.e ben gay or flexall) to the affected area, and massaged the area a little.

Plus you want to make sure that you do a good stretching program prior to lifting any weights (I normally shoot for 5-10 minutes of stretching before lifting any weights).

And you might want to try doing a warm-up set of your 1st exercise to warm up the muscles.

Good Luck, _Bigred