SL/PE2 for shoulders?

When I do sl/pe2 I tend to feel it more in the shoulder retractors and the muscles surrounding the scapula. Is this common?

I do feel it in the abs but the shoulders/upper-back are really working. I figure that means those muscles have some catching up to do so I might stick with it even if the midsections doesn't feel very challenged.

Post a form check video to be sure. 

If your obliques are already comparatively strong and your shoulders not so much, then it's possible you may not feel it much in the core, but I would not expect this to be the case for many people. 

Both shoulders same ?

If you have some scoliosis or imbalance then one shoulder area (and upper back) can work hard to stabilize...

It's harder on the left shoulder than the right, I have a history of problems on that side. In fact, it's similar to an exercise the physical therapist gave me once. I wasn't really ready for it at the time but seem to be doing ok with it now.

According to a video I watched awhile ago, this motion indeed works the shoulders.  Or can work the shoulder.

Skip to about 2min to hear his explanation and 3min for the actual demonstration.  Might be useful to compare form from what he does (high up on the elbow, collapsing down) compared to what the course video says.

Interesting video. One difference is he seems to be targeting the side delt while I'm feeling it more in the back where the shoulder blade is. In fact, the left shoulder tends to feel unstable if I don't really focus on the tip of the shoulder blade. Kind of where the rhomboids are I suppose but I don't know if it's that exact muscle. The physical therapist I was working with has talked about my lower traps.

This is a clear case of weakness in the scapula muscles. These are the same muscles you need to have strong in a side lever, so I'm not surprised that you feel it there more than your obliques.

Can anyone recommend some good scapula muscle exercises? Besides SL/PE2 I mean?

The Hansenator said:

Can anyone recommend some good scapula muscle exercises? Besides SL/PE2 I mean?

All of everything we do here that involves the shoulders.

You've already discovered an exercise that is taxing on those specific muscles and doesn't work the core too hard. Stick with that one. If anything, you should be finding another core exercise to do as well in order to keep making gains in that area while you reap the shoulder benefits of SL/PE2

Sensei JP said:

According to a video I watched awhile ago, this motion indeed works the shoulders. Or can work the shoulder.

Skip to about 2min to hear his explanation and 3min for the actual demonstration. Might be useful to compare form from what he does (high up on the elbow, collapsing down) compared to what the course video says.

Another difference between what he is showing in the video and SL/PE2 is the orientation of the feet/legs and support arm relative to the torso. In SL/PE2 the bottom leg is in front and the support forearm is perpendicular to the body, while in the above video the top leg is in front and the forearm begins and stays more parallel to the torso. The result is more spinal rotation in SL/PE2 and less Abduction (there is some horizontal Abduction though).

That said I am not saying that side plank work can't be taxing to the support shoulder girdle if you aren't conditioned to it. The shoulder does have to support your body weight after all. I do however think that once the shoulder muscles become conditioned and one's focus can shift to the obliques/core musculature that one will feel these more in the obliques.