Shoulder pain from bench?

[Lagrangian]

Originally Posted by blackwar12

Any tips on how to actually get them off the ground? Getting anything 50 pounds or higher is a pain for me...which sucks considering that doing 50 pounds with dumbbells is like benching with only 25-30 pound weights on each side

Take DBs from rack, place on thighs, sit down on the flat bench and then use your knees to prop up the weights. If you can't lift them off the db rack, no help there

Like this:
http://www.exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Pecto...sMountAdvC.gif

 

[Monaco]

If you sustain any injuries, make sure you stop immediately and just rest. Most issues comes from over-usage or improper form. Just make sure you're not straining yourself everyday and when you feel better about it and get more movement without pain, go back to the gym and start small.

 

[JoelF]

Shouder injuries suck, just seem to take forever to get better. And you can't do *********** gym with your shoulder screwed up.

 

[Lagrangian]

Had some rotator cuff problems myself some months earlier, and I got pretty good advice here. Lowered my volume on direct delt movements and focused on stricter, more pl-style pressing (which stresses the tris a lot), every other chest day I substitute db bench for the barbell one.

These I think have helped clear up my shoulder quite a lot.

 

[JoelF]

One thing, not all shoulder injuries are rotator cuff, even the ones that hurt like ****. A PT or I guess even some doctors (if you have health insurance) can diagnose pretty quickly. Whatever I had for like a year started to get better when I did some stretches a PT gave me.

 

[jet]

If I can't bench some weight at least 6-8x I won't go heavier than that. Stretch, warm up with light weight, alternate with dumbells weekly, do lots of back ie rows etc and rotator cuff exercises.

 

[polar-lemon]

Originally Posted by TrH

Had some rotator cuff problems myself some months earlier, and I got pretty good advice here. Lowered my volume on direct delt movements and focused on stricter, more pl-style pressing (which stresses the tris a lot), every other chest day I substitute db bench for the barbell one.

These I think have helped clear up my shoulder quite a lot.

Thanks for the tips. When you say focusing on stricter, more pl-pressing, can you elaborate? I think I will start alternating db/bb as well.

 

[habitant]

I had this problem before, you need to focus on your chest and chest alone. You're probably using your shoulders to lift.

Like previous posts say, lower your weight, take it slow, and focus all energy on your chest. Your shoulder pain will disappear within a week.

 

[polar-lemon]

Originally Posted by habitant

I had this problem before, you need to focus on your chest and chest alone. You're probably using your shoulders to lift.

Like previous posts say, lower your weight, take it slow, and focus all energy on your chest. Your shoulder pain will disappear within a week.

I will try this out and see. The thing is, my shoulders are at least as strong as my chest, perhaps stronger comparatively. I use just 5-10lb lighter DB for military presses, 5-7 reps without straining, than for flat.

 

[A Y]

With respect to using the shoulders less, you may want to think about lowering the bar by bending from the elbows first. There's a theory called soft-tissue loading that says the muscle group that initiates a movement is the one that does the most work:

http://sanfranciscocrossfit.blogspot...ng-part-1.html

So when you start pressing up, think about starting it from your chest (as mentioned above) or tris instead of the shoulders. Of course, make sure you have good form, like squeezing your shoulder blades together.

--Andre

 

[Rambo]

Other than by bending your elbows first, how else could you possibly lower the bar for a bench press?

 

[A Y]

It's not so much as using or not using a particular joint or muscle group but which one initiates the movement and gets loaded with more tension. Just something for OP to try in case it helps his shoulders.

--Andre

 

[Rambo]

I'm trying to picture lowering the bar by doing something other than bending my elbows. That's where my disconnect is. I just can't see it unless you somehow swing the bar with your arms locked out.

 

[Lagrangian]

Originally Posted by polar-lemon

Thanks for the tips. When you say focusing on stricter, more pl-pressing, can you elaborate? I think I will start alternating db/bb as well.

Dave Tate has a nice Youtube vid on bench press technique. What you basically want to do is to tuck your elbows in and not flare them out (like a lot of BB's do) - that way your shoulders wont get hit as much. You should also concentrate on actively pulling your shoulder blades back and keeping your chest high throughout the movement.

Another thing you might want to think about is strengthening the serratus anterior. That little sucker stabilizes your shoulder girdle on pressing movements (IIRC), which is pretty vital especially while benching.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Rambo

I'm trying to picture lowering the bar by doing something other than bending my elbows. That's where my disconnect is. I just can't see it unless you somehow swing the bar with your arms locked out.

It's more of a feeling than an overt step 1, then 2, then 3. For example, you can't really bend your elbow without either moving your grip or moving the shoulder joint. The hip drive for a low bar back squat when you come up is similar too: you initiate coming up by driving your sacrum up but everything happens more or less similarly to no hip drive in terms of motion. The muscle tension however is very different.

--Andre