Shoulder pain from bench?

[polar-lemon]

Originally Posted by 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

Originally Posted by TrH

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.


Thanks guys, will try this out as well. I'm not sure if this makes a difference either, but this happened when I reached the peak of my strength/ability--it might be a sign that it's unsustainable? We shall see.

 

[Lagrangian]

The heavier you go, the more small things will affect your lifting and recovery. A heavier load will aggravate any structural inefficiencies or technical weaknesses.

Then again, if the pain went away and you haven't had any problems since, maybe it just was a one-off thing. The main point is to just be aware of shoulder health w.r.t. pressing movements. That way you can hopefully prevent most injuries and should they happen you know how to work around them.

 

[Cary Grant]

Tate's style is a power-lifting style. It has it's place- it's not a straight replacement for the other way but for the average guy it probably doesn't matter much.

Lemon- are you rolling your shoulder blades back underneath you when you lift? Should be.

 

[Slickman]

In the gym Barbell is King, Dumbells are Queen, never forget that

 

[polar-lemon]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

Tate's style is a power-lifting style. It has it's place- it's not a straight replacement for the other way but for the average guy it probably doesn't matter much.

Lemon- are you rolling your shoulder blades back underneath you when you lift? Should be.

Next time I bench I will make sure to concentrate on that. I believe I have been doing that.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, guys- appreciate it.

 

[markhazel]

I understand. I went away with a horrible year last year. The first thing to do is get off the bench and see the orthopedic doctor for my shoulder. He is part of the test series, and probably take X-rays will help identify the exact nature of the lesion. It is easy to misdiagnose a shoulder injury and is likely to achieve a variety of solutions always on in the rest of cortisone injections or surgery. So before you find a good doctor and find out what is wrong with the shoulder.

 

[Becks23]

Classic shoulder impingement?

Do stuff like face-pulls, Turkish get-ups, renegade rows or google "shoulder impingement exercises".