It’s doubtful you have gone from never benching to benching with perfect form right as you start out, even if you think you are. The best thing you could do is post a vid of your bench.
If you didn’t get pain stopping an inch or 2 short of your chest, then keep doing that. I don’t touch my chest and it still grows fine. I start to get the exact same shoulder pain if I go too deep, some of us just aren’t built for it.
We are bodybuilding here, not powerlifting. “Correct” form is the form that allows you to grow big pecs, not win a PLing meet.
What about setting up in a power rack and doing deadstop of the pins an inch or two from your chest. The reverse banded press is a great idea too!
You don’t have to justify wanting to get good @ benching - plain and simple its awesome.
Literally I genetically have some of the worst shoulders. Back in the day…(2 years ago approx), they use to click all the time, even when performing every day tasks. It almost felt as though I could feel the tendon runing over the rotator cuff. But benching was ok to an extent, the gym i used had a very thin bar, and the pain was slight but not as severe as yours sound. When ever I used an Oly bar to bench I was under a lot of pain.
Bad news: It took over a year for me to fix my problem
Good news: I can bench more than 5 days a week above my 80% of my max and not feel ANY discomfort in the shoulder region.
Solution for me: Rotator cuff work - and frequent speed/light benching.
OMG rotator cuff work is DULL - and youll get some funny lucks in the gym, but it works.
As for the speed benching, I benched around 40-50% 4-5 times a week. Plain and simple it taught me to bench properly and I got over the fear of any shoulder injurys.
I realise some of what Ive said you may not want to take on board or agree with…but with God as my witness, I had genetically the worst shoulder structure, and today I can comfortably say I have fixed it.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
It’s doubtful you have gone from never benching to benching with perfect form right as you start out, even if you think you are. The best thing you could do is post a vid of your bench.[/quote]
You’re 100% i said it looked and seemed to others that my form was very correct, that said, this IS A NEW MOVEMENT for me, key i did not feel tight/locked in and very comfortable with the whole thing. it felt like a new movement that of course my body recognizes as NEW. i did feel ok because the weight room isn’t new, i’ve read, watched, learned how to bench, i did all the things to make it seem a smooth tranisition for me but NOTHING can amake a new movement feel less new but doing it again and again building repeat SUCCESSES.
if i can get a video up i will if i try this again, which i will, i have a stone age phone.
Thinking back.
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I HAD BEEN BRING THE BAR DOWN TO AN INCH OFF THE CHEST. WHEN I HURT IT I WAS TOUCHING THE CHEST, PAUSE AND GO TYPE OF THING.
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IT WAS FOUR DAYS OUT OF FIVE BENCHING IN A ROW **** I KNOW I KNOW (NOT REALLY HEAVY BUT STILL)
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I DID NOTHING TO WARM UP, STRETCH, GET PREPPED FOR THE SET, OTHER THAN ONE WARM UP W/ 135 THEN STRAIGHT TO 225.
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I HAVE ROTATOR CUFF “ISSUES” W/ THE LEFT SIDE ALREADY.
“I am cyruseven75’s hindsight none-ego based clarity shaking his head and now resting forehead to palm.”
thanks fellas, continue validating or criticizing. some of the ideas mentioned are very good.
cut to 3:55 seconds in (i know this is incline but i suppose this type of bullshit led me to not warm up or respect the process of increasing slowly. I am not branch warren). Even Branch warms up w/ the bar, slowly goes up, and is careful in his own ways…
[quote]Peoples Victory wrote:
You don’t have to justify wanting to get good @ benching - plain and simple its awesome.
Literally I genetically have some of the worst shoulders. Back in the day…(2 years ago approx), they use to click all the time, even when performing every day tasks. It almost felt as though I could feel the tendon runing over the rotator cuff. But benching was ok to an extent, the gym i used had a very thin bar, and the pain was slight but not as severe as yours sound. When ever I used an Oly bar to bench I was under a lot of pain.
Bad news: It took over a year for me to fix my problem
Good news: I can bench more than 5 days a week above my 80% of my max and not feel ANY discomfort in the shoulder region.
Solution for me: Rotator cuff work - and frequent speed/light benching.
OMG rotator cuff work is DULL - and youll get some funny lucks in the gym, but it works.
As for the speed benching, I benched around 40-50% 4-5 times a week. Plain and simple it taught me to bench properly and I got over the fear of any shoulder injurys.
I realise some of what Ive said you may not want to take on board or agree with…but with God as my witness, I had genetically the worst shoulder structure, and today I can comfortably say I have fixed it. [/quote]
thanks for the insight. i warm up my shoulders w/ internal external rotations YTLW stuff but i usually just breeze through until i feel loose, didn’t do any of this the other day as i mentioned, i just was an asshat and figured squats are a great warm up for bench?!
actively doing shoulder rehab work is something i should do, in addition to just actively saying i should do it.
board press?
Floor press is good, allowing you to stop at the same spot every time. You could also try a full narrow grip. That’s what I’m doing now, and it generally tides me over when my shoulder starts acting up. FTR, you still get good chest activity in a narrow grip setup, but it takes the anterior delts out for the most part…sounds right up your alley.
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/240/Pain-Free_Bench_Pressing.aspx
I’ve read most of the thread…did not see anywhere how wide your hands are on the bar.
I love bench, but my shoulders got so bad I switched to DBs and had to have someone hand them to me, because it hurt too bad. I then moved my hands in from where I had ring finger on rings to just inside rings. Shoulders are pain free and my bench has gone up 25 lbs in the last year…significant in I’m in my 50’s.
You might be a BB…but bench like a powerlifter if you want to bench for numbers…it’s healthier. I think Jim Wendler moved his hands in too, for shoulder health.
[quote]greystoke wrote:
I’ve read most of the thread…did not see anywhere how wide your hands are on the bar.
.[/quote]
very well spotted!!!
forget to write that my forearms are 90° flexed respect to the arms in the bottom position (touching the chest),incidentally I use same grip on the rod and never had rotators issues in years,others casters with wider grips yes…
[quote]greystoke wrote:
I’ve read most of the thread…did not see anywhere how wide your hands are on the bar.
I love bench, but my shoulders got so bad I switched to DBs and had to have someone hand them to me, because it hurt too bad. I then moved my hands in from where I had ring finger on rings to just inside rings. Shoulders are pain free and my bench has gone up 25 lbs in the last year…significant in I’m in my 50’s.
You might be a BB…but bench like a powerlifter if you want to bench for numbers…it’s healthier. I think Jim Wendler moved his hands in too, for shoulder health.[/quote]
they were wide, outside of shoulder width. i did a lot of things wrong that day…it was many little subtle and glaring things in retrospect.
i took yesterday off, ice and heat…i trained tonite, arms. thought about dips then thought better. things feel better, i over estimated how HURT i thought i was. the left shoulder always scares me but things will be ok if i make adjustments.
in terms of the flat bench, i’m a bit spooked. train back tommorrow. giving chest shoulders a wide birth for safety, i’ll evalutate how everything feels in a few days.
i will not be benching everyday even if it’s just the bar or 135, 185 what have you.
i changed my training style to incorporate more bench and squats because i want to to improve these movements. i think i’m going to hit legs twice light once heavy in a 7/8 day rotation, chest day will be back to DB’s incline focus but i’d like to add a second chest day in a 6/7 day span to focus on bench form.
ideally my plan is to come up w/ a split that is chest one day, back one day, arms one day, shoulders one day, legs one day then work in a day for secondary chest bench work plus adding light leg stuff on two addition days. we’ll see. abs and calf work go in a few spots too.
sincere thanks for all the insight. the concept of being really injured @ this point in the game for me is a frightening thing. i think i might start a log/thread in the over35 section soon.
stay healthy fellas.
Just a thought here (especially considering your recent changes), but personally I find injuries occur mostly (other than setup) when I don’t incorporate periodization into my training. Sounds like a one of those stupid fancy words again, but it’s not; it’s really basic stuff that many instinctively do anyway. You push forwards for weeks, then have a back off period…repeat. This back off period serves to rejuvenate everything, especially your joints.
Something to consider at your age maybe?
Whenever my training seems to have gotten complicated and I get confused, it’s either because:
A) I was feeling beat up (no backing off periods)
B) Because I was dieting
C) Simply not eating enough (this is often during that transition period where you’re reaching the end of your gaining phase and a bit self conscious of over-eating since fat gains have really crept up…at which point it’s probably best to change direction rather than floating along in a state of guilt).
Whenever that happens ^, I start to stress and change things (things that didn’t need to be changed). When in reality, getting my goals firmly fixed, and utilising backing off periods was all that was needed to remain fully motivated and progressing.
Cyrus,
I have the exact same issue as you, left shoulder Anterior tightness/ache when benching. Funny thing is I hurt mine years ago doing heavy DB inclines. You can wreck your shoulders with DB’s too! I have learned to work around it since I love barbell benching, one of my staples for stimulating growth. If you don’t do flat bench, you are missing out in my opinion. I’m similar height/weight (6’2,230) and here is how I deal with this.
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Don’t do dips at all. They put way too much pressure on shoulder joints and those pullup/dip all in one setups in most gyms are too narrow for guys with long arms. Terrible position to be in.
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Warm up shoulders well. I do small,larger,larger circles with no weight,2 1/2’s and 5’s. Do the YWLT also, very important. I also do pullups in between warmup sets,(even work sets), not for reps just solid full ROM singles. Gets my back and delts activated and loose to participate in bench.
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Narrow your grip and use thumbless grip, helps protect your shoulders, who cares about chest participation, this is about getting a big bench, you get that, the chest will come.
4)Grease the groove and know your body. Don’t jump from 1 plate to 2. Jump to 185 first. Get in high rep warm up sets to get blood in there and get MMC going. If it still is tight, keep it light and rep it repeatedly. You gotta get your form straight where you know if you are setting up/benching correctly FOR YOU.
- Don’t be scared. I always tell different spotters that I’m a grinder, so it might look like I’m in trouble at the bottom coming up, but I will get through the sticking point ok. Only touch the bar if I call for it! Alot of times I’ll have the dull ache/slight pain at the beginning of my work sets but I just keep it stretched out and keep doing YWLT in between sets. The ache will often go away and I can then hit it as hard as I want worry free.
Hope this helps,
Odogg
very common, it’s happened to me and a few other people I know too with flat bench barbell. Incine/Decline barbell no pain/injury or discomfort. Haven’t touched a barbell for flat in years, and shoulder is fine. Dumbbell flat FTW
[quote]wannabebig25 wrote:
This. 3 sets of 10 everyday really helped my shoulder mobility. I injured my rotator cuff when I used to play hockey and shoulder dislocations made me 100% again. You really want to make sure you get your shoulders pinched together, back at an arch (but ass on the bench) and try to get leg drive. You want the bench to be a full body movement if you really want to add some weight to it. I personally believe that it’s not the safest/best lift for chest isolation but it’s a great compound lift if done with proper form. But this is coming from a powerlifter in the wrong section (lol).
[quote]cyruseven75 wrote:
first off. thanks for the replies thus far, ice and heat it seems/feels a bit better. i’m resting it for the next day or two, haven’t taken more than three days of in a while, we’ll see.
i recall dorian having a preference for declines, perhaps declines and inclines w/ DB’s. as i sit here typing the shoulder area feels tight w/ a dull pain. shit.
addressing the post above about my training partner, i’ll see if he lets me snap a pic, we’ve become friends but met at the gym when i approached him asking how/why he trains legs like every single day. as mentioned he’s ex-marine recon he’s 230 lean abs visible, not 230 step on stage. folks seem to think that abs showing and being a bit veiny means your just a blink away from olympia level lean…it’s not the case. he eats, i just joke w/ him because he states the marine thing still fucks w/ him going long times w/out food and eating shit real quick. he has good genetics, that is a fact, but a different thread/story.
anyway…i wasn’t sure of the responses i’d get, but figured many would be similar to my views once i really broke down what happened. pretty sure it’s the shoulder but could be the tie in area of the chest, no pain in the chest area at all, and am able to flex it.
i get that perhaps this thread could go into rehab/injury section it was there and i asked for it to come back here for a while first, likely providing a few more bodybuilder suggestions and/or similar anecdotes.[/quote]
I found that when my bench sucked it was because i was also weak in other areas and causing me shoulder pain. I started working harder on my back to get a better balance of strength between my chest and back and my bench went up and my shoulders dont hurt anymore. I guess my shoulders were trying to overcompensate for a weaker back and they were getting overloaded.
[quote]BSC819 wrote:
[quote]cyruseven75 wrote:
first off. thanks for the replies thus far, ice and heat it seems/feels a bit better. i’m resting it for the next day or two, haven’t taken more than three days of in a while, we’ll see.
i recall dorian having a preference for declines, perhaps declines and inclines w/ DB’s. as i sit here typing the shoulder area feels tight w/ a dull pain. shit.
addressing the post above about my training partner, i’ll see if he lets me snap a pic, we’ve become friends but met at the gym when i approached him asking how/why he trains legs like every single day. as mentioned he’s ex-marine recon he’s 230 lean abs visible, not 230 step on stage. folks seem to think that abs showing and being a bit veiny means your just a blink away from olympia level lean…it’s not the case. he eats, i just joke w/ him because he states the marine thing still fucks w/ him going long times w/out food and eating shit real quick. he has good genetics, that is a fact, but a different thread/story.
anyway…i wasn’t sure of the responses i’d get, but figured many would be similar to my views once i really broke down what happened. pretty sure it’s the shoulder but could be the tie in area of the chest, no pain in the chest area at all, and am able to flex it.
i get that perhaps this thread could go into rehab/injury section it was there and i asked for it to come back here for a while first, likely providing a few more bodybuilder suggestions and/or similar anecdotes.[/quote]
I found that when my bench sucked it was because i was also weak in other areas and causing me shoulder pain. I started working harder on my back to get a better balance of strength between my chest and back and my bench went up and my shoulders dont hurt anymore. I guess my shoulders were trying to overcompensate for a weaker back and they were getting overloaded.[/quote]
very true,this happened also to me when i was a boy,I did just bench/bis and light lat pulldownz and my shoulders caused me a lot of pain,rows has been the solution or in more scientific way anterior kinetic chain become balanced with posterior kc…
man fellas…a shit ton to think about. going to chalk a lot up to training too many days in a row hitting chest, not warming up - getting the shoulders and back activated for the supporting role in the lift, too wide a grip, a ROM beyond my known comfort point, not respecting the nature of a new movement by ramping up too quick.
i’ve done those shoulder dislocation movements to warm up before, usually w/ a band not a broom handle. i’ll get a band and continue doing those, they did help w/ over all mobility of the shoulder capsule, haven’t done them since training at my new gym.
thanks again fellas, tonight is shoulders, i’ll be thoughtful about what i do.