Bench Press And Shoulder Pain..?

[glvfmly]

Starting to have some left shoulder (front and side) pain. why? my form , I feel is ok...how can i fix this...dont want to further injure myself...Ive read where this is somewhat common...help

[Brashanic]

Starting to have some left shoulder (front and side) pain. why? my form , I feel is ok...how can i fix this...dont want to further injure myself...Ive read where this is somewhat common...help

i got this pain also. it has been regular for a couple of years. i had x rays and doc didn't see anything. i have been living with it but am extremly careful. i warm up my delts (even for bench press)and don't let them cool. once they are warm i keep them moving between sets. i pay close attention when i am pressing if the pain becomes sharp rather than an ache i reduce the weight and increase the reps. i have been able to work around it ok but my shoulder development is lagging on the side that hurts. good luck and be careful.

[chodan9]

maybe going to heavy?

[glvfmly]

maybe going to heavy?

I dont think so..but these days I dont know..my pain is NOT sharp but a dull ache..but It still hurts..

[Husky Bob]

I've had almost exactly the same thing myself for a couple of months now. I stopped doing bench all together (for now anyway) and I'm doing mostly machine (Hammer Strength) bench and DBs. The machine provides a nice groove and I can do those for some reason without the pain.

I think it's mostly a mechanical/positional thing when using a bar (again, for me). But I've heard many others stating similar stories and solutions. Unless it's a blatant rotator cuff injury, it's a good Plan B.

Bob

[glvfmly]

I train at home w/ free wt...but I might stop the BB..and use some db for a while and see what happens...

[ntrllftr]

How many days apart from delts do you do chest?

I can not do delts lets say monday then chest on tuesday.
Maybe you need to split them apart a couple days.

[00maro00]

When you do your bench are your your arms 90 degrees form your sides? Hard to describe but ahh you can essentially draw a upside down L if u go up the side of your body then out to your elbows. If it is there is a good chance of why your shoulders hurt. I used to get alot fo shoulder pain esp if i went heavy when i did that form. Alot of peiople call it the Bodybuilder press. When I switch the a 60degree V. it went away. Basically Bring your elbows in more and bring the weight down more towards your middle chest to nipple line rather then to your upper chest shoulder line.

My shoulders have not hurt one bit not even on my 400lbs presses and my chest developement FOR ME had never been this good until i changed to that form.

Hope that might help

[gbg]

Tissue injury is a result of repetitive end range loading, try decreasing the weight and the ROM.

[Do_Somethin]

Tissue injury is a result of repetitive end range loading, try decreasing the weight and the ROM.

What's end range loading?

[GuyJin]

If your shoulders are hurting, it might also be that your rotator cuffs are strained. Are you doing any kind of L-flye to help strengthen them? If not, that might help. Doing standing and lying L-flyes really helped my shoulders when they started hurting. I always did a couple of sets of each after my chest and shoulder workout, and it helped immensely.

[Stenn]

I was having rotten luck with my shoulders during bench press (bb and db) untill I started warming up and stretching beforehand. I do four different light-weight (5 lb db) exercises to prepare my delts for benching. I'm afraid I don't recall the names of all the exercises, but they're what usualy get prescribed for folks having trouble with their rotator cuff. Two that I remember are reverse flies and shoulder dislocates.

In addition to doing the shoulder warm-ups, I ALWAYS start with an empty bar and slowly ramp up to my working weight. For instance:

45x8,8
95x5
135x5
185x3
200xWhatever I can get.

Those 5 warm-up sets may seem like a lot, but they beat the hell out of nursing sore shoulders for a couple of weeks.

[Karl_Hungus]

When you do your bench are your your arms 90 degrees form your sides? Hard to describe but ahh you can essentially draw a upside down L if u go up the side of your body then out to your elbows. If it is there is a good chance of why your shoulders hurt. I used to get alot fo shoulder pain esp if i went heavy when i did that form. Alot of peiople call it the Bodybuilder press. When I switch the a 60degree V. it went away. Basically Bring your elbows in more and bring the weight down more towards your middle chest to nipple line then to your upper chest shoulder line.

My shoulders have not hurt one bit not even on my 400lbs presses and my chest developement FOR ME had never been this good until i changed to that form.

Hope that might help

Good advice.

If your shoulders are hurting, it might also be that your rotator cuffs are strained. Are you doing any kind of L-flye to help strengthen them? If not, that might help. Doing standing and lying L-flyes really helped my shoulders when they started hurting. I always did a couple of sets of each after my chest and shoulder workout, and it helped immensely.

More good advice.

I used to have this problem all the time, and while shoulders are complex and can be injured in a number of different ways, there are some commonalities among those who have pain bench pressing. One common reason is strength imbalances. Alot of lifters are much stronger with push exercises than pull, which can result in forward, rounded shoulders, and it is difficult for the RC to stabilize the shoulder during the lift. How is your horizontal rowing strength relative to your bench press?

If it is significantly weaker, you may want to build up your rowing strength and start doing external rotator cuff exercises. I really upped my rowing volume and intensity, included some external RC exercises, and now my shoulders are totally pain-free.....and a couple of years ago, they hurt so bad I couldn't do a pushup!

Another cause is that lots of people are exceeding their passive ROM with heavy loads, causing the joint capsule to stretch (and again, causing difficulties with shoulder stabilization during the lift). You might check out this article:

http://www.paulchekseminars.com/articles.cfm?select=26

[glvfmly]

When you do your bench are your your arms 90 degrees form your sides? Hard to describe but ahh you can essentially draw a upside down L if u go up the side of your body then out to your elbows. If it is there is a good chance of why your shoulders hurt. I used to get alot fo shoulder pain esp if i went heavy when i did that form. Alot of peiople call it the Bodybuilder press. When I switch the a 60degree V. it went away. Basically Bring your elbows in more and bring the weight down more towards your middle chest to nipple line rather then to your upper chest shoulder line.

My shoulders have not hurt one bit not even on my 400lbs presses and my chest developement FOR ME had never been this good until i changed to that form.

Hope that might help

I have pulled my elbows in some. a friend showed me and he said it would isolate my chest, and not so much tris.....maby there not in enough...

[dartol]

Check out these articles from another post with the same question, I have learned a ton from these.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...11&postcount=8

The press that 00maro00 talks about is also covered in one of these. I am definately going to have to switch to that as well... and work on my shoulder slump. I am having pain in the front which is from my inner rotator, the subscapularis. Doc thought I had torn it, but the MRI did not show a tear.

I did a month of physical therapy, now doing another month on my own... it is finally showing some improvement.

I did start taking Cissus based on some other recommendations I had read... not sure if that is what is making it better all of a sudden or if the Celebrex the doc gave me is finally getting out the inflammation or what... but the Cissus might be worth a shot. I ordered the Primaforce from here at bb.com.

Darren

[glvfmly]

If your shoulders are hurting, it might also be that your rotator cuffs are strained. Are you doing any kind of L-flye to help strengthen them? If not, that might help. Doing standing and lying L-flyes really helped my shoulders when they started hurting. I always did a couple of sets of each after my chest and shoulder workout, and it helped immensely.

not sure what L flys are but I think I know what u mean... hard to describe...I think the warming up might be one of my problems.. not enough "pre lifting before I start my working sets"

[sdnatural]

+2 on the rotator cuff. Been there done that, and the suggested exercise to warm it up is also what I'd recommend. It doesn't take a lot of weight to perform the movement (I use 5 lbs only) and I do this actually before most of my workouts (not just chest either), just because I've hurt my rotator cuff in some seriously unusual ways.

[glvfmly]

Tissue injury is a result of repetitive end range loading, try decreasing the weight and the ROM.

very interesting...I will def try this , right now as I think @ my lifts, I do think I almost Lock out at the top...bad move...

[00maro00]

Well ok FOR ME(you will find your position over time) i found my comfort zone like this.

I put my arms in the 90 degree bench position hands in place like i was gripping the bar ect or you can hold a broom stick(sitting in a chair not with weights). The I slowly lowered my elbows down till my hands lined up with my nipple line or a HAIR below it. Till I got used to the feeling of benching that way I stayed light on the weight.

Basically the rep starts with the bar inline with my chin/mouth then i lower to my nipple line/mid-chest then when i raise it goes up to the starting place. You'll know your going to heavy if your elbows try to flair back out to the 90 degree range.

Like i said this worked wonders for me you have to find what works best for you over time

[glvfmly]

Back to L flys to warm up..is this correct?.....Think of a clock face. w/ a small wt in left hand go from 3 o clock back to 12 (rotate) does this sound right?

[GuyJin]

I'll try to describe L-flyes. For the standing version, take two light dumbbells and hold them elbows up at a 90-degree angle to your body. The 'bells will be hanging down and palms are facing back. Just rotate the 'bells up slowly using the power of your front delts. That'll work the rotator cuff in this position.

For the lying version, lie down on a bench on your left side holding a light 'bell in your right. Make an "L" with the 'bell arm and keep your elbow tucked into your side. Again, using the power of your delt slowly pull the dumbbell up. When you're finished, do the opposite side. (Obviously).

The reps should be done in two or three sets of 10-12 reps. Start light and work up VERY sliowly in weight. Do them AFTER your bench/incline benches and not before, as they may take away some strength (if that's what you're after).

Hope my explanation wasn't too muddled...

[Khodiak]

I just started taking animal flex packs about 2 weeks ago for the same issues. My delts are actually starting to feel a little better. I have to really warm up before any upper body work though, only the delts cause this on me.

[Nota]

Careful not to injure your rotor-cuff.