Rotator cuff soreness/pain on push day: Something that helped me stop this.

[seembrah]

Misc,

On push days I work chest, shoulders and triceps. My routine is this:

Flat DB Press 3 x 10
Incline DB Press 3 x 10
Weighted Dips (Chest variation) 3 x failure
Shoulder DB Press 3 x 10
Reverse Delt Flyes 3 x 10
Superset: EZ Bar Skullcrushers/Close grip Bench Press on Smith machine 2 x 10 - failure on last set

Now, I had watched countless benchpress videos trying to study the technique. I always saw benchers, twisting their elbows in slightly, taking the weight down to their chest pausing for a moment, lifting it up and locking out at the top.

I replicated this as best I could and I would ALWAYS feel that deep, radiating tightness and pain within my shoulder. By the time I got to weighted dips, it was agonizing.

It happened every time and I could not figure out why, my form was exactly that in the videos. But then, it came to me, I measured my wingspan and it was 4 inches longer than I was tall. I then noticed in the videos that those powerlifters had short arms and when they pressed to their chest, their arms were at near perfect 90 degree angles.

So the next push day, I went down, concentrated as hard as I could and focused on bringing the weight down to 90 degrees. Every exercise, every rep was slow, controlled and felt amazing .

I had this enormous pump in my chest, which was uncommon for me and without pain in my shoulder. Then it hit me, time-under-tension...

...Whenever I lock out, all the tension jumped from my muscles to my joints in my elbow and shoulder...

90 degrees and stopping JUST BEFORE locking out I had the best pump I ever had. My gains have been consistent since trying this.

For me it worked, I am not a powerlifter as my arms are just too long and the form I was watching was not made for my bodytype. Realising this then, I do not suffer ANY shoulder pains at all. This was just something I picked up and I hope you all can benefit

Edit: Just to explain the benefit of 'time-under-tension' for bodybuilders (this doesn't apply to powerlifters): When you do a bench press rep, there's essentially four stages:

1. Lowering;
2. Pause at the bottom;
3. Raising;
4. Pause at the top (Locking out).

By eliminating step 4 you do two things:

1. The tension and weight does not shift completely to your fragile joints;
2. You drastically increase the time your muscles work.

More work means, greater stimulation from the same weight, means better gains.

Cliffs:
- Bench press vids show lifters touching chest.
- Whenever I tried my RC would be in agony.
- Realised my arms are just too long, going too deep in the rep.
- Slow, controlled to 90 degrees, not locking out fixed my pain completely. TIME UNDER TENSION. PROTIP: GET YOUR SPOTTER TO WATCH HOW DEEP YOU GO.
- I am not a powerlifter, I am a bodybuilder.
- Progressing well, making good gains without that uncomfortable pain.

For your time:

[Erevan]

Have rc pain in shoulder for weeks. Been pushing thru bit will try this as it ain't going away. Shoulder db press is agony too.

[crosso]

I don't bench but I get a rotator cuff burn feeling, not the joint but as if youve just done 100 reps and your muscle is burning, thats what my left rotator cuff feels like when i do cable flies. No idea why, ive tried everything and I just cant get it to stop.
It hasnt hindered me so I just work through it

[my.self]

go get it checked out by dr or physical therapist and explain to them how it hurts and what u do that makes it hurt. and for the mean time, stop working out. u really dont want to damage ur rc.

[seembrah]

I don't bench but I get a rotator cuff burn feeling, not the joint but as if youve just done 100 reps and your muscle is burning, thats what my left rotator cuff feels like when i do cable flies. No idea why, ive tried everything and I just cant get it to stop.
It hasnt hindered me so I just work through it

I have avoided chest flyes completely purely because I get this shooting back in my neck and my shoulder feels like it'll explode. Chest Dips for me, I find, are great finishers for chest. But again, going too deep and locking out would destroy my shoulders before I'd even get to shoulder press.

[squeak419]

Know this feel. Had it on and off for nearly a year.

Seen physios, doctors, chiros etc etc. They kept saying tendinitis, rest it, stretch, blah blah blah.

Mentioned something to my gymnast coach. Hes a remedial massage therapist. Gave me the most painful "massage" on my bicep.

Fuking wizard spent 3 minutes on it and haven't had any trouble since.

The pain isn't always because of the affected area. By loosening muscles in my bicep, it somehow relieved shoulder pain.

EDIT: Moral to the story: Don't push through pain, let somehow who KNOWS what they are doing to check it out.

[RandomBingeBrah]

Thats why I do a brosplit bro.

I get way too sore and cant put in 110% effort on other lifts on a full-body. I still do mainlifts but I separate it.

Heavy chest day Monday + Main-lift = Bench
Heavy leg day Tuesday + Main-lift = Squat
Heavy triceps day Wednesday + Main-lift = Dead-lift (with added chest)
Heavy back day Thursday +Main-lift = Overhead Press
Heavy Shoulder day Friday +Main-lift = Squats

If you notice I don't do deadlifts on backday...I just can't...if I do deadlifts on backday...every single other back exercise like Barbell Rows/T-Bar Rows gets ****ed. I keep Overhead-press on the Back day because if I put Overhead-press on shoulder day I can't do DB shoulder press for ****.

My RC is sore from Monday...it heals over Tuesday and by Wednesday it's better....always just in-time for Fridays heavy shoulder workout.

[mikay456]

The following is probably an unpopular opinion but this is what I've found from my experience.

People can fight a naggy rotator with enough careful stimulation it will just be forced to suck it up and strengthen to a point where you get no pain. It takes a bit of time. If you want to bench pain free you must keep benching

A few things to keep in mind: Controlled negative. Don't deload/rest on the bottom, to preserve the elasticity of your joints. Deload your weights, or your bench frequency with the intention of building it back up. you will strengthen the rotator.

[seembrah]

Thats why I do a brosplit bro.

I get way too sore and cant put in 110% effort on other lifts on a full-body. I still do mainlifts but I separate it.

Heavy chest day Monday + Main-lift = Bench
Heavy leg day Tuesday + Main-lift = Squat
Heavy triceps day Wednesday + Main-lift = Dead-lift (with added chest)
Heavy back day Thursday +Main-lift = Overhead Press
Heavy Shoulder day Friday +Main-lift = Squats

If you notice I don't do deadlifts on backday...I just can't...if I do deadlifts on backday...every single other back exercise like Barbell Rows/T-Bar Rows gets ****ed. I keep Overhead-press on the Back day because if I put Overhead-press on shoulder day I can't do DB shoulder press for ****.

My RC is sore from Monday...it heals over Tuesday and by Wednesday it's better....always just in-time for Fridays heavy shoulder workout.

I think you misread the OP brah. What I'm trying to say is that I used to have RC pain during push day. I realised that my arms are too long, i was going too deep in my reps and by locking out at the top i was putting all of that weight on my elbows and shoulders.

Therefore, I only go down to 90 degrees in slow, extremely controlled reps and i don't lockout at the top of the press.

[seembrah]

The following is probably an unpopular opinion but this is what I've found from my experience.

People can fight a naggy rotator with enough careful stimulation it will just be forced to suck it up and strengthen to a point where you get no pain. It takes a bit of time. If you want to bench pain free you must keep benching

A few things to keep in mind: Controlled negative. Don't deload/rest on the bottom, to preserve the elasticity of your joints. Deload your weights, or your bench frequency with the intention of building it back up. you will strengthen the rotator.

Yeah that's what I found out best for me was a controlled negative and not locking out. But what was the most effective for me was not touching my chest with the db's because my arms are too long for my body. So when I did touch my chest i was going beyond 90 degrees, it was too deep and all the stress was on my shoulder.

Having my spotter tell me when i hit 90 pretty much removed all the pain in my shoulder.

[Realityy]

Do you stretch OP? Start doing rotator cuff/upper body stretches like shoulder dislocations, doorway stretches, internal/external rotations, etc, regularly and you'll probably find you can go deeper and be pain free.

Ever since I've been putting effort into shoulder rehab, my shoulder is 100x better than what it used to be like. I still have a slight sharp pain every now and again if I get it in the wrong angle, and some exercises aggravate it (lateral raises) but that's because I pushed through the pain for quite a few months. I pretty much fked my shoulder because I was too stubborn to take a break from lifting and fix it, and now I gotta pay the price.

[seembrah]

Do you stretch OP? Start doing rotator cuff/upper body stretches like shoulder dislocations, doorway stretches, internal/external rotations, etc, regularly and you'll probably find you can go deeper and be pain free.

Ever since I've been putting effort into shoulder rehab, my shoulder is 100x better than what it used to be like. I still have a slight sharp pain every now and again if I get it in the wrong angle, and some exercises aggravate it (lateral raises) but that's because I pushed through the pain for quite a few months. I pretty much fked my shoulder because I was too stubborn to take a break from lifting and fix it, and now I gotta pay the price.

I don't stretch before push day, but I do rotator cuff db exercises just to get the juices flowing. I've been focusing a lot on my shoulder health lately and been finding improvements everywhere.

[ChrisCoop]

Do you stretch OP? Start doing rotator cuff/upper body stretches like shoulder dislocations, doorway stretches, internal/external rotations, etc, regularly and you'll probably find you can go deeper and be pain free.

Ever since I've been putting effort into shoulder rehab, my shoulder is 100x better than what it used to be like. I still have a slight sharp pain every now and again if I get it in the wrong angle, and some exercises aggravate it (lateral raises) but that's because I pushed through the pain for quite a few months. I pretty much fked my shoulder because I was too stubborn to take a break from lifting and fix it, and now I gotta pay the price.

This!

My shoulder got absolutely ruined from going too hard on my pressing movements, and I had to completely stop and rehab and whenever I started going heavy again it flared up. Started doing all sorts of rotator cuff exercises with light dumbbells and stretching my shoulder out with elastics holding either end and bringing them over my head to my back and back over to the front. Haven't had any issues since. I do also find that going really deep with pressing movements like past 90 degrees stresses the shoulder too.

[seembrah]

One thing I am trying to advocate here is realising the difference between a powerlifters movement and a bodybuilders movement. And for me, I think time-under-tension is the most relevant element of that difference.

I'm not designed to be able to lift isaku9000 numbers. I am a bodybuilder and I want maximum stimulation for my muscles in the gym so they can gain as much mass as possible day in and day out.

[DanBrah]

Doing both of these before every upper day has really improved my shoulder health

[seembrah]

Doing both of these before every upper day has really improved my shoulder health

Great vids man, will rep on RC

[RandomBingeBrah]

OP I just noticed you do weighted dips.

That is a RC killer for 99.9% of lifters.

[seembrah]

OP I just noticed you do weighted dips.

That is a RC killer for 99.9% of lifters.

Yeah it would ruin me, BUT it was because I was going too deep trying to replicate what I saw in vids. Again by stopping at 90 degrees, and not locking out at the top I have been able to avoid RC pain and feel that stretch in my pecs.

I've been doing dips because I just cannot do chest flyes man, it ****s me hard.

[pierz]

So you're saying lads with long arms shouldn't look at longer range of motion? Will try. Had a RC problem for 2 months haven't trained, pretty much recouped completely.

[seembrah]

So you're saying lads with long arms shouldn't look at longer range of motion? Will try. Had a RC problem for 2 months haven't trained, pretty much recouped completely.

Well yeah, if you check videos of most people benching they will bring down the bar to their chest and their arms will be at 90 degrees. Because my arms are long, bringing the bar to my chest meant that i was going past 90 and that just put too much stress on my shoulders.

Also, locking out at the top of the press meant that the weight was transferred entirely to my elbows and shoulders and this would just make it worse. By not locking out i was able to keep the tension on my muscles and that meant less pressure on my joints and more stimulation of my chest.

Doing those two things have helped dramatically.

[BecauseImStupid]

Great vids man, will rep on RC

holy- was going to post 2nd video- are you a wizard?

[WIDGE_uk]

maybe try a month + of double pulling to pushing volume.

[seembrah]

maybe try a month + of double pulling to pushing volume.

Yeah rear delt flyes have improved my shoulder health a LOT.

[ehrmanman]

good post, all i can say is +1
100% fact!

[futbolista89]

3 simple things that completely eliminated my shoulder pain when benching:

1. Using dumbells and not barbell (quick fix but doesn't help if you WANT to use Barbell)
2. Warming up and 'lubricating' the rotator cuff. Do light dumbell lateral raises and other light exercises for your shoulders. Do 'innies and outies' (not sure what they're called but that ******* scooby made a video on it)
3. Watch this video



(inb4 that's for powerlifters and not for bodybuilders) TBH I used this video as a guide to correct my form and my bench increased immediately by like 20lbs, just with the adjustments I made. There is a whole series on benching he does, but this one is short and sweet.

[RadSalty]

Are you tucking your shoulder blades under when you bench? That solved my benching problem ASAP, that and not doing weighted dips (which destroyed my it as well)

[seembrah]

Are you tucking your shoulder blades under when you bench? That solved my benching problem ASAP, that and not doing weighted dips (which destroyed my it as well)

yes i did. i made a huge effort to replicate what i saw in vids. it's just that my body is made differently, so i had to adjust my form accordingly.

[seembrah]

last bump before sleep

[BabyOilBrah]

I have long arms too, on Incline BB bench I've been stopping a few inches from my chest (elbows just over 90 degrees) and not locking out either. It's a much shorter ROM but the feel in the chest is 10x better than before with "full ROM".

[UncleL]

Broomstick stretches has worked wonders for both of my shoulder injuries.