Deltoid Injury from Flat Bench Press

[jones137]

Everytime I try to go heavier weight on the flat bench press my right deltoid hurts painfully bad. The day after I have a tough time raising my right arm to the side.....no problems going forward or backwards.

Two Questions

-Any idea what I've hurt and is it a big deal or should I press on?

-What is causing the injury.......bad form, weak deltoids, overuse?

The narrower I go on my grip the less it hurts. I've been trying to widen my grip given I'm 6'3" and have ridiculously long arm but it is killing me with pain. It helps when I come down to bring the bar to my lower chest versus higher up.

Sucks because I'm having a hard time progressing on flat bench.

[B1RD33]

Everytime I try to go heavier weight on the flat bench press my right deltoid hurts painfully bad. The day after I have a tough time raising my right arm to the side.....no problems going forward or backwards.

Two Questions

-Any idea what I've hurt and is it a big deal or should I press on?

-What is causing the injury.......bad form, weak deltoids, overuse?

The narrower I go on my grip the less it hurts. I've been trying to widen my grip given I'm 6'3" and have ridiculously long arm but it is killing me with pain. It helps when I come down to bring the bar to my lower chest versus higher up.

Sucks because I'm having a hard time progressing on flat bench.

I would do DB rows and DB presses and do flat bench less and build something up before trying to keep the pace up that will lead to a pinched nerve or maybe destroy your cuffs. Overuse is my best guess for why it is injured, When you have long arms like you and I do, you have to use your stabilizer muscles much more and at the end of sets sometimes we shift and don't even know it. Best of luck to you.

[hshokunb]

It sounds like you may have injured your rotator cuff but it is always difficult to know for sure without more detail and/or examination. You definitely want to listen to your body and not continue to wear down tissues. If I were you I would rest you shoulders for 1-2 weeks. When pain decreases, stretch your shoulder everyday and begin some light weight RTC strengthening. When you start back lifting, go a little lighter on bench press and use form that doesn't cause you pain, listen to your body....check out this video youtube.com/watch?v=c6I0z_d4xqY

Everytime I try to go heavier weight on the flat bench press my right deltoid hurts painfully bad. The day after I have a tough time raising my right arm to the side.....no problems going forward or backwards.

Two Questions

-Any idea what I've hurt and is it a big deal or should I press on?

-What is causing the injury.......bad form, weak deltoids, overuse?

The narrower I go on my grip the less it hurts. I've been trying to widen my grip given I'm 6'3" and have ridiculously long arm but it is killing me with pain. It helps when I come down to bring the bar to my lower chest versus higher up.

Sucks because I'm having a hard time progressing on flat bench.