My shoulder pops when I do bench presses

[irideflatland]

I just recently started lifting again, and today I noticed that every time I would bring the bar to my chest on bench presses, my right shoulder would make a popping noise. It didn't hurt, but it just doesn't seem like it should happen.
Also if I do those arm circle things, like you are pitching a softball, my shoulder cracks almost every circle.

The only thing I can think of is that I pitched in Little League and I heard that some kids throw out their arm or whatever if they pitch the wrong way. But I only did Little League, not high school baseball, and most of the time I only pitched the last few innings.

So any ideas on what it could be and do you think it is serious or should I ignore it?

[dexterium]

Do not bring the bar down on your chest, this puts too much stress on your rotator cuff. You may have heard all your life that bringing the bar down to your chest is the 'tough' way to do it but it is the dangerous way to do it too. A few inches from your chest man. Make sure that your elbows aren't flared out either; they should be slightly tucked.

[mike8190]

A similar thing happens to me...except not when I bench. When I military press, do upright rows, and powercleans, my right shoulder makes a crunching noise. It doesnt hurt me at all, but it definately shouldn't be happening lol.

[nikeair91]

Happens to me when I don't stretch before lifting, happens in the shoulder and elbows for me.

[TheDiplomats]

That happened to me on Bench Pressing and it didn't hurt at first, but my right shoulder became considerably weaker after a while. I recommend changing your bench form to take some pressure off your rotator cuff or to take a week off of benching. What eventually fixed it for me was a week away from weight lifting while I was on vacation and a change in form. When I got back, I didn't touch my chest with the bar anymore and I haven't had any problems with it since then.

[Wasem]

A similar thing happens to me...except not when I bench. When I military press, do upright rows, and powercleans, my right shoulder makes a crunching noise. It doesnt hurt me at all, but it definately shouldn't be happening lol.

I have a similar problem. Everytime I bring my hands level to my shoulders, I get a "pop" in my shoulder (both of them) Is this from them not being strong enough since I've just started to lift or is it a more serious problem?

[exnihillo]

A similar thing happens to me...except not when I bench. When I military press, do upright rows, and powercleans, my right shoulder makes a crunching noise. It doesnt hurt me at all, but it definately shouldn't be happening lol.

I have a similar problem. Everytime I bring my hands level to my shoulders, I get a "pop" in my shoulder (both of them) Is this from them not being strong enough since I've just started to lift or is it a more serious problem?

I have the same thing happening..The only time it hapens during bench is when i am doing incline..It kind of sounds like a knuckle cracking..

[zoran007]

I have the same problem... but not just in my shoulder, I have it everywhere, (knees,wrists,legs,neck,shoulders).. I am using glucosamine and I hope it will stop poping.. It doesn't hurt but I don't think it should pop..

[HALON]

Looks like not warming up and poor shoulder flexibility. This is whats called being muscle bound.
I once had this problem before, this was cause of not warming up before any exercise, not going through range of motion exercises and not stretching.
Before doing bench, try doing some more fucntional exercises such as push ups and punching bag for cardio this can help loosen up the shoulder.
I take a look at it this way the majority of your workout should be warming up, and range of motion exercises, functional exercises.

[thebadguy]

whatever you do, don't ignore it. i ignored it and now ive got a dislocated shoulder and haven't gone to the gym in 6 weeks because of it.

[dumac]

Do not bring the bar down on your chest, this puts too much stress on your rotator cuff. You may have heard all your life that bringing the bar down to your chest is the 'tough' way to do it but it is the dangerous way to do it too. A few inches from your chest man. Make sure that your elbows aren't flared out either; they should be slightly tucked.

Thats true. 2 inches to your chest should be fine.

[keg_daddy]

'Tuck' your shoulders and squeeze your shoulder blades together when bench pressing. Your shoulder popping will most likely leave.

It's hard to explain the 'tucking' part. Everyone I talk to says they do that but I have only seen about 5 people in my entire life 'tuck' their shoulders when bench pressing (in the gym).

It will be INCREDIBLY tough to lift heavy weight at first. There will be a big stretch in your pecs also. But you should not feel a thing in your shoulders. If you do feel something in your shoulders while 'tucking' I'd go to a doctor.

[bchainsaw]

i had the same problem. it worked itself out over the years. it would be really loud when i would do pull-ups. i remember in gym class in high school having to do a pull-up test in front of the whole class.. my shoulder popped every time i did a rep and i could hear the whole room cringe each rep.

I just recently started lifting again, and today I noticed that every time I would bring the bar to my chest on bench presses, my right shoulder would make a popping noise. It didn't hurt, but it just doesn't seem like it should happen.
Also if I do those arm circle things, like you are pitching a softball, my shoulder cracks almost every circle.

The only thing I can think of is that I pitched in Little League and I heard that some kids throw out their arm or whatever if they pitch the wrong way. But I only did Little League, not high school baseball, and most of the time I only pitched the last few innings.

So any ideas on what it could be and do you think it is serious or should I ignore it?

[mike8190]

Now that I feel where the crunching comes from its by my collar bone, feels like my shoulder until I feel it with my other hand. just happens on pressing excercises, not bench though, mostly cleans, military press,and a few others.

[PeteB]

If you are under about 25, clicking and popping in the shoulder on pressing moves is NOT good news. At 35+ this is pretty common because the joint is showing its age.

The sound is basically two things rubbing and snapping past each other that should make no contact, or just move smoothly past one another in the joint. Two tendons, a tendon and cartilage, or cartilage and bone.

You can't fix the problem by changing the style of the lift, only avoid the sound, and delay the onset of tendonnitis.

See related link in the over 35 forum:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=2283491

Also see articles on how the shoulder works, rotator cuff exercises like internal and external rotation and other stabilizing muscles and stretching exercises on bb.com. (btw, I never did those exercises when I was 20, I just hit the bench or the rack as hard as I could. By 25 I had torn ligaments in both knees, by 35 my second rotator cuff injury. No lifting or tennis for 18 months that second time.)

The funny part about the rotator cuff is that sometimes you can screw it up and feel no pain. Other times it can hurt so much you all but pass out.

If you need another reason for doing rotator cuff work with tiny weights, it usually helps put a few lbs on your bench, because the r/c muscles help keep the shoulder joint tight and in its proper place. A weak rotator cuff allows the shoulder to sag or squish out to the side on a press, and you can easily lose 5-15% of the weight the big muscles are capable of moving.

Squeezing the shoulder blades together as posted above is excellent advice, because it also helps the shoulder to start the pressing move in a better position, but it does not actually fix a weak rotator cuff by itself.

[Fleshka]

if it is popping that is bad.

avoid doing this exercise.

[elongation]

I would head to a chiropractor or kinesiologist man. That happened to me with my left shoulder and even after a went easy on it for a while it was still there. So I got some massage therapy (the GF) and went back to my chiro a bit more often. see if it helps.



www.sportskool.com

[NotAOneTrikPony]

I had the same problem and fixed it in a matter of minutes. The problem is when your benching your arms are making a 90degree angle putting all the pressure on your shoulders and drastically decreasing your bench. To fix this widen your grip,bring the bar farther out and touch it to your top abs or to the end of your sternum. Also make a correction and pull your elbows in slightly the motion is like ridding a beach cruiser kind of. When you have done all of these things you will feel pressure more in your pecs and lats rather than your shoulders. That's why they are popping most people do this exercise completely wrong and eventually ruin their shoulders. If you want a visual perspective look up smittydiesel how to bench press on YouTube. This fixed my popping shoulder and don't forget to stretch. Hope this helps and good luck!

[magic15]

vid :

I just posted this in another thread, anyway here it is again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLU-urDI_Oc

[Oscar562baez]

I have the same thing if u realky care about working out stop benching for a month and change ur form or just do other chest work outs... I cant even do shoulder workouts so be careful