Shoulder pain when bench pressing ? details

[Kai83]

This pain does not feel like it is as deep as the joint, but it?s not exactly a muscle pain

I only get it on the right shoulder when doing chest work

It?s always present after workout on chest day, and gone after 2-3 days

Its mild pain, and it varies in intensity throughout the day its not very Painful, just uncomfortable (maybe 3-5 on a pain scale)

The odd thing is I do not get this pain on shoulder day, at all

I am thinking there is possible something wring with my bench technique? wondering if anyone has suggestions as to what may be causing this or what may be getting injured and how I can prevent it?

(I am sure to keep shoulder against bench and kind of squeeze blades together)

[paper_denim]

my shoulders use to always hurt when i bench. then i had a buddy spot me and he told me my form was bad.

what angle do your elbows form when you bench? are they outwards, tuck in, 45?

how do you position your body? do you tuck in your shoulder blades?

[ironlynxtk]

I have had this exact same situation before; i would have this nagging pain in my right shoulder.

Proper rotator cuff warmup, lots of warm up sets for the bench press has gotten rid of this problem completely

[30/7/66]

This pain does not feel like it is as deep as the joint, but it?s not exactly a muscle pain

I only get it on the right shoulder when doing chest work

It?s always present after workout on chest day, and gone after 2-3 days

Its mild pain, and it varies in intensity throughout the day its not very Painful, just uncomfortable (maybe 3-5 on a pain scale)

The odd thing is I do not get this pain on shoulder day, at all

I am thinking there is possible something wring with my bench technique? wondering if anyone has suggestions as to what may be causing this or what may be getting injured and how I can prevent it?

(I am sure to keep shoulder against bench and kind of squeeze blades together)

Do you warm up before hitting your chest? If not then it's probably down to this. I used to get the same thing happening to me(but on my left shoulder). Make sure you get some blood flowing into your delts(ie stretching/warming up) before you work your chest. Trust me, it will make the world of difference. Try it and let us know how you got on.

[Kai83]

I have always warmed up but I will try to be more thorough; thanks for all of the input

[Kai83]

my shoulders use to always hurt when i bench. then i had a buddy spot me and he told me my form was bad.

what angle do your elbows form when you bench? are they outwards, tuck in, 45?

how do you position your body? do you tuck in your shoulder blades?

I should pay more attention to elbow position, how should they be ?

I know shoulder blades are tucked

[paper_denim]

your elbows should be at a 45 degree angle. they should NOT be tucked in to your waist or flared out which is 90 degrees to your body.

[Briggsy]

a very comman mistake nearly all bodybuilders make at some point is to make benching there ain exercise and try to push the most weight in that movement.

if you want to bench heavy then you need to do it right and ballance out the strengh in both your front and rear delts. This is done by doing heavy bent rows and overhead presses. this ensures the shoulders remain "stable".

[Tucdaddy]

Have you focused more on benching than overhead pressing? If so, you're probably starting to develop muscle imbalance in your rotator cuff. You may want to lay off the bench for a while to let it heal, and then do 2:1 overhead press:bench workouts until your imbalance is corrected.

[RavensFan2k3]

a very comman mistake nearly all bodybuilders make at some point is to make benching there ain exercise and try to push the most weight in that movement.

if you want to bench heavy then you need to do it right and ballance out the strengh in both your front and rear delts. This is done by doing heavy bent rows and overhead presses. this ensures the shoulders remain "stable".

these overhead presses dont need to be done behind the neck if one is using a bar does it?

[Briggsy]

overhead pressing is best done to the front, stopping about 2-3 inches from lockout at both ends.

it is more important to spend time starting light and learning as much as you can about how different techniques affect your shoulders.

dumbell work on the overhead press can really help the shoulders also as the place ore stress on the side deltiod in my oppinion.

[RavensFan2k3]

overhead pressing is best done to the front, stopping about 2-3 inches from lockout at both ends.

it is more important to spend time starting light and learning as much as you can about how different techniques affect your shoulders.

dumbell work on the overhead press can really help the shoulders also as the place ore stress on the side deltiod in my oppinion.

Oh so dumbbell shoulder presses are better for your shoulders than barbell presses? Hmm, I always done military presses to the front anyway, just making sure.

I have a minor injury, I heard it's a slighty torn posterior labrum and I also heard it was a cyst. I only hurts when I do real heavy barbell bench presses and heavy incline bench presses. What should I do about that? The doctor said he recommends against surgery for this. I play football, so I dont know what to do...if I cant bench heavy. Should I play anyway...should I still be lifting?

[Jimmy Smith]

I hate to breka it to you guys but the best thing for him to do is STOP BENCHING, no overhead pressing and no chin-ups/pull downs for right now. Take your mind off of the rotator cuff and focus on your scapula. I'm working with an athlete right now who has a ton of shoulder issues. I've stopped him benching and doing any pressing. We've focused more on scapular stabilization work and push-up variations and I can tell you when he returns to benching he'll either have not lost thing or gained pounds on his bench.

[Wilde]

This pain does not feel like it is as deep as the joint, but it?s not exactly a muscle pain

I only get it on the right shoulder when doing chest work

It?s always present after workout on chest day, and gone after 2-3 days

Its mild pain, and it varies in intensity throughout the day its not very Painful, just uncomfortable (maybe 3-5 on a pain scale)

The odd thing is I do not get this pain on shoulder day, at all

I am thinking there is possible something wring with my bench technique? wondering if anyone has suggestions as to what may be causing this or what may be getting injured and how I can prevent it?

(I am sure to keep shoulder against bench and kind of squeeze blades together)

I have the same pain from doing the same excercises, I'm getting surgery on my shoulder in a week so hopefully you don't need it too.

[Kai83]

What is the surgery procedure for ? How long will the recovery be ?

now im nervous...

(Only thing that keeps me from thinking its serious is the fact that the pain heals up in a few days each time...)

What exercises should I lay off besides the bench ( bench being the only one that causes the pain)

[Jimmy Smith]

No benching, flyes, shoulder presses, chin-ups or pulldowns. Perform a ton of scapular stabilizaing exercises like serratus push-ups, wall slides, protraction presses. Get a ton of rowing volume in. Shoulders are actually pretty easy to clear up, guys just panic too fast.

What is the surgery procedure for ? How long will the recovery be ?

now im nervous...

(Only thing that keeps me from thinking its serious is the fact that the pain heals up in a few days each time...)

What exercises should I lay off besides the bench ( bench being the only one that causes the pain)

[Kai83]

Thanks

What is a serratus push-up

And how long should I lay off ?

When I come back do I start light ?

[Sockomalo]

listen to jimmy smith, he knows what he's talking about. scapular stability should get more attention than rotator cuff

[Kai83]

Heh I've already established that I am going to follow his advice; I just posted some follow up questions

[Sockomalo]

Heh I've already established that I am going to follow his advice; I just posted some follow up questions

i know im just reinforcing his stand

[Kai83]

Thank You

[Sockomalo]

Thanks

What is a serratus push-up

And how long should I lay off ?

When I come back do I start light ?

i believe another name for serratus pushup is a scap push up, if so you can see a video on how on this link
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1053531

the video is under this sub title Shoulder Saver #2: Serratus Anterior Activation Work