Do Maintain Shoulder Flexibility
Most lifters find that their shoulder range of motion decreases as their career progresses, especially the superheavyweights. Though increased muscle mass will decrease your range of motion somewhat, the extreme inflexibility that some lifters have could lead to or exacerbate already existing impingement.
Exercise #: Towel Stretch
This is a great stretch for general shoulder mobility. Some individuals can clasp their hands together for it, but most will need to use a towel. Heres how to do it:
- Hold a towel in one hand.;
- Bring this same hand up and behind your upper back and neck. The towel should hang behind your back here.
- Bring your opposite hand behind your lower back and grab the towel.
- Gently pull with your top hand until you feel a stretch in your other shoulder.
- Hold here for 20-30 seconds.
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Performing Posterior Shoulder Soft
Before you start performing the bench press, you must start with warming up your shoulder joints. Exercises like push-ups, external rotation work, scapular retractions are some of the great options to properly warm up the shoulder joint. In addition to these, performing soft tissue work before bench pressing can also serve you pretty well.
You can perform it by lying on your shoulders and rolling your posterior/rear shoulder on a tennis ball or a lacrosse ball for 10 slower reps. Then proceed towards performing internal and external rotation on the top of the ball. This helps in enhancing your shoulders range of motion which proves to be more comfortable while bench pressing.
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How To Fix Shoulder Pain During Bench Press
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If you have been lifting weights at the gym for any length of time, no doubt you or someone youve met at the gym has experienced;shoulder pain. Unless there has been a serious injury, the cause of shoulder pain is from an overload of one of the structures of the shoulder. This could be due to poor form, muscle imbalances such as muscle weakness, poor muscle activation patterns or muscle tightness. Overzealous progression of the training program can also be a factor. In this post, we go over 3 exercises that our Brisbane-based physiotherapists use to help our clients get on top of sore shoulders.
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Press

The neutral grip dumbbell bench press is a variation that has the lifter use a neutral grip, which keeps the shoulder joint in lower degrees of shoulder horizontal abduction. This can help to limit stress and strain to the shoulder, especially in individuals who have shoulder impingements. The key here is to set the back, and to not allow the front of the shoulders to round upwards off the bench as you lower the weight.
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How Do I Know If I Tore My Rotator Cuff
The most common symptoms of a rotator cuff tear include:
- Pain at rest and at night, particularly if lying on the affected shoulder.
- Pain when lifting and lowering your arm or with specific movements.
- Weakness when lifting or rotating your arm.
- Crepitus or crackling sensation when moving your shoulder in certain positions.
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Shoulder Pain After Bench Press
There are some instances in which the lifter feels perfectly fine while performing the bench press. He experiences no pain in his shoulder area whatsoever. But when the lifter has completed bench pressing, pain starts to set in. There are some cases where the lifter experiences shoulder pain after bench press, probably after 12-24 hrs of bench pressing.
If your case is similar to the case mentioned above, then consider the following:-
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Ou Need To Have The Required Shoulder Stability And Mobility If You Dont Have This You Are Putting Your Shoulders At Major Risk Of Injury And Stalling Your Performance Gains
Studies have shown that weakness of the scapular stabilizers results in increased stress to the shoulder, increased rotator cuff compression, and decreased performance of the shoulder complex. In laymans terms, this means not only is your scapula not moving properly, but your rotator cuff and shoulder joint function will suffer, in turn affecting your performance and increasing your risk of injury, both traumatic and insidious .
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Its the difference between shooting a cannon from a canoe versus from solid ground. You need a solid, stable base in order to effectively move your limbs. If you dont have this stable base, two things will happen: your body will have to limit the amount of weight you can stabilize, and it wont be a question of if you get injured, but when.
Bench Press Without Shoulder Pain: Go Through Partial Range Of Motion
How to Properly Bench Press [eliminate shoulder pain]Another option is bench pressing through less range of motion. This can be done by making your grip extremely wide, which will decrease the motion at the shoulder; . A better alternative is to keep your comfortable hand width and place an object on your chest to minimize the depth of the bench press. Many recommend that the descending phase of the movement should end 4-6 cm above the chest. This is basically ONLY applicable to the recreational lifter, as competitive powerlifters must lower the bar and touch the chest. It is nice to have an object to reach when minimizing your range of motion, versus assuming you are going through the same range of motion each repetition. The larger the object, the less range of motion your shoulder will go through.
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Test Yourself For Supraspinatus Tear
There are some tests, however, that you can perform yourself to see if your supraspinatus is involved the Zero Degree Abduction Test and the Drop Arm Sign.
Dr. Erin Boynton MD, FRCSChief Medical Officer,Precision Movement
THOUGHTS FROM DR. B
Do rotator cuff tendon tears heal? ;Generally speaking, the tendon has a relatively poor blood supply so the healing potential is low. However, over the years I have observed some partial tendon tears heal, and many full thickness tears remain stable in size. The key is to correct the underlying movement dysfunction that has led to an overload of the shoulder tendons in the first place.
Dr. Erin Boynton MD, FRCSChief Medical Officer,Precision Movement
If you can improve your movement mechanics of the shoulder girdle, which includes, the thoracic spine, ribs, scapula and glenohumeral joints, then depending upon how much you stress your shoulder, you may not require any surgical intervention.
Zero Degree Abduction Test
For this test, simply stand with your arms by your side. Have someone resist you as you try to abduct your arm on the painful side.
Turning your thumb towards the floor will activate the supraspinatus muscle preferentially and accentuate your pain response.
If lifting your arm away from you in this way causes pain, your injury is likely a supraspinatus issue. .
Drop Arm Sign
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Tight Grip Big Breath Fast Push
When unracking heavyweights on the bench press, you cant afford to be lazy and passive. You need to proactively focus and put your energy in the lift so you dont end up hurting your shoulders.
Heres the 3-step process you can follow to ensure a pain-free and explosive unracking of weights.
- Tight grip; the first step after you lie on the bench with a slight arch and with your line of vision right in front of the bar, is to squeeze the bar tight and hold it to maintain tension in the forearms.
- Big Breath while squeezing the bar tightly, take a big breath of air into your belly and hold or lock it there. When you try to lock the air in, think as if someone is about to punch you in the stomach, and brace it accordingly to seal the big breath.
- Fast Push as soon as you lock the big breath in, simultaneously initiate the push to unrack the bar , and try to do it explosively and push fast until you lock out.
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Follow this 3-step process correctly and youll most likely get rid of any shoulder pain thats bothering you when unracking the weight.;
The key is to practice, practice and practice. You wont master these techniques overnight, but it also wont take months out of your lifting career. Practice these tips over your next few bench press sessions and youll not only get rid of the shoulder pain, but will also have experienced your smoothest and most explosive unracking of the bar in the bench press.
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Late Phase Of Physiotherapy
The late phase of physiotherapy includes movements that mimic the bench press to some extent. This phase involves movements like the following:-
Chest and overhead press with kettlebells
To perform this movement follow the given steps:-
- Take a light 10-15 lbs kettlebell.
- Then lie on a bench and execute a bench press by inverting the kettlebell.
- The inverted kettlebell allows you to focus on balancing the weight. It also makes sure that you execute the exercise at a slow pace.
With the kettlebell, you can perform flat/incline chest press and overhead shoulder press.
Chest and overhead press with dumbbells
Once you are comfortable using kettlebells, you can switch to dumbbells for performing chest and overhead presses. Dumbbells provide you with a greater range of motion. Owing to this factor, you can vary your shoulder position while performing this exercise for added comfort.
Chest and overhead press with barbell
The final part of the last phase of physiotherapy includes performing chest and overhead press with a barbell. With the use of a barbell, the entire motion of a chest press and an overhead press becomes more strict. You just need to keep your elbows slightly tucked down while performing this bench press. This makes sure that you are putting less strain on the shoulder joint.
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Shoulder Pain And Nsaids
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are drugs that block chemicals made by your body that increase pain, swelling, and inflammation.
Some of the most common NSAIDs are ibuprofen , naproxen , and celecoxib .
There are two main reasons people take NSAIDs for joint pain:
- To reduce pain in the short term.
- To reduce inflammation, which is sometimes associated with joint pain.
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In the short term, NSAIDs can reduce pain, which is why they arent a bad choice if youre only taking them for a few days to get through the worst of the pain.
If your shoulder pain is caused by inflammation, then NSAIDs may also be able to help fix the actual cause of your pain, and not just reduce pain.
Unfortunately, many shoulder injuries arent inflamed, which means painkillers like NSAIDs arent actually healing your shoulder. This is why most NSAIDs dont work well for reducing joint pain for more than a few days or weeks.
So, if it just makes your shoulder feel better, whats the problem with taking them?
Well, there are a few risks with NSAIDs, too.
First, gastrointestinal problems like ulcers have been noted with long-term NSAID use. This doesnt happen often, but its possible.
Second, if you mask the pain with NSAIDs, its easier to re-injure your shoulder by training harder than you otherwise would.
That said, assuming youre otherwise healthy, theres no reason you cant take NSAIDs for a few days to get through the worst of the pain if you injure your shoulder.
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How Do I Know If I Have Damaged My Rotator Cuff
The cause of rotator cuff injuries may involve overloading from sudden increase in exercise intensity. Contributing factors may involve poor lifting technique, muscle tightness or weakness. Initial presentation may be pain in the shoulder. Pain whilst lifting the arm, or pain and weakness with outward rotation of the upper arm. Muscle tears may be partial or full-thickness. Our physiotherapist will determine if your shoulder pain originates from rotator cuff injuries.;
Lack Of Scapular Stabilization
If you lack the ability to stabilize the shoulder blades and shoulder girdle during pressing movement, your shoulder joints and connective tissues could be taking a beating.;
With the warm-up and corrective exercises listed above, you can retrain your body how to stabilize the shoulders and increase pressing performance and health.
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Shoulder Pain And Corticosteroid Injections
Cortisone is a kind of steroid that reduces inflammation. A corticosteroid injection, or cortisone shot, is an injection of cortisone into a tendon to reduce inflammation and pain.
Theyre often used for joint pain such as carpal tunnel syndrome, knee pain, and shoulder pain.
Cortisone shots can reduce inflammation and shoulder pain in the short term, but as soon as the drugs start to wear off, the pain returns.
Some researchers also think theres a link between cortisone shots and tendon degeneration, although thats still largely unproven.
The bottom line is that, in most cases, cortisone shots arent going to reduce your shoulder pain for long, and wont do anything to heal your shoulder.
Ways To Reduce And Prevent Shoulder Pain
SHOULDER PAIN | Fix shoulder pain when bench pressing | Bench press solutionAt this point youre probably thinking, Great, so what the hell am I supposed to do about my shoulder?
Well, thats what youre about to learn.
There are seven things you can do that will reduce shoulder pain in most cases. None of them are guaranteed fixes, but theyre your best options.
The first technique is by far the most reliable. After that, the remaining six fall into the category of throw it at the wall and see what sticks. They mighthelp, but theyre also unlikely to hurt, so theres no harm in trying them.
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Ac Joint Pain During Bench Press
An injury unique to people that exercise excessively is distal clavicle osteolysis. The clavicle is your collarbone. And its a small bone, but during bench press and push-ups it takes a lot of stress. In some people, we see that the end of the collarbone at the shoulder can just start to dissolve away. Its like the body gives up on trying to heal the damage and just decides to eliminate the problem entirely. Of course, that leads to its own problems!
Some Exercises Just Dont Work For You
Sometimes you just have to accept that there are some movements that will be good for you, and others that wont.;
If you find you have tried everything and a certain movement hurts you , it may be best to just embrace that everyones shoulder is different, and for whatever reason Exercise X is painful for you.
;Focus on all the movements that do not create pain, and use those to strengthen your chest and shoulder muscles. You may find that when you go back to Exercise X weeks or months later, you might even be able to do them pain free.
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Tips To Eliminate Shoulder Pain During Bench Press
Whether its the case of a strength athlete or a regular gym bro, everybody wants to hit some impressive numbers on the bench press. The bench press is undoubtedly a great exercise that works towards enhancing the upper bodys strength, hypertrophy, and athleticism. But if performed with an incorrect form and technique, it can be quite detrimental to your shoulder joints.
Experiencing pain in the shoulder joints during or after performing the bench press is a symptom that your form is getting compromised. To make sure that you perform the bench press with a strict form and eliminate any kind of shoulder pain owing to the movement, consider following the given steps:-
How To Treat Rotator Cuff Injuries
When shoulder pain develops, the best thing to do is back off lifting for a while.
Avoid upper body lifting and apply ice two to three times a day for about 20 minutes. Take anti-inflammatory meds like ibuprofen or naproxen to relieve pain, especially if your injury is tendinitis-related, says Dr. Camp. Most milder shoulder injuries will resolve with this kind of treatment.
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If pain fails to improve with these approaches after a couple weeks, something more sinister may be at play, especially if you have weakness in your arm or cant lift it. This could be signaling a full-on torn rotator cuff, says Dr. Camp.
So see your doctor if you develop those symptoms or if the pain persists after a few weeks, he says.
Your doctor can help you pinpoint the problem and provide you with a specific diagnosis based on your symptoms, physical examination, X-rays and/or MRI. He or she can work with you and a physical therapist or trainer to develop a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to your specific problem, says Dr. Camp.
“Although most patients with rotator cuff tendinitis can be treated without surgery, those with real tears in the tendons often require surgery, says Dr. Camp. If you have a full-blown tear, surgery usually is necessary, and recovery can take about six to nine months.
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Treatment Of A Weightlifters Shoulder
The treatment of osteolysis of the distal clavicle is challenging because this tends to occur in very active people. ;If you stop the activity the pain will usually subside. ;But most people with a weightlifters shoulder do not want to stop working out. and I cant blame you!
If your shoulder pain is interfering with your ability to remain active then we might try an injection to calm down the AC Joint. ;An injection might improve the pain for a few weeks to a few months. ;On rare occasion the pain relief will last even longer.
Many very active people end up choosing to have a shoulder arthroscopy to treat osteolysis of the distal clavicle. ;They choose to have surgery because they want to remain active and the pain is preventing them from doing so. ;During the arthroscopy we put a camera into the shoulder just beneath the AC joint. ;We are then able to see the end of the clavicle. ;Once the camera is in place we will place another device into the AC Joint to remove the inflamed soft tissue around the AC Joint. ;We will not take away the ligaments which hold the AC Joint together. ;After we remove the inflamed soft tissue we perform a distal clavicle resection or removal of a small portion of the end of the clavicle. ;This widens the AC joint so the bones of the joint no longer touch one another. ;This also removes the portion of the clavicle that was inflamed and disintegrating.
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