Post: #26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hgpyLrdWXs
Safest way to barbell bench press. You should be able to do (good form) pushups,and dips before worrying about it. If you have a history of shoulder issues go for dumbbell presses.
-Do you face pulls,cuban rotations and rows to balance it out though.
-Stretch the pecks,and lats out. Stretch the bicep.Have good overhead mobility before bench pressing.
-Don't try to develop a big upper body. Try to develop a strong healthy scapulae.
-Do your pulling work before your pressing work.I never understood why EVERY program has you do pressing before pulling.

Separate but relevant extrapolation on general shoulder health/ safety
I had to say this because someone brought up the supposed danger of bench pressing.

I'm not a fan of bench press,and its not necessary. Dips,plance presses, weighted pushups,hspu,ohp,are fine but the bench press is pretty damn effective for developing raw pressing strength and chest size for guys trying to look good. No denying that.

The reason why bench press is "known" to cause shoulder issues is because of the following reasons.
-poor form,flared elbows,and all that nonsense. People who do weird variations to try and "feel it in the chest man".
-lack of mobility. Tight pecks,bicep, front delts,and lats.
-Fucked up shoulders from overdevlopment of pressing muscles and lack of strength in smaller forgotten muscles that are important for a healthy scapulae.
-Not going through full ROM on pulling exercises. You want to go from protracted to retracted scapulae before even bending your arms to develop those small muscles. Also if you do farmers carries and deadlifts make sure you retract that fucking scapulae and have full thoracic extension while performing them.
-Using the "lat pulldown" as your main back developer. ESPECIALLY the way that personal trainers/body builders usually do it. It can be used to strengthen the scapulae if you want to but unless your overweight you should do chins instead.
-Specializing/obsessing over the bench press. Most dudes do it first in the gym,and all the time. If you're a competitive powerlifter that's one thing,but if your a normal guy who isn't competing in an athletic competition where your bench will be tested don't specialize in it and measure your overall progress by how much you bench. Do a variety of pressing exercises like I mentioned,and maybe some other activities if you have the time.
-Not moving the shoulder through multiple ranges of motion. The shoulder is such a complex thing that can do so much. You should stimulate it and move it through multiple ranges of motion. You can hang,do handstands,armcircles,and all kinds of crazy shit with it. At any one time you should make sure to use your shoulder to its fullest capabilities because other wise you will lose those abilities
-Steroids.......tendons take a long ass time to strengthen compared to muscle tissue. Steroids don't heal muscle tissue. (unless we're talking deca and peptides) If your muscles develop really fast (can happen during newbie gains aswell) compared to the tendons like when you take drugs you will get injured because the tendons just can't handle what the muscle tissue can.
-Smith machines. You're moving prime movers in absence of stabilizers.
-Retards who can't do a good pushup and are worried about how big their chest is. Bottom line there's something to be said about having a good base before loading up the plates.

Just to show everybody how fucked up there shoulders are try this.





Bench press is a very strong medicine. Strong medicine can be dangerous or it can be safe. It has side effects you need to account for, it has to be taken in the right dosages,and your doctor recommends living a healthy lifestyle in addition to taking it.

Post: #27

Thanks for the tips. I'll look into trying out some of the other exercises you mentioned. I think my technique was quite bad (flared elbows, bringing the weight down directly over the shoulder) for barbell press and that's what led to the problem. I never really looked into the problem earlier, as I simply assigned the issue to my currently higher than normal stress level.

For now though, I am content with the dumbbell press. Seeing some gains as well and shoulders feel much better. My goal is to move up 5 lbs a month if I am able to, as long as I can do it with good form.

Post: #28

I’m 6 months post op for a torn supraspinatus 8cm. Go see a doc. Could be as easy as some PT or as complicated as surgery.

Post: #29

Partially tore my wrist TFCC by using too close a hand spacing and going for 1RM bench. Happened 3 years ago and my wrist still ain't right, probably fucked for life. No more heavy bench for me and very slow reps.

Post: #30

(11-06-2017 09:16 PM)redonion Wrote:  The most common reason for this is that you are flaring your elbows too much. If a bird's-eye view of you while benching makes you look like a T, then you should focus on tucking your elbows closer to 45 degrees. The easiest way to do this is to touch lower on your chest.

Dude you were spot-on, that's exactly where I was going wrong.

Post: #31

Some great advice in this thread. Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with the Bench. One of the first exercises I ever did, the first that I could handle a decent amount of weight with, and the one I increased faster and easier than others.

But, and even though I've had no shoulder pain from benching, I still have my doubts over it. Mainly due to the type of body it creates; I definitely feel blocky and pec-heavy after I've focused too much on it. To the point that I actually feel and maybe even look 'fat' in a top. On occasions, I've dropped the bench for months and just used push-ups and running and ironically found that people have commented on my pecs more than when I was benching away like a maniac! Dips are good, but I feel they are similar to the Bench in that they grow the lower pec too much. I'm experimenting now with incline benches and push-ups in my routine. Trouble is, I find that inclines do give me shoulder pain!

Post: #32

(02-18-2018 11:53 PM)mcw78912 Wrote:  

(11-06-2017 09:16 PM)redonion Wrote:  The most common reason for this is that you are flaring your elbows too much. If a bird's-eye view of you while benching makes you look like a T, then you should focus on tucking your elbows closer to 45 degrees. The easiest way to do this is to touch lower on your chest.

Dude you were spot-on, that's exactly where I was going wrong.

Really happy to help. Glad things are feeling better.

By the way, I highly recommend this video series for anyone looking to improve their bench. It's meant for powerlifters, but if you have a bodybuilding focus I still think the videos have a lot of good value in them. There's a huge emphasis on getting into a starting position that is tight, safe, and will improve your numbers.

Here's the first vid:

Post: #33

Since you've already made the (smart) move to DBs, to take more stress off the joint you can try a hammer/neutral grip and a slight incline.