Originally Posted by
The Titan99
Hey Ron,
I've had a shoulder injury that"s bothered me for a couple of months now. Thanks to the help from a Physio Therapist it's gotten a lot better but it still bothers me on chest day. I can do Incline bench with no problem at all, decline hurts and flat bench is OK at light weight, but when I get to higher reps it starts to bother me, although not as bad as before. I know I need to not do the movements that hurt and I'm trying to put together some sort of chest workout. Should I just do 8 sets of incline? Tonight I did incline first, three light sets of flat bench and some real light weight cable crossovers really slow and really squeezed it at the end. I'm worried that my chest is lagging since it's been a couple of months since I've been really able to work it. Any exercises you can think of to go with the incline, or would incline be all I should do for now? I would suggest that you start with inclines presses and finish with some cable crossovers. Most people hurt their shoulders/elbows by trying to go too heavy with crossovers and/or trying to touch the handles together. Do not try to touch the handles! You are bascially doing a most muscular (crab pose) while focusing on squeezing the chest, not brining your hands all the way together! Once you bring those handles together the pressure goes straight to the elbows and shoulders and away from the targeted muscle (pectorals). I also wrap my right elbow very tight with knee wraps before each work set of crossovers and have found this to really protect the elbows, especially when I use a light/moderate weight which is the only true way to engage the pecs with flyes. Do 5 sets per exercise once a week (10 sets total for chest).
BTW, the 8 sets of rope pushdowns you told me to do while my elbows recover (they are great now but I'm waiting for another 2 weeks and then adding something else.) This advice has worked perfectly!!! I still feel like I'm getting good stimulation of the tri. YOUR ARE STILL HITTING THE WHOLE TRICEPS WITH PUSHDOWNS BUT WE WILL ADD AN EXERCISE TO PLACE MORE EMPHASIS ON THE LONG HEAD IN 2 WEEKS. thanks.