Shoulder protection from benching

[fattymcbutterpants]

So I have recently started going up a little more on bench and today I felt stronger and had a really good heavy workout however towards the end my shoulders were not feeling too great they just felt like something was about to get injured. So needless to say I did a few tricep exercises then left.

Do any of you all know of any good exercises to help protect you from injury in these areas? As far as shoulders go I do alot of decently heavy seated BB shoulder press normally go up to about the 175-185lb area. I also do DB shoulder press and the hammer strength machine, I alternate between them on certain days. But then I do front raises, upright rows, lateral raises and a few other moves.

I obviously dont do every one of those exercises shoulder day, but what are some other good exercises to add into the mix to help me protect my shoulders from injury?

Just looking for some advice,

thanks guys

[bass]

i wish i asked this question before i injured my shoulders. the advise a was given is if i need to lift heaver is to use DB in stead of bar, then once you get stronger you can go back to the bar. i just got my smith machine in and will be trying it today, that’s probably another option for you...good luck.

[The Specialist]

Was there a particular spot that hurt on your shoulders? Rear delt, front sides? Please describe..

[over812]

Sometimes working on the muscle groups that surround and tie in to the shoulder will help. Work on your lats, traps, tri's and biceps. I had a shoulder injury last year and as I slowly rehab'd the joint, I worked on building up the surrounding muscle groups.

I stayed away from flat bench for 6 months and concentrated on incline dumbells and cable work for my pecs.

[NVR2BIG1]

Stay the hell away from flat bench dude. I've seen more guys go through joint pains, pec tears, etc etc on flat bench. I would stick primarily to incline bench and machine flat presses such as seated Hammer strength machine. I had major shoulder pain about a year ago, the orthopedic Dr. wanted me to have both of my shoulders scoped to clean out the AC joint. I decided against it, started taking joint meds, and dropped flat bench altogether. My delts are stronger now than they've ever been, pain free!! I can incline more than I used to flat bench now, all I do is incline and hammer strength seated flat presses. Everyone has it in their head they need to flat bench, I'm not sure why if your only goal is building size

[awesome1]

Stay the hell away from flat bench dude. I've seen more guys go through joint pains, pec tears, etc etc on flat bench. I would stick primarily to incline bench and machine flat presses such as seated Hammer strength machine. I had major shoulder pain about a year ago, the orthopedic Dr. wanted me to have both of my shoulders scoped to clean out the AC joint. I decided against it, started taking joint meds, and dropped flat bench altogether. My delts are stronger now than they've ever been, pain free!! I can incline more than I used to flat bench now, all I do is incline and hammer strength seated flat presses. Everyone has it in their head they need to flat bench, I'm not sure why if your only goal is building size

good post. two chiropractors that I respect tell me to stay away from bench. They recommend DB bench/flys among other things.

[NVR2BIG1]

I've always felt incline bench better in my chest anyways, better stretch too. Yes, flys are a huge neglected muscle builder also!! Or a really good one is to have a friend put a plate or two on your back and do some pushups

[terraj]

It depends on where the pain is I guess. As when my shoulders get sore I do declines( painfree) only, it keeps my shoulders out of the workload. ...any flat or incline bench makes it worse.

At almost 40 I also find that mixing up heavy and high volume training keeps the joints in better order.

[Narkissos]

It depends on where the pain is I guess. As when my shoulders get sore I do declines( painfree) only, it keeps my shoulders out of the workload. ...any flat or incline bench makes it worse.

Declines are a brilliant movement.... and, as I've said before on the boards, VERY under-rated. Surprisingly so... despite the fact that they recruit the most musculature.

Good move!

At almost 40 I also find that mixing up heavy and high volume training keeps the joints in better order.

Agreed 100%

[Narkissos]

So I have recently started going up a little more on bench and today I felt stronger and had a really good heavy workout however towards the end my shoulders were not feeling too great they just felt like something was about to get injured. So needless to say I did a few tricep exercises then left.

Do any of you all know of any good exercises to help protect you from injury in these areas? As far as shoulders go I do alot of decently heavy seated BB shoulder press normally go up to about the 175-185lb area. I also do DB shoulder press and the hammer strength machine, I alternate between them on certain days. But then I do front raises, upright rows, lateral raises and a few other moves.

I obviously dont do every one of those exercises shoulder day, but what are some other good exercises to add into the mix to help me protect my shoulders from injury?

Just looking for some advice,

thanks guys

"Some other" really isn't applicable, as you haven't listed any exercises that would aide in preventing shoulder injury.

Often the reason why people have shoulder injuries in the first place is because of an over emphasis on the bigger muscles of the torso... to the neglect of the smaller ones. (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, teres minor)

I'd suggest that you read: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/...-injuries.html

This'll give you a better understanding of what's going on, and how to move forward towards healthier shoulders.

One thing that link doesn't note is that rear delt training can help... as most trainees tend to overwork the anterior deltoid, thus negatively impacting shoulder function (and leading to injury/pain)

To negate this, I start upper body workouts nowadays with facepulls.

You can find a vid of the exercise on youtube.

Also, increasing shoulder flexibility goes a long way.

[stevey_6t9]

Rotator cuff exercises before chest and shoulder workouts is so important IMO. I've seen countless egocentric guys throwing up 225 on the bench for their first set with no warmup and injuring themselves. Like Nark said above you still have to pay attention to your smaller rotator cuff muscles.

All that being said I am a dumbell person (just my thing) and have scrapped alot of flat bench movements for dumbells and have made much better improvements in chest size then with the bar.

[bass]

I finally used my smith machine, wow! the best chest workout ever, it was so much lighter on my shoulders and so much focused on the chest muscle, I am sore in areas I never been before. Db is still my favorite, but if you must do bench then use a smith machine. I like to change it up that’s why o got the smith machine.

[fattymcbutterpants]

I always warm up with 10lb plates with front raises and lateral raises before i bench then for example today on flat bench, i went 135x5 slow full reps to get warm, 225x5,245x5, 255x5, 275x4.
Then I stopped on flat bench and just did some of the hammer strength chest machines and went up to 4 plates on each side for 2 sets of 8. I also did incline dumbbells with 70x8, 80x8, 95x6. Kinda let the ego grab a hold on the 95lb set because the 95's look much bigger than the 90's at my gym for some reason haha. Oh and I did some cable pec flyes as well about 4 sets of 8 really holding the peak contraction for a few seconds

Then I did some tricep pressdown and dips and finished up the workout with a burnout set of 225 then left the gym. I noticed towards the end of my workout the upper front/top of my shoulder was kinda hurting a little. I have had a few shoulder problems before. I used to have a loose shoulder capsule and dislocated it several times but i got that fixed up a year or two ago.

I had physical therapy today for my back, either have a fatigue fracture on lowest vertebrae or muscle problem doc said he wont be sure until i try out some physical therapy so they can see whats wrong. But nonetheless I asked and they gave me a few moves to help work on my shoulders. They said basically work on strengthening your shoulder capsule and you will be good

[Frank1]

Stay the hell away from flat bench dude. I've seen more guys go through joint pains, pec tears, etc etc on flat bench. I would stick primarily to incline bench and machine flat presses such as seated Hammer strength machine. I had major shoulder pain about a year ago, the orthopedic Dr. wanted me to have both of my shoulders scoped to clean out the AC joint. I decided against it, started taking joint meds, and dropped flat bench altogether. My delts are stronger now than they've ever been, pain free!! I can incline more than I used to flat bench now, all I do is incline and hammer strength seated flat presses. Everyone has it in their head they need to flat bench, I'm not sure why if your only goal is building size

YES!! I too, have really bad shoulder pain on flat bench. I stopped doing it altogether. Incline press is much better so I stay with that. As far shoulder workouts, I go with dumbells. Also, Take a good long time warming up and stretching your shoulders. I have dislocated both shoulders ove the years(not from working out) and I can tell you they take years and years to fully recover, if a full recovery is even possible.

[fattymcbutterpants]

yea i have always felt like my shoulder hasnt been perfect ever since i dislocated it 3 times and broke my collar bone haha but needless to say they are much stronger at least. Im incorporating some band work into my shoulder day like today to see if i can really get them feeling good because on BB shoulder press it was feeling a little tight