Need a Chest workout w/o shoulder pain

[Flexd]

I need help getting a chest workout done with out bringing pain to my biceps tendon on the short head side...it only hurts when I lift heavy bit I feel when I go light I don't get a good workout!! Pls help!! Anything will be greatly appreciated!!
Old chest workout:
Incline barbell
Chest press dumbbell
Weighted dips
Flyes

[MickeyKnox]

You'll have to take the shoulders out of the equation as much as possible. Decline shoulder press with BB and DB perhaps?

[Flexd]

Thanks for the quick reply... Yeah I am trying to think of ways for the to take them out of the equation..

[cherrydrpepper]

You mention in the header shoulder pain then you talk about bicep tendon I am confused.

I have a bad shoulder (rotator cuff) and what I do is 5 sets of each:

Hammerstrength bench press
Pec Deck
This crossfit looking machine at my gym that I can do chest press with cables handles with

I occasionally throw in some cable work for chest also. I do triceps on chest day and I don't do dips right now because I'm worried about reinjuring myself but I throw in the machine where you push the handles down (works muscles a dip would work but with a machine) and I notice it works my chest like dips would.

A good rule of thumb, if it hurts in the bad way don't do it or do it with a different grip that doesn't hurt

[Doont-Hunter]

I'd like some help too. I really need some tips on how to hit the chest more when doing bench and flyes, because my shoulders hurt afterwards. They don't feel like they've been worked out, they just feel sore after each set. I really want to focus on hitting the chest muscles much more.

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

I will assume the pain is radiating from the bicep towards the shoulder (which is why you would mention both!!!??? thanx for the confusion,lol)

Incline anything will involve the front delts, so if it hurts there... these are out
Flies don't target the biceps BUT they require your arms to be taut and still during the motion so if don't hurt your bis, you can do them
Declines of most sorts should be safe although dips will involve your shoulders... so a no go
Bench Presses (lower to 1.5 inch above pec at rest) should be just fine

hope this helps

[MuscleInk]

I will assume the pain is radiating from the bicep towards the shoulder (which is why you would mention both!!!??? thanx for the confusion,lol)

Incline anything will involve the front delts, so if it hurts there... these are out
Flies don't target the biceps BUT they require your arms to be taut and still during the motion so if don't hurt your bis, you can do them
Declines of most sorts should be safe although dips will involve your shoulders... so a no go
Bench Presses (lower to 1.5 inch above pec at rest) should be just fine

hope this helps

Great advice!

Most shoulder and muscle pain issues arrise from two problems: (1) improper form and/or (2) growth rate of muscles exceeds tendon/ligament loads. I've had lengthy discussions with several members here on item one. It is probably one of the biggest problems I see in the gym. Too many people with improper lifting form/technique AND they load too much weight on a stack or bar simply trying to prove how much they can push, pull, or lift. Improper techniques probably accounts for more than 50% of injuries as well as under developed muscles. For years, I had a nagging shoulder issue. I tried ice, heat, pain meds, massage therapy, acupunture.....all led to temporary relief of pain. Most of the trainers I worked with were focused on heavy lifting (as that was my goal) and none were trained on corrective technique. In May of this year, I hired my fourth, and perhaps best trainer to date. He's not only certified at several levels, is a former BB competitor with numerous cycles under his belt, but also has advanced university degrees in kinesiology and biomechanics. For the first month with him, everything was about corrective form. All my traditional routines were stripped of heavy weight. We started at low weight, higher volume sets so he could review my form and make corrections where necessary. In some cases, where I had been benching double my weight, I struggled on the flat bench with little more than my own body weight loaded on the bar. Correcting my form and really isolating the muscles that are supposed to be doing the work made the lifting more difficult at first, BUT, my strength started to improve more quickly within the first month and my shoulder pain is about 15-20% of what it used to be.

[Flexd]

Thanks y'all for the advice... I mention the biceps tendon because of where it inserts at is the front delt... That's the area that is giving me trouble!!

[JohnnyVegas]

I have had a lot of shoulder problems lately and chest and shoulder days became difficult. I recently tried something new that seems to help quite a bit. I stumbled across it watching a video that Marcus posted. Go to the :45 mark on this video and check out the rotator cuff warmup exercise that he has his guys do. I have done it before chest and shoulders and I can feel the joint get less stiff and a lot of the discomfort goes away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y86TYYpaMoA

[600@50]

Thanks y'all for the advice... I mention the biceps tendon because of where it inserts at is the front delt... That's the area that is giving me trouble!!

Your bicep tendon may be out of the groove on the humerus. I have had this issue several times and it was exacerbated by squats. Six months of chiropractic adjustments of the tendon and shoulder fixed it right up. Dips were the worst. Try reverse grip bench to take some pressure off the tendon.