Posted on April 29, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

Do you have shoulder pain whilst bench pressing? Fix it and increase the amount you bench in as little as 6 weeks!

Over the past few years I’m going to admit that I’ve played around with some press variations and loading parameters that aren’t generally recommended and some stuff hasn’t worked out, in fact it has drastically back fired! I’ve caused myself shoulder pain in the past, I’ve built up terrible imbalances in my shoulders that has taken months to correct, that’s what you get from reading training books from 1970 Soviet Union. However, one thing that has come out of it is a great appreciation and understanding of the key problems with people bench pressing and how to test and correct imbalances, and more importantly how to prevent them whilst getting stronger and stronger.

In an ideal world to improve your bench press you bench 2-3 times per week and you keep on increasing the weight each session and in theory 10 weeks later you’ve got a better bench, however in reality you’ll end up with shoulder pain a weaker bench and a deflated ego.

Here are the key points to follow to ensure you increase your bench press and keep injury free:

• Spend less than 25% of your pressing training volume on flat bench pressing– I know this sounds counter productive but focusing more on your vertical pressing and incline/decline will yield far more successful results, change the angle every 4^th to 6^th workout and when you come back to the flat bench for testing it will have carried over.

• Include behind the neck shoulder pressing: Not only will this keep the shoulders healthy by developing the shoulder in a more balanced fashion than flat benching but also it will highlight any weaknesses in the pressing stabilisers and shoulder girdle. Generally you should be able to press about 65% of the weight you can perform on a close grip bench press behind your head. If you cant you need to spend more time working on the flexibility of your pecs and the strength of your shoulders.

• Work your posterior delts and rotator cuff muscles: This is the stuff everyone hates in the gym, probably because you cant see them, I have no idea why people neglect these muscles but they do. Face pulls with external rotation is an excellent exercise, make sure your form is good and you control the weight, it doesn’t take much weight to fire up these muscles but strengthening these small muscles ensures the humerous sits in the glenoid cavity as it should without being pulled to the front by the pecs. I have seen clients increase there bench press by as much as 15% by simply following a 6 week shoulder specialisation program.

• Engage your lats when your on the bench: Again what have the lats got to do with a pressing exercise? Well, they have everything to do with it! Engaging your lats stops the shoulders from rolling forward during the end of the press, and overdeveloping your anterior delt after all it is predominately a chest exercise. If you need help with this is strongly advised you seek the advice of an experienced personal trainer.

So in conclusion the key to not destroying your shoulders in the bench press is limiting the amount of time you spend pressing in a horizontal position, ensuring you build equal strength in the shoulders and learn how to kick in the lats during the press. Enjoy the gainzz!