Reducing Shoulder Pain on Bench

No pain no gain, right?

…Sort of, but not really... no.

Your workout gains depend on the amount of stress you put on your muscles, and the amount of good food you feed to them to make them grow. If a joint is constantly causing pain, continuing to lift the same way may do more harm than good.

Here are two quick tips that will help you improve your upper body lifts, and reduce the risk of shoulder injury while performing the bench press:

1. Squeeze your shoulder blades together - Improper bench form causes a large number of shoulder injuries. Make sure your shoulders are squeezed together throughout the lift. This should cause a natural arch in your back, and should also raise the amount of weight you press up by allowing you to unlock more power from your pectorals and triceps. Squeezed blades also remove a large amount of the stress placed on the shoulders and put your rotator cuffs in a happy place. Here is a good website that shows the benefits of squeezing your shoulder blades.

2. Avoid flailing your elbows - I see this often. A lifter flails his elbows at an angle perpendicular to his body and gets up from the bench position with an extremely pained expression. Keep your elbows close to your body when the weight is falling, and when the weight is being pushed up. I'll admit it, I was an "arm-flailer". When I first discovered this, I had to lower the weight substantially, but after a week or so, my bench press had raised, and my shoulder pain was gone!

Let The Blogging Commence!

Me driving my ballin' Mazda Protégé

A Little About Me

When I first started working out, I was heavily motivated by other people's attention. I wanted to be the strongest 14-year-old lifter in the gym, and I needed everyone to see me lift a ridiculous amount of weight. I didn't listen to my football coaches when they told me to correct my (probably awful) lifting form. Outside of sports, I did the same workout routine every single day: bench, bench, bench.

Yes, I got hurt a lot. Maybe some of you can relate.

Injuries should not be taken lightly. If you experience a large muscle-tear, your limb will never feel the same again. One untreated slipped disc could leave you in bed for days with a ruined posture. I know this because I have experienced a permanently torn rotator cuff, and a debilitating herniated disc.

This is a common man's guide about living a healthy lifestyle, with an emphasis on dealing with workout injuries. The guide will revolve around my personal experiences of dealing with my various injuries, and will have a secondary emphasis on maintaining your vigorous ways.

Thankfully, trial and error has made me a much better lifter. I currently sit at 190 lbs  with around 6% body fat. My most recent workout-related injury took place over 5 years ago. I have learned techniques that avoid re-damaging old injuries, and I have become a master at avoiding new ones, as well.

Since I don't have the technical know-how that a doctor/physical-therapist would have, I will frequently pull content from medical research (e.g.- studies, reports, findings, etc… ) and make it more accessible to the reader. I will also frequently post demonstrations of these movements, typically in the form of images or videos.

Although this blog is about avoiding injuries, there is still a possibility that you may get hurt while trying these lifts. I am not responsible for your safety, and please, please use proper judgment before attempting anything on the website.

Maintaining your fitness is going to be a life-long struggle. I have made many mistakes in my lifting career that you can learn from. An unexpected injury is a large set-back in an already-difficult way of life.

That is why I started this blog. Let the journey begin!