[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Well the first thing I’d say is that you should experiment with more of a powerlifting-style bench where you tuck your elbows by your side. Here’s a good video that explains this:
I had a lot less pain in my shoulders when I started benching like this. It also helps to really focus on getting the shoulder blades retracted as much as you can. My right shoulder sometimes doesn’t feel stable and I’ve noticed it’s when I’m not doing a good job of keeping the shoulder blades retracted.
Also, you may want to give neutral grip dumbbell presses a try. These never bother my shoulders at all.
The only problem with both of the above is that they do work your tris a bit more than your chest, but if you can do flyes still, then you can use those to hit the chest. I’ve found that the stronger and more comfortable I’ve gotten with the neutral grip DB presses, the more I feel it in my chest.
Flyes still bother my shoulders, so I use the pec dec machine to get more direct chest work.
Also, don’t be afraid to shorten the range of motion a bit. My right shoulder only bugs me if I let the bar hit my chest. If I stop an inch or two short of my chest, then I don’t have any pain. Sometimes, you have to just give up on certain things in order to stay pain free. For me, it meant giving up a full range press and benching with my elbows out.
When it comes to shoulder work, I’ve found that using a neutral grip for DB presses works great for me there as well. If you can do presses, then I wouldn’t worry about doing front raises if they bother you.
Laterals used to be uncomfortable for me, but I’ve found that if I go with lighter weights and stay in the 15-20 rep range, then I don’t get any pain. I also get a better pump from these and my shoulders seem to be responding better as a result. Since the shoulders are supposed to be slower twitch, I think the higher reps might be a good idea anyway.
Also, with laterals, try to stay in the scapular plane. There are articles here that explain this, but it basically means that you don’t bring the weight directly out to your sides when doing laterals. Instead, you’ll bring your arms a little more forward at the same angle that your scapula are in. For me this is about in between a front raise and a direct out to the side raise.
As far as preventative stuff, taking a lacrosse ball to the back of your shoulder really helps loosen things up there for me, as well as the sleeper stretch.
If you can do rotator work, I’ve noticed that it’s a lot more effective for me if I keep my elbow by my side. If I bring my elbow up to shoulder height for rotator work, then that bothers my shoulder.
Let me know if this helps at all or if you need more info and feel free to stop by my log as well. I’m usually talking about my shoulder stuff in there pretty often (as well as my other issues).[/quote]
Thanks for your help. I will definetly try this stuff out and il let you know how it goes
