I don’t think you should give up on the barbell benchpress. It doesn’t mean to hurt you. Truth is, it’s afraid of being alone, and it sometimes overcompensates for its own needs by doing things that might make you uncomfortable. I guess what you have to do is takle a few steps back and look at your life and ask yourself what it might be like without barbell benchpress. I guess you guys could always take a short break, too. It’s not like you can’t get back together, especially if barbell benchpress sends out an emotional S.O.S. or you can’t fill the hole that barbell benchpress left behind with something else.
[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
HINT: if an upper body movement is such that it takes articles and articels to learn how to even do it properly without injuring yourself… then maybe it’s time to look at other options ESPECIALLY if those other options are a lot easier to learn and don’t have the same injury risk.
I used to do dips. Then I realized that no matter how i tweaked my form, they fucked up my shoulders. I stopped doing them. Is this heresy?
Or maybe I’m just not as hardcore as everyone else here.
a lot easier to learn? dude it’s a BENCH PRESS. we’re not doing fucking rocket science over here.
if you have the mental capacity to log onto an internet forum, sign in with a name and password, and then whine about how u’re tummy hurts when you bench press, you can certainly learn how to do the freaking movement.
there’s ‘articles and articles’ on freaking lateral raises. you think i should give those up too? shit, how about this - i won’t do any exercises that i can find 5 articles and 2 instructional videos on. that way i can end up looking the the OP and never have to worry about pain.
i’m not saying you have to do every exercise in the book. hell, the MAJORITY of seasoned guy’s that i know that bodybuild usually have a few exercises they don’t do because of pain or injury.
but when a random dude off the street says he has to ‘give up benching’ when the GIRLS I DATE have a higher muscularity than him…well shit, time to get his case of vaginaitis examined.
…or maybe i need to stop banging trannies. but you get the point[/quote]
Ya, no kiddin! Really, though, OP you have to look at what’s more important here. Obviously, you don’t want to look like a pussy to a bunch of anonymous people on an internet forum. I think it might best serve your interests to continue benching, even if it ends up in future shoulder problems. If not, guys like Mac are going to say you have vaginaitis (I’ve heard about this and you don’t want it) and their tranny girlfriends are bigger than you.
@OP Bottom line: It could be the flat bench press causing problems, it could not. You’re no expert and if you’ve been having problems for years then why don’t you get it looked at by someone in the know who can go about fixing it so that you don’t have to pick and choose exercises at random that happened to make your shoulder hurt?
[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
HINT: if an upper body movement is such that it takes articles and articels to learn how to even do it properly without injuring yourself… then maybe it’s time to look at other options ESPECIALLY if those other options are a lot easier to learn and don’t have the same injury risk.
I used to do dips. Then I realized that no matter how i tweaked my form, they fucked up my shoulders. I stopped doing them. Is this heresy?
Or maybe I’m just not as hardcore as everyone else here.
there’s ‘articles and articles’ on freaking lateral raises. you think i should give those up too? shit, how about this - i won’t do any exercises that i can find 5 articles and 2 instructional videos on. that way i can end up looking the the OP and never have to worry about pain. [/quote]
the op said he had a pre-existing shoulder issue and the flat bench aggravated it. are you implying he should do the movement anyway?
[quote]but when a random dude off the street says he has to ‘give up benching’ when the GIRLS I DATE have a higher muscularity than him…well shit, time to get his case of vaginaitis examined.
…or maybe i need to stop banging trannies. but you get the point[/quote]
that would make sense if he was a complete newbie coming into the gym without any idea of how to exercise properly and got pain from any exercise. this guy hasn’t mentioned getting pain from any other movements. as i mentioned before, his shoulder is also jacked up.
For a long time I neglected to train my back as hard as my chest and shoulders, and I ended up with an ‘injury’ to my right shoulder. It always ached, and I could’nt sleep properly sometimes because the position I slept in made my shoulder hurt. Anyway, once I started doing the same amount of work for rows and pulldowns, as I did for benching and shoulder pressing, the pain miraculously disappeared. I’m not saying that this will definitely help your case, but take a look at your other exercise selections, and see if this may be true for you too.
How much upper back/lat work are you doing? If you are doing more pressing than pulling, then that will screw up your shoulders without a doubt. Try the DB’s (start lighter and work up) while beating the crap out of your back. Barbell rows, DB rows, chest supported rows, pull-ups, shrugs, rear delt raises, etc.
I had shoulder problems once from swimming and the bench/curl mentality. The above fixed it.
[quote]thephantom wrote:
How much upper back/lat work are you doing? If you are doing more pressing than pulling, then that will screw up your shoulders without a doubt. Try the DB’s (start lighter and work up) while beating the crap out of your back. Barbell rows, DB rows, chest supported rows, pull-ups, shrugs, rear delt raises, etc.
I had shoulder problems once from swimming and the bench/curl mentality. The above fixed it. [/quote]
It’s scary how we posted the same thing at the same time. Perhaps theres something in it then. 
first off, macaroni, you have to be one of the biggest bags of shit ive ever seen. i just wanted a little advice from the vets, not to get fucking dogged on for asking a simple question. i used to always see your pictures and be like damn dude, hes big and seems like a cool guy, wish i could look like that. youre a cocky prick because youre big? fuck off man, you dont know shit about me or what ive been through, or how hard i have had to work to get the fucking “girly” size i have attained. if it makes you feel like a bad ass mother fucker to get on here and run your mouth off to guys who arent as big as you, i dont really give a fuck… have at it BRO. the main reason im not as fucking SWOLL as you is because i have so many pre existing injuries that i really cant do shit about until i am out of college. i have a wife, a kid, work a shitty full time job and go to school 18 hours a semester.
i really dont care if the big bad asses like “my dicks the size of a macaroni” call me a pussy, say i have vaginitis or whatever the fuck. if you have to waste your time sitting your ass in front of a computer, talking shit to smaller guys to make yourself look fuckin hardcore, instead of trying to give sound advice, then youre a bigger bitch then ill ever be. i would have been fine if you just simply said… quite your bitching, work around it and get back to it!
flame me for this, talk some more shit, like i said i really dont care. i just get tired of guys who are lucky enough to not have health/body issues and can pack on a ton of muscle, who then turn into cocky pricks about it and act like theyre king shit.
How wide is your grip? Wide grip hurts my shoulders, close grip feels fine.
Barbell bench is over used & highly over rated lift. Db bench, dips are the kings along with oh lifting.
Roger Federer is a stud.
Roddick was impressive as hell as well.
Peace, eat your yams my frineds.
Barbell bench is over used & highly over rated lift. Db bench, dips are the kings along with oh lifting.
Roger Federer is a stud.
Roddick was impressive as hell as well.
Peace, eat your yams my friends.
So, several people made my point quite nicely about it being trendy to bag the flat bench.
I agree with Macaroni, it’s not fucking rocket science how to do exercises in a gym. Trumpeting out anecdotal stories about how injuries only tend to happen on the flat bench is ignorant. Firstly, if the majority of people are doing it don’t you think that is why you might be hearing more injuries about it than other modes?
In my experience, the injuries associated with lifting that require more acute and chronic attention tend to be more from the incline dumb-bell variations owing to the increased ROM about the shoulder joint with inclined press and fly movements. Plus the increased risk of an angled lift and the chances of grip slipping with the various issues of working with dumb-bells (wide grip relative to hands, lack of grip on the bar, sweaty grip etc etc).
Every exercise has it’s place as long as you can load the muscle appropriately. It’s naive just to bag one given exercise for absolutely no apparent reason.
[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
how does a dude who doesn’t even look like he works out have to give up benchpressing?
i don’t understand that[/quote]
Was that directed at me? I am not sure because besides you and josh86, I could not see any pics in the profiles that lead me to believe they lift weights also?
I hurt my shoulders over 5 times, but only once was it due to lifting (not that I look like I lift yet) - bad luck for me I guess.
[quote]GluteusGigantis wrote:
Every exercise has it’s place as long as you can load the muscle appropriately. It’s naive just to bag one given exercise for absolutely no apparent reason.
[/quote]
I don’t know about that. If one particular movement (flat benching in this case) hurt five years ago and it still hurts now, continuing to do that particular movement regardless of pain seems to make little sense. But what do I know, I do not look like I lift weights and most people don’t even post pics in their profiles on a Bodybuilding site - things that makes you go huh???
I prefer DB presses for all pressing moves,I have long arms and seem to be triceps dominant,so I struggle to feel any stimulation in my pecs.
With DB presses,you can go real deep and squeeze those pecs together at the top of the move real good.
Also hits those pesky stabilisers and smaller muscles better.
[quote]hawaiilifterMike wrote:
Was that directed at me? I am not sure because besides you and josh86, I could not see any pics in the profiles that lead me to believe they lift weights also?
I hurt my shoulders over 5 times, but only once was it due to lifting (not that I look like I lift yet) - bad luck for me I guess.
[/quote]
negative brudda.
[quote]GluteusGigantis wrote:
Every exercise has it’s place as long as you can load the muscle appropriately. It’s naive just to bag one given exercise for absolutely no apparent reason.
[/quote]
While I agree it seems like a trend, I think it’s because of shoulder health concerns. I know I REALLY fucked up my rotator cuff a few years ago on flat bb benching.
I’m sure others who have dropped it have experienced similar problems as well.
The problem is not the exercise, but rather usually the imbalances people create from improper program design and/or bad technique
That being said, I prefer to use DBs for chest exercises as I feel it better
I recently “found my groove” with the BB bench. I’m easing back into it, god knows I still have a long way to go, but my shoulder doesn’t hurt anymore. I still “max out” with DB’s though, because I’m a huge bitch on the bench.
And my buddy has had two shoulder surgeries (Non-lifting injuries) and BB benches more weight and more often than I.
Just some anecdotal evidence for form being the culprit.
[quote]skimmy_jimmy wrote:
first off, macaroni, you have to be one of the biggest bags of shit ive ever seen. i just wanted a little advice from the vets, not to get fucking dogged on for asking a simple question. i used to always see your pictures and be like damn dude, hes big and seems like a cool guy, wish i could look like that. youre a cocky prick because youre big? fuck off man, you dont know shit about me or what ive been through, or how hard i have had to work to get the fucking “girly” size i have attained. if it makes you feel like a bad ass mother fucker to get on here and run your mouth off to guys who arent as big as you, i dont really give a fuck… have at it BRO. the main reason im not as fucking SWOLL as you is because i have so many pre existing injuries that i really cant do shit about until i am out of college. i have a wife, a kid, work a shitty full time job and go to school 18 hours a semester.
i really dont care if the big bad asses like “my dicks the size of a macaroni” call me a pussy, say i have vaginitis or whatever the fuck. if you have to waste your time sitting your ass in front of a computer, talking shit to smaller guys to make yourself look fuckin hardcore, instead of trying to give sound advice, then youre a bigger bitch then ill ever be. i would have been fine if you just simply said… quite your bitching, work around it and get back to it!
flame me for this, talk some more shit, like i said i really dont care. i just get tired of guys who are lucky enough to not have health/body issues and can pack on a ton of muscle, who then turn into cocky pricks about it and act like theyre king shit.[/quote]
so now you’re the victim? you’re a poor guy with all these life problems and injuries, and i’m a cocky prick who just looks at weights and blows up? you’re right, yesterday i did 10 pushups and ate a few krispy creams, and i think my bench just went up by 50lbs. i also have nothing to do all day, so i have ample time to just sit on my ass, bully rando internet people around, and continue to look at weights.
look man, i’m sorry if i came off as too harsh. i’ve just seen recently an influx of newbs who want to name drop all these sexy trainers and programs, and then say stuff ‘hurts’ when they train.
maybe you really do have a serious injury that has to be looked at. but then again, if it’s that bad, i’d suggest a doctor, not a bunch of t.nation mofos.
but i’m not taking back what i said. i think you need to determine if your condition is caused by an imbalance in your training, or if you have shitty joints and u’re body is going to fall apart.
i just personally can’t see how a body can’t preform a benchpress with a normal amount of weight. 1.5xbodyweight benches IMO should be attainable for normal males.
what was the title that used to be up at the top? unrelentless muscle building elitists? w/e, some shit like that.
sorry BRO. i’ve got lots of shit in my life. i’ve got problems. i’ve got a hectic schedule. i started off lifting weights looking like a pre-pubescent girl. and no one powdered my ass and told me everything would be ok.