During a discussion last night there was a bit of a debate on whether or not older lifters (our crowd is mostly late 50s to early 60s) should be doing any high rep dumb bell benches or presses because of the higher risk of aggravating the shoulders. Most felt that they benefited more from doing multiple FSL , especially for the bench and press,with less shoulder pain.
Any thoughts or experiences with this.
I’ve avoided aggravating my bursitis doing high rep DB flat and incline bench by (my guess this is the main factor) holding the DB 45 degrees and tucking the elbow toward the bottom. Sets in the 10-15 rep range. For reference, I use DBs in the 60-70# range, while my top BB bench press set preceding it is usually in the 290-325# range. So I back off the weight considerably, focus on tension and form, and I seem to get real satisfactory work out of that.
My biggest fear is jacking something up in the shoulder joints just hoisting the weight into position.
Do things in moderation. You can still derive the benefits without the drawbacks.