Why the Bench Press Gives You Shoulder Pain & How to Fix It
Jul 27th, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Bench Press, Exercise, Injury, Posture, Weight Lifting
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Posted on Dutchbodybuilding.com. I maxed on the Bench Press yesterday. It went easy. But afterwards I had shoulder pain.
One day later my shoulder still hurts from the Bench Press. The pain is on the right side. First it was in the front of my shoulder. Today the pain is more on the side of my shoulder.
It’s not really the muscle that hurts, but more the joint/bone. The shoulder pain goes into my biceps. I can feel it in the inside of my elbow & in my forearm. My wrist also hurts.
What’s the cause of my shoulder pain? The Bench Press? A nerve stuck? I fear having to cut the weight on the Bench Press if this shoulder pain doesn’t go away soon.
Bench Press & Shoulder Pain. When you have pain in your:
- Arms: biceps, wrists, elbows, forearms, …
- Shoulders: front, back, ..
- Neck
Check your shoulderblade. If your shoulderblade doesn’t work like it should, other muscles will compensate. In the long-term this translates into pain. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Listen to your body & you’ll avoid injuries.
Never train through the pain. Think long-term. It’s better to cut the weight for 2 weeks, than no upper body training during 2 months. Here are some solutions for shoulder pain.
Bench Press Technique. Check your technique on the Bench Press:
- Shoulders back & down
- Chest forward
Don’t let your shoulders come forward. It leads to injury. You just maxed on the Bench Press. Cut back the weight and focus on speed & technique. This will give your shoulder time to recover.
Shoulder Posture. Same as for the Bench Press. Shoulders back & down when sitting behind your computer, shoulders back & down when walking around, shoulders back & down when driving your car. Don’t be a Quasimodo.
Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns. This is one of the many exercises that you can use to strengthen your lower traps. They also put your shoulderblades where they should be.
- Grip a mini band at shoulder-width
- Look forward
- Chest forward
- Shoulders back
- Squeeze your glutes
- Keep your torso upright
- Pull the elbows forward, not back
- Pull the band down behind your neck
- Hold the contraction & reverse the movement
Here’s a video of behind neck band pulldowns.
If you don’t have bands, you can perform the same exercise while standing against a wall. The same rules apply.
- Back against the wall
- Elbows & hands against the wall
- Pull your elbows down toward your sides
- Squeeze at the bottom
- Reverse the movement
Ghost Pulling Knifes. I got this one from Super Joints by Pavel Tsatsouline.
- Look forward
- Chest forward
- Shoulders back & down
- Torso upright
- Squeeze your glutes
- Right hand on your spine
- Left hand behind your head
- Tighten your right biceps
- Tighten your upper back
- Pull your right shoulder forward
- Pull forward with your left hand
- Push your neck back
- Hold for the contraction
Perform 3×20 Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns & 2×60 seconds Ghost Pulling Knifes several times a week. Take some time off the Bench Press & the shoulder pain will go away in no time. Good luck.
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We can also add more pushups to over routine and some exercise like face pull could also be helpful as this could be due to structural imbalance.
Great advice Harsh. Face pulls, band pull aparts, (scap) pushups are very helpful exercise to fix shoulder pain from the Bench Press.
good stuff !
Also, maybe this kind of injury can be prevented by:
1 - good technique (as mentioned)
2 - a more balanced program using at least as much pulling exercises as pushes. (maybe look into strength-imbalances between pushes and pulls as well)
Good advice Wazzup, totally agree. Keep the posts coming, your help is greatly appreciated.
Oh and what about dislocates ?
with stick or bands
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2f8mfWaU6lY
Dislocates are also a good option. With bands or with a broomstick . Both work. Good advice again Wazzup.
I found your article very interesting. I also have shoulder pain when I get into heavy weights when I bench. I could not load your video for behind the neck pulldowns, so I google searched it. The first hit is this, http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru26.htm which states that this is one of the five lifts to avoid, so as not to hurt your shoulder. Can you comment on this?
Bryan,
The video is hosted on youtube. What error do you receive? I’ll try to fix it.
Btw, the exercise is a pulldown using a resistance band, not using a lat pulldown machine. Total different exercise. Try the version described below the video, with a band, this will give you an idea how the exercise feels.
help!my collar bone hurts where it connects to my shoulder! it started out when i would do bench press superseted with heavy reverse grip e-z bar shoulder press..at first i would feel the pain up until yesterday after doing a set of bench..i heard a crack on the second set at the first set and i could hardly push anymore reps..it hurts i cant even do a pushup..i stopped doing incline a year ago and for back i use very light weight and only do pulldowns..should i stop benching and shoulder press for a while and focus on heavy back exercises?im afraid i might have crushed some cartillage of pulled a tendon..please help with your comments.
@Koz Zervoudis
Get a free account for the forum & share more info, impossible to help you without more details.