Shoulder pain in bench press? 3 culprits

Bench press is a great action! It can help us build strong upper limb strength and thick chest muscles that everyone envies!

　　In the gym, the bench press will never be in a neutral situation! Everyone loves bench press!

　　But bench press is another action with high frequency of injuries, especially on the shoulders. Many people will suffer shoulder pain during bench press! Especially among those with unstandard movements, it is even more common!

　　Today we will bring you to know several common causes of shoulder injuries caused by bench press!

　　First: Shoulder unstable!

　　In the process of bench press, the upper back must be clamped, and the shoulder blades must play a stable (rear-collapse, sinking) Character, treat it as a platform. During bench press, if the scapula is unstable, the shoulders are in an internal rotation, and the shoulders are shrugged! It will cause shoulder injuries!

What should you do?

　　Retraction and sink the scapula

　　The purpose of retraction and sinking the scapula is to stabilize the scapula, protect the shoulders, reduce the distance of the bench press (the skills of bench press competition), etc.

　　You can imagine bending the bar or stretching the bar.

　　Turn the "elbow hole" forward, rotate the shoulders slightly outside, and rotate the palms counterclockwise at the same time. It seems that the barbell is to break!

　　Outward rotation of the shoulders can pull the humerus back into the joint pit of the shoulder joint (glenoid fossa) , pull the scapula back and down to retract the scapula back to the correct position. It brings torque to the shoulder joint pit, which is very important because it turns the scapula into a very stable platform when pressing bench, and also avoids the rotator cuff being squeezed and injured by the acromion.

　　Second: excessive abduction of the shoulder!

　　Shoulder over-abduction! It refers to "When you push up and down, the angle between the upper arm (humerus) and the trunk is large, tending to be parallel to the shoulder"

　　The angle between the upper arm and the trunk is 90 degrees. Excessive abduction of the shoulder causes your shoulder to be in an unstable state! The humerus is far away from the joint pit (glenoid fossa) , and at the same time, the scapula will also be lifted up, thus losing the stability of the shoulder! The shoulder capsule will be under tremendous pressure, which increases the risk of collision or friction between the glenohumeral joint head and other tissues in the joint capsule. When the bench press reaches the lowest end, the two ligaments, the inferior glenohumeral ligament and the middle glenohumeral ligament, will be superextended, and at the same time increase the chance of the ligament and tendon collision or friction between the acromion and the glenohumeral joint

　　　It is recommended that the angle between the upper arm and the trunk should be maintained at about 45 degrees during bench press!

　　Third: The grip distance is too wide!

　　Many people think that my The greater the stimulation of the chest muscles, it is actually a misunderstanding!

　　A lying distance that is too wide will cause the abduction angle of the shoulder to rise (same as above), which will increase the pressure on the shoulder joint and cause pain in the front shoulder joint.

　　It is recommended to choose a slightly wider grip distance than the shoulder. Note that when the barbell falls to the bottom, the forearm must be almost vertical to the ground. If the barbell is not directly above the forearm, it will cause unnecessary torque at the grip position, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. Remember your optimal grip distance, so that you can find it quickly after each exercise.