Bring Back the Bench, Minus The Shoulder Pain

Front-side shoulder pain is common. And since many lifters naturally gravitate towards mirror movements like presses and curls, a cumulative stress cycle through the shoulders usually results in overuse, pain, and injuries. But the last thing many die-hard lifters are going to skip is their bench press. So instead of continuing to press through pain, avoid the chronic stress by fixing your position. You've probably heard that you must drive your shoulder blades down into the bench to "stabilize" them in order to press without pain. While this is true to some extent, what eventually ends up happening is an exaggeration causing poor positioning at the shoulder blades, leaving you in more pain than before.

I've stopped using the cue "scaps against the bench" with my athletes, and instead have seen a huge amount of success teaching them "co-contraction" between their lats and pecs in order to add real stability through the shoulder girdle. This limits unwanted and unstable range of motion while also enhancing the mind-muscle connection. Trying to driving your scaps into the bench misses the mark because it encourages you to use a passive position to achieve a setup instead of working actively to get your shoulders and upper quadrant into position and having the ability to keep it there. You want both the pecs and lats to create "pre-tension" at the top of a pressing movement, whether you're using a barbell or dumbbells. Contracting the two most powerful movers of the upper body will produce the optimal shoulder joint positioning. This will ultimately improve the feel and stability of the bench press, and help you maintain control of these positions throughout it.

If you don't have a coach or training partner telling you this cue, simply think to yourself, "squeeze your lats and pecs together." If you have trouble with this, squeeze the bar as hard as you can, THEN go into the co-contraction. Using this reminder and setup has the added benefit of increasing your mind-muscle connection. Because the pre-tensioning of the pecs in addition to the lats is active, we're grading the eccentric portion of the lift through the pecs, which is great to enhance the feel and improve contraction quality. This may be the most powerful shoulder fix that you could be using, so make sure to give it a try. – Dr. John Rusin

Bring Back the Bench, Minus The Shoulder Pain dr john rusin bio
29 Likes	29 Dislikes
16,053 views views	97K followers
Sports	Upload TimePublished on 28 Feb 2017

Related keywords

1. bench press bar
2. bench press alternatif
3. muscles of the back
4. bench press makine
5. bench press aleti
6. training day
7. dr john rusin cardio
8. muscle cars for sale
9. muscle pain
10. bench press hareketi
11. muscles
12. training shed
13. bench press kaç kg
14. training significado
15. bench press rekoru
16. muscle spasm
17. dr. john rusin 12-week functional hypertrophy training program
18. training with hinako
19. dr. john rusin instagram
20. training camp
21. training que es
22. muscle up
23. training wheels
24. muscles of the leg
25. muscle twitch
26. training gym
27. dr john rusin credentials
28. training shoes
29. training point
30. bench press sehpa
31. bench press machine
32. training force
33. muscle cars
34. training center garmin
35. bench press seti
36. training peaks
37. bench press makinesi
38. training deporte
39. bench press asistanı
40. dr. john rusin physical therapy
41. training center
42. bench press tutuş
43. muscle memory
44. bench press masası
45. muscle cramps
46. dr john rusin shoulder
47. bench press nedir
48. muscle knots
49. training mask
50. muscle milk
51. muscle and fitness
52. training wheels lyrics
53. dr john rusin workout
54. training me
55. bench press barı kaç kg
56. muscle strain
57. muscle maker grill
58. bench press sehpası ölçüleri
59. dr john rusin blog
60. training wheels letra
61. dr john rusin bands
62. bench press fiyat
63. bench press ne işe yarar
64. muscle relaxers
65. dr john rusin articles
66. training traduccion
67. dr. john rusin functional hypertrophy training
68. muscle shoals
69. dr john rusin recovery
70. muscles of the body
71. muscle atrophy
72. bench press yapamıyorum