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Bench Press: Avoiding Shoulder Injuries

O

Oli

Member
At first I thought it was a myth from gym rats who do stuff like bench to their collarbone (and a lot of it probably is) but I've noticed a lot of powerlifting veterans and serious bodybuilders have serious shoulder injuries.

I love benching - I want to do it until they put me in a wooden box. Can anyone with long term experience give tips on how to avoid shoulder issues? here are some I've found around the place:
- Use different variations of the bench press (this one would be hard to do as I mostly do 5/3/1 and PPP sort of stuff)
- Limit the amount of pressing you do (bench and overhead but then dont go crazy on the incline and decline)
- Balance overhead pressing with bench pressing

Are there any more/better strategies or is injury merely the price you pay?
 
When using the press as an assistance exercise two thing occur.

You develop strength in the prime pressing muscles. ( deltas and triceps) plus, you bench less often ( or should be) hence saving a bit of wear and tear on the shoulder complex.
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Use a closer grip. The angle between the humerus and your torso should not be 90 degs. I see this far too often. 50-60 is more workable.

Contrary to popular belief - it is not necessary to have the barbell drop down to nipple line during a bench press because:

1: Strength transference of around 15 degrees occurs with the bench press exercise, which means the barbell does not have to descend as deeply as the nipple line for complete muscle strength development;

2: If the shoulder capsule is excessively loaded (i.e. which may occur if the bench press finishes excessively low on the down phase and the BB hits the chest), shoulder impingement may occur. Shoulder impingement involves the humerus migrating upward in the shoulder capsule and causes compression of the subacromial bursa. Subsequently, tendons of the rotator cuff muscles (especially the supraspinatus), which should comfortably glide through the subacromial space and perhaps the biceps tendon, experience excessive loading (i.e. they get squeezed or impinged) between the head of the humerous and the acromion and develop tendinopathy. In resistance training exercises, the primary mechanism for shoulder impingement involves poor scapula control and glenohumeral instability;

3: In addition, we are trying to teach movement efficiency and alignment. So, the only time you would lower it nipple line id if you are a power lifter (as they are the rules).
 
dave said:
More work for your back.
Click to expand...

Specifically lower rhomboids and lower traps!:)
think rope neck pulls, read delt flys, band pull aparts, diesel complex, etc with active scapular retraction.
It all helps prevent excessive internal rotation. Another optionis to add in some chest stretches whilst doing trap and rhomboid work during the rest periods to potentiate their contractability.(A nice trick i picked up from poliquin)
 
n00bs said:
I used to bench quit close but recently changed to Alot widergrip. Is this where most problems come into play?
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Click to expand...

How wide? Outside of the rings passed the knurling? I would get someone to check out the angle between your torso/upper arm.
 
If your 2 inches inside the ring then thats a pretty normal grip maybe even abit close...I normally go about 1 inch in from the ring.
 
n00bs said:
About 2 inches in from them
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Click to expand...


Should be okay. Hard to give a one size fits all (really depends on your arm length as well)

I would never bench outside of those rings.

A bit of info for anyone who's interested, this is a study done on varying bench press grip widths.

[FONT=&quot]The Affect of Grip Width Performance on Bench Press Performance & Risk of Injury[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot](Green & Comfort)[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]1.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] What does the musculoskeletal system of the glenohumeral joint act to do during the action of the bench press?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Provides a base of support for the motion of the barbell

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]2.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Performance of the bench press may place the glenohumeral joint in a position approaching high risk of injury. Define this position.

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]90 degrees of abduction combined with end-range external rotation of the shoulder during bench press and associated exercises may increase the risk of acute and chronic shoulder injuries

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]3. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]What is the definition of biacromial width? And how does this relate to the at risk position?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Biacromial width is the distance between acromion processes. A bench press grip of >2 biacomial width increases shoulder abduction above 75° placing the shoulder near the compromised ‘at risk position’. However a grip spacing of <1.5 maintains shoulder abduction below 45°.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]4.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] List some chest & shoulder exercises that have been reported to produce pain? What do they all have in common

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Military press behind the neck, incline flyes and wide grip bench press all place the humerus into abduction and external rotation.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]5.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] What resistance training methods can further increase the risk of injury and why?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Use of forced repetitions, supersets, compound sets, eccentric contractions and multiple set chest exercise variations increase the loading on the skeletal and musculo-tendinous structures will increase the risk of injury especially if used regularly.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]6.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Which of the aforementioned training methods may place the pectoralis major at considerable risk of rupture and why?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Regular use of eccentric repetitions may increase the risk of rupture because pec major is most susceptible at the musculo-tendinous junction during eccentric loading.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]7.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] How does altering grip width from wide to narrow affect muscle recruitment?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Reducing grip width from 190% biacromial width to 100% doesn’t significantly affect pec major or anterior deltoid recruitment however the reduction in width significantly improves triceps brachii recruitment.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

8. What is the IGHL and what is its funtion?[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The Inferior Glenohumeral ligament attaches to the inferior aspect of the humeral head and the anterior glenoid and labrum. It is responsible for providing anterior stability by maintaining the humeral head in the gleniod fossa but more importantly restraining anterior translation at 90° abduction. Damage to the IGHL reduces anterior stability.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]9. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Define atraumatic osteolysis of the distal clavicle.[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]A stress-failure syndrome; a pathological process of bone destruction to the subchondral bone of the distal clavicle.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]10.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] What may contribute to osteolysis of the distal clavicle?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The excessive stresses on the acromioclavicular joint via the extension mechanism of the shoulder during the eccentric phase of the bench press and repetitive microtrauma during weight lifting. More specifically repetitive movements performed with the shoulder at 90 degrees abduction, a grip width >1.5 times biacromial width and external rotation appear to cause this injury.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]11.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] What portion of the Pectoralis major fibres are most at risk of rupture and why?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The inferior fibres of the pec major are most at risk of rupture due to their twisting orientation that converges on the proximal aspect of the humerus.

[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]12.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] At what point of bench press execution do ruptures of the pectoralis major occur?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The injury occurs during the beginning of the concentric phase following eccentric lowering stressing the inferior fibres. Ruptures occur at the tendinous insertion on the humerous when the pec major is stretched and contracted.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

13. Describe the correct bench press technique to minimise injury

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]<1.5 biacromial width[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Controlled descent to lower portion of pectorals (reduce abduction & external rotation)[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The bar should move through same plane of motion in ascent, albeit more rapidly.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

14. What difference does altering wide to close grip have on bench press 1RM performance and muscle EMG results?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]Non-significant difference was noted between 100% & 200% biacromial widths. No difference in pec major sternocostal head EMG results however the narrow grip improved the activity of both the clavicular head of the pec major and the triceps brachii.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

15. What does research suggest about incline bench press on muscle activation?

[/FONT]​
-[FONT=&quot]The clavicular head doesn’t show greater muscle activation during incline press however the activation of the sternocostal head is diminished, suggesting that this exercise may be un-necessary unless specific for sports performance.[/FONT]​
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I'm a tall dude, so tend to grip with either middle or index finger on the rings. I've had one shoulder surgery and that was before I got into the lifting side of things. I just make sure to warm up the shoulder(s)/girdle before hand, keep scapula retracted and chest up and out and don't feel any shoulder pain or ever get twinges at all. The only time I had a problem with bench is when I first started and my form was horrible.

Also closer grip benching causes my right shoulder to come forward, no matter what I do I can't keep it stable. That's a bad position for shoulder health, so I try not to do it ofter. I am talking super close grip though.

"Dislocates" are a great warm-up for 'em.
 
Yep, I had surgery on my right shoulder (two keyholes front and back) to remove floating cartilage. Overuse (benching, pressing) from ~2002-2005 was the beginning, falling on an outstretched arm then someone falling across it during MMA finished it off. It's a long way back after a shoulder injury, very important to take care of them.

Feels the best it has in years at the moment :cool:
 
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