+ 2 Shoulder pain during bench
Hi everyone!
I am a 44 male and just started getting back into fitness. I took around 6 years off. I gained a some fat and decided to get back into it. Since I started working out again my bench has been of topic. When I bench I get shoulder pain. I cannot really tell if it's in the joint or if it's muscle. So I am going to try and explain the best I know. When I do incline, I keep my hands about 2-4 inches wider than my shoulders on each side, I keeep my elbows tucked and I bring the weight down to my chest slowly, and then drive up with a moderate push so I can focus on the pump. With that being said, I will get a burning sensation that kind of goes down my shoulders. It feels like it goes from the middle of the deltoid medial to where the deltoid medial connects on the side of the arm kind of by the bicept. I looked up rotator cuff tear and found some youtube videos on pain when raising your arms certain way and cannot conclude if that is it or not. I haven't seen a doctor because I cannot afford it. I am still paying off a ER bill.
This has been going on now for around 2-3 weeks. When I take shower, depending on how I raise my arm to wash my face or hair, I will get pain in the same area.
So my question here is this, is my form off or did I pull a muscle?
- Bookmark
- 2
- 0
Looks like hanging from a bar might be the secret shoulder therapy we've all been missing! Guess I'll start my shoulder rehab by pretending to be a monkey for 60 seconds a day. Worth a shot, right?
Build up rear delts as they hold the joint in place. Dumbell presses for me relieved a bunch of pressure to joints
I've had pain/discomfort in both shoulders when doing incline or overhead press. What i've found helps is to hang from a pull up bar for at least 60 seconds/day and increasing as grip strength grows. Hanging allows the joint to open up more and after a few weeks i generally feel fine and only have to have every 2-3 days instead of every day. Can't hurt to give it a try.
I must admit I agree with this theory also, about a month ago when I decided to add in chins/pull ups after deadlifts I figured my iffy right shoulder was probably not going to like them and get worse because of doing them - BUT I was wrong!! I do an initial hang/stretch on the bar as a first set warm up which generally feels pretty horrible, but then afterwards I do 2 sets of BW to failure. Expecting it to kill my bench it seems to of done the opposite and helped it. I think as you say it opens up the joint more instead of leaving it compressed from pressing, then the rear and lateral delts being worked helps support the entire shoulder joint in general.
Never had a shoulder injury but I know it’s not something to fuck with. Make sure you’re safe before pushing yourself. Currently in a push pull with my elbows and I know the struggle somewhat.
Wish I could help more but no experience. Good luck brother!
I started doing rotator cuff exercises before I even start to go up in weight, regardless if it's 300, 400 or 500 pounds, doesn't matter. Heck sometimes even before I even rep 225.
I've been in the bench game for a minute or two so I think I'm barely qualified to give some info lol. With arm down, bring arm up slowly at a 90 degree angle with thumb rotated down. If you feel a pain more than likely it's a rotator cuff, now remember you have more than one cuff in the shoulder. Small tears can heal with cuff exercises usually but depends how severe the tear is. I've had a minor rotator cuff issue since I was early 20s. I don't do barbell incline but just dumbbell incline. As far as grip on the bench press it's usually ring finger on ring. When I go too far out it brings front delts into play with less triceps torque. But it just depends on anatomy that's all man. I've found what works and feels comfortable. Sounds like that's what you're missing
Where were you when my pec major tore off? Lol.
Nah, it was bad form and I was dehyrated. Pretty dumb of myself. With my insurance here it was still close to 10k out of pocket.
I was only doing decline press at 225 FML. Props to the wife for helping me rerack it though.
I definitely fear having a major torn peck. Especially if surgery is required
Damn 10k? A lot can be done with that. But yeah dehydration is usually one of the main causes for pulling or tearing a muscle. And yeah props to your wife for helping ya out. If she did that she's definitely a keeper lol
Fuck yea. I was pissed. Thats a good chunk. They drilles into my bone in my arm to anchor the muscle back down.
Shoot gotta keep her, she helps me out with my shots lol.
Yeah that's a severe tear. Worst thing ever! Sounds like you're good now though. And I haven't gotten around to letting any woman know my dirty little secrets lol. I admire you guys that have women doing the sticking instead of getting stuck lolol. Nah man that's cool she's comfortable with that. I think deep down inside most women probably wouldn't mind.
Slowly starting incorporating chest again. Crazy how everything is connected.
Yes shes tight. Helps me do some of my injections and she does her own daily with me. Pretty sweet gig.
Most dont care. No lie, everyone even females are injecting something into their bodies.
It's like that huh? I can imagine most serious fitness chicks injecting something. She must be one of those serious types.
Were getting there! Last two years have been rough. We are finally getting back to it. Both had to stop fitness due to surgeries and shitty life situations but were here.
This community has helped push me to be a better version of myself.
That's what it's about my man. Loving your energy man. My ideal woman would be one like yours. Damn that would make things so much easier. It's like you say babe I'm headed to the gym and she's like wait, let me go with ya, instead of questioning you. Damn women...can't live without them though
Haha foreals. Married her before I can even have a legal drink. Been married over 12 years.
Lucky man
Bud I have just typed out and tried to send a reply to your messages but you have removed me from your friends list?
anvilDidn't you do that to me???
Lol you silly
You seem to be giving me a hard time atm what with your other comments about the DBol and Hip pain - is everything alright?
anvilI love you buddy ! You are on my favs list. Not ahead of 23sparta or anything but up there!
Are you kidding me!! Huh? What's the matter with you? Not talking about that situation I'm talking about me. So I'm a damn ghost huh? I can't believe this...lol. Messing with ya man
anvilsorry i wasn't paying attention here, you are top 100 list like 99
Lol
Great now kiss and make up. But take pictures… I’d say video too if we could post those… but alas this forum only promotes blue balls.
Do you know I found out woman get blue balls too. There is a name for it though.
anvilYes , but there is no problem love the guy...
Oh…there has to be a problem to kiss?
Fuck I’m on the wrong website again…thought I was on a different tab.
I didn’t do that intentionally. My apologies. Let me send you a request
HarleyDavidsonEagleI would highly recommend using a Cambered Bar. This provides greater torso room and allows to reach a lower-end position of the barbell in the bench press movement in comparison to the standard barbell. It will also feel better on your shoulders and put less stress on your wrist . Give it a shot !!! Check out the link below maybe talk to your gym about buying one
https://www.elitefts.com/olympic-cambered-bench-bar.html
It’s been almost another month of doing a lot of shoulder exercises. Well, the pain in my bench press has pretty much subsided; it’s still kind of there but only during incline bench. My shoulders have become noticeably bigger and well-defined. Today was chest and shoulder day. I did my normal warm-up, started at 135 pounds and repped out 10 times. I then jumped up to 225 pounds, did 10 reps, and felt pretty confident, so I increased the weight to 315 pounds and was able to do 8 reps with more gas in the tank. I did an additional set, then hit it one more time but only managed 6 reps. Definitely worth overtraining shoulders in my opinion. What I have learned from this is that if you’re going to lift heavy with your chest, you need shoulders that can support the weight just as much, so you should train your shoulders twice as hard as your chest.
It's been two weeks since I last posted, so I want to give an update. I have been doing light shoulder exercises almost every day, if not every other day. Today was the second time I decided to push some weight with my chest. I did some arm circle exercises, both clockwise and counterclockwise, for about 60 seconds. Suffice it to say.
Now for the good part. First, I lifted just the bar, making sure my form was good—no issues, no pain. I then put on two 45s and repped out 15, and my shoulders felt fine. I then decided to try my normal weight, so I added two more 45s and repped 10. Feeling a little confident, I decided to add another 30 pounds. I got to my sixth rep and felt the strain coming as soon as I hit 3/4 up. I immediately racked it and thought, "Well, I think I've done enough for the day," and decided to go back and do some lateral shoulder exercises.
Update to shoulder pain. So, It's been a week, doing shoulder exerciese daily with lite weight. 5-10lbs. Well, was feeling ambitious today and just put on 165 lbs on the bar. Right shoulder, no pain. Left should minor pain. Not as bad as what it was before. Looks like the shoulder exerciese are working. Going to take another week or two off and stay focusing on shoulders, core, and legs.
Good to know some options that go toward fixing the situation. Thanks for the update.
Apparently he's still having issues
It's difficult to tell if it's a strain or a tear without imaging. Time and rest will kind of be an indicator if the symptoms resolve. I'm sure I get judged at the gym for this, but I have dealt with a lot of pain during my bench after shoulder surgery. I'll often use Mark Bell's Slingshot when I bench with some light stretching beforehand. Seems to take a lot of the load off my shoulder. I try to ice it when I get home too. I've recently heard good things about Anaconda Fightwear's shoulder brace too.
You may also benefit from peptides. BPC-157 and TB500. BPC-157 @ 500mcg split doses ed (AM/PM) into the delt of the affected shoulder. TB500 @ 500mcg ed also into the delt of the same shoulder. Some companies sell both compounds in a blend. You can run just the BPC if you're tight on funds, but adding the TB-500 is something special. You may also want to take a break from bench for a bit while you try to heal up and recover.
EDIT: I just saw you had some imaging done. I'd still recommend the above (the peptides and laying off bench for awhile). Look into things like PRP, A2M, or mesenchymal stem cells too. They can be pricey, but If the tear isn't super severe you may be able to reverse some the damage and avoid surgery in the future.
AK80Take a break from bench and use dumbells instead. The peck deck can help pick up the slack too. Bending over while pulling the cable down across the opposite side of your chest too. If it still persists, TB500/BPC157 shots or oral for a couple weeks.
Anybody think that's a bit of a wide grip but me? I had problems when i used go to wide when i was younger. I had the worst shoulder pain when i just started back myself. I'm about to be 40. I did allot of internal rotation and stretching. The some deca/npp in. And walla good as knew. Are you running any gear right now? Like any firm of nandrolone? If so and your having those issues that's pretty bad.
Yeah man too wide of a grip definitely gives me shoulder issues. I feel comfortable going ring finger on ring or middle finger on ring.
No, I am not running gear at this time. I am just looking to get a good base up and running and some fat off before getting into gear again. That being said, I did order a small starter package to get me back on. I am looking to do Clen right now to help with the fat. But today I found out why I have issues and its because of two tears. One in the deltoid and one in the rotator cuff.
Do you find you have the same issue if you do a DB press instead of barbell bench?
I find that when i go heavier with incline and over head press i tend to get a throbbing pain deeper inside my shoulders. I'll start hanging from a pull up bar for 60 seconds a day and move up lowly over time. I do a relaxed hang instead of an active hang where you tense the muscles and keep your shoulder back. Do the relaxed hang starts to open up the shoulders joints after a few days and keeps getting better the longer i do it. Within a few weeks i have no pain at all. Not sure if this will help you but it can't hurt to give it a try.
I do but not as bad as the barbell. I had a MRI done today. That set me back $3500 usd and found that I have two issues. I have a minor tear in the lateral deltoid and a rotator cuff tear in the supraspinatus. It was suggested that I do PT but I cannot afford it. I have been now researching rotator cuff exerciese since. I did read in several places to do therapy weight exercieses and work on the lateral and posterior deltoid. Now, I am not a doctor but I will be sure to write about this in 6-8 weeks. The doctor told me to stop lifting for 4-6 weeks and do rotator cuff excercies until I return.
So you got that MRI huh? I figured Doc would refer you to PT afterwards. This will be interesting how this turns out and I wish you the best brother. I know you'll come back better and stronger.
yeah, he did refer me to PT but I told him I cannot afford it. He offered some advice and a few other narcotics. I took him up on the advice but told him to keep the narcotics.
He should have told you how severe the tear is? For example he'll say grade 1 or 2 tear for an example
Maybe a cycle of bpc/tb would be helpful for you. I have read of others with rotator cuff issues getting things fixed up by using that combo.
@esogenics DEFINATELY TRY THESE!! I am sure they will help if they are both small tears.