How To Bench Press Without Shoulder Pain (4 Mistakes You’re Probably Making)

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The bench press is one of the most effective exercises for developing and strengthening the upper body. However, despite its effectiveness, it’s also the one exercise that lifters seem to have the most trouble with; primarily due to shoulder pain when benching or after benching. And in many cases, this is simply a result of various tweaks that need to be made in your bench press form. In this video, I’ll go through exactly how to bench without pain and how to permanently avoid shoulder pain when benching.

The first bench press form mistake people make that causes shoulder pain is failing to retract the shoulderblades throughout the press. Whenever we’re benching, we want to have our shoulder blades retracted or pinched together as if you were going to pinch a pencil between those blades. If we don’t have the shoulder blades retracted what actually tends to happen is the upper arm will round forward which can cause shoulder pain when benching. So what you want to do is before you press, depress your upper, and then pinch your shoulders blades together. Then, maintain this tightness by actively squeezing your shoulder blades together as you bench press, and avoid the mistake of opening up the shoulder blades and losing tightness at the bottom or as you push up.

Another common mistake contributing to shoulder pain while bench pressing is benching with a completely flat back. Although most people won’t need an exaggerated arch as seen with powerlifters, you do want to ensure there’s some arch present between in your upper back. And the reason for this is similar to what we saw with retracting your shoulder blades, as a slight arch in the upper back places the glenohumeral joint in an externally rotated, safer position. But to properly implement this while avoiding injury, note that you’re not simply arching your lower back. What you want to do is arch your upper back instead by retracting your shoulder blades as we previously discussed, and then raise your chest up towards the ceiling which will naturally create space between your back and the bench which you then want to maintain as a solid base of support for your press.

Next, to bench press without pain, you need to avoid the mistake of touching the bar too high on your chest while excessively flaring the elbows out at a 90 degree angle and pressing the bar straight up and down. This puts the shoulder in an internally rotated position and can thus cause pain when benching. So what you want to do is instead realize that the bar path of your bench press shouldn’t be straight up and down. It should actually start above your shoulder, come down to around the level of your sternum or nipple height and then curve diagonally back towards the starting point. And to achieve this without harming your shoulders, you need to tuck your elbows to roughly a 75-degree angle such that your elbows remain closer to the body and more or less directly under the bar throughout each rep. This will not only lead to a safer press, but a stronger one as well.

Lastly, avoid the bench press form mistake of not having your elbows stacked under the bar. This creates unnecessary torque on the shoulder joint which can then cause shoulder pain. If your elbows are unaligned when viewed from the front or back, then the problem is likely with your grip width that needs adjusting. If your elbows are unaligned when viewed from the side, then it’s likely that you’re overtucking your elbows too close to your sides when you press. So to fix this, you simply want to adjust the angle of your elbow during the press by flaring them out a little more such that they remain relatively underneath the bar.

Now if you want to see the best results then it’s vital that you not only choose the right exercises and variations, but that you also implement and progress them correctly within your routine. And this is exactly what my Built With Science programs do. They’re designed to be an all-in-one evidence-based program that optimizes all your training variables AND nutrition such that you’re able to progress as quickly as possible.

To get started, simply take my starting-point analysis tool further below to find which program is best for you:

WRITTEN ARTICLE:

FILMED + MOTION GRAPHIC EDITING DONE BY:
Abdo Megahid
Instagram: @abdohmegahed

FILMED AT:
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Listen to this dude, especially if you are a beginner and you will save yourself from a world of pain.

masterg
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Damnnn! I think this is the most comprehensive and clear video on youtube on how to bench press! You've lifted your video's to an even higher lever bro ;)

TheBengaal
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I’m only 25 but I wish I could tell my 18 year old self the importance of form.

simranthiara
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wow, i watched this after my first set of bench today bc my left shoudler has been hurting lately on chest day. i fixed my grip width, squeezed my back, and arched a little more and INSTANTLY didn’t feel the pain anymore. great video, thanks for the help

baileyfortay
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1. Shoulder blades not retracted throughout the press 0:40
2. Benching with no arch 2:11
3. Wrong touching position 3:13
4. Elbows not stacked under the bar 4:23

charlieduong
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Somehow you manage to make videos on stuff that’s been bothering me is insane. Keep up the good work! 👌👍💪

dylanwhite
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Man I have struggled with shoulder pain for YEARS during my press. I have watched this video before my last 2 benches, and implemented your technique, and I felt better during my bench now then I did back in H.S.! Definitely subscribing!

JBennett
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This is by far the best video I've found for the bench press. EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. is packed full of science based information. I watch them a few times and take notes and the result is increased progress in the gym. Thank you so much man!

TimHaunFishing
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I wish they had taught me this when I first started doing the bench press. I always struggled with shoulder pain for chest exercises in general and it all stopped when I saw a previous video teaching to arch the back. Just doing that made me never feel shoulder pain again. Usually you'd think that doing that awkward position would be anatomically wrong.

gustavosanches
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I did this with existing shoulder pain. When I implemented all these rules - guess what?.. no pain!!! Even though I feel shoulder pain even when I just move around, leave alone bench pressing incorrectly (like I used to). Thank you so much for this video! It literally saved my health and my workouts!! I would get so frustrated that I can't bench press and complete my workout plan!

LyudmilaMihajlovna
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Glad to see the new and improved quality of vid!! The explanation as always very clear!

NKOHD
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What a timing!! Thanks a lot, currently working on that mind-muscle conncection 💪🏻
Keep up the good work man 🙏🏻🍀

rey
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I just did my first bench press, in years, three days ago. Just using the bar, it was uncomfortable on my shoulder, so I decided to continue leaving the bench press out of my workout. After watching this video, I’ll give it another try. Thanks!

mosin
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I love the way he’s so clear because other you tubers tend to over complicate things

jackwrigth
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I've had so much trouble with my bench. I slowly realized many of these problems in my form on my own just by gauging pain and strength outcomes. But, this... this is literally everything I've been worried about for months summed up, simplified, and processed. God

kev
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After watching all your "How to" videos I feel weaker because it is a lot harder to do properly but I feel my muscles much better and it is very much visible if you do everything right. Much appreciated that you are showing how to do all the exercises.

bevik
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Great video, Jeremy! I destroyed my left shoulder back in 2016, benching improperly, and it hasn't been the same since. I've watched tons of videos on bench press form/mistakes since and this has by far been the best one/easiest to follow I've seen.

BaconOtaku
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You have the best weight training videos on Youtube, Clear, straight to the point and not too much talking.

researchandbuild
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Ive been waiting too long for this kind of detailed video for doing bench press. Another amazing vid Jeremy. Keep it up!

dongoat
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Finally someone who explains how to retract shoulder blades, great video.

joseantoniomartinez