“My Shoulder Hurts When I Bench Press” - NOT ANYMORE!

If you have shoulder pain when you bench press you are definitely going to want to watch this video. You may even think you have a justified reason for having the shoulder pain if you have either a rotator cuff or labrum tear, bursitis, ac joint issue or impingement. While that may be true, that sort of focus on the structure is often times undermining your ability to get to the root cause of the problem which is the instability of the shoulder instead.

You see, the structure (while compromised) can always be protected against further injury if the stability of the shoulder is not compromised. The muscles of the scapulae and rotator cuff are there to serve an important function to stabilize the humerus as you perform each rep of the bench press. This occurs both on the way up and on the way down on every rep.

Things that hurt at the bottom of the bench press could be a torn labrum or biceps tendon, which get placed in a disadvantageous position at the fully stretched position near the chest. When you get further up towards lockout you may experience additional biceps tendon pain as it slides in and out of the groove of the upper arm, or even a bursitis or impingement of one of the other supporting structures or tendons of the shoulder.

Either way, it really isn’t about the structure that is hurting as much as it’s about the fact that it is likely hurting because it is not stabilized by the muscles that should be stabilizing it. So what you can do is easy and will take just a single set to convince yourself of this. Simply take a weight that is one half of what you would normally use for a 10-12 rep set taken to failure. For the purposes of the demonstration in this video I’m using a light dumbbell.

First start by setting the shoulder blades down and back. Don’t just get them to this position and forget about them. Get them here and then focus on keeping them in this stabile position from the first rep to the last. The key is that you establish this stabilized position first and never let it up. The second biggest key is the tempo. When you lift each rep on the bench press this slowly and mindfully it forces you to prioritize stability over load.

I’m not saying that you lift this way exclusively. What I’m saying is that this can be used as both a diagnostic tool and a method of convincing yourself just how possible it is for you to bench press without shoulder pain. You can opt to try and progressively increase your strength in this stabilized position by gradually adding weight to the lift without allowing the onset of pain.

The key is that you not feel any more pain in your shoulders when you bench. It is entirely possible. Simply focus on what I’m showing you here and institute it the very next time you bench press and I promise you will not feel pain. From here, it would be important that you train your chest with this classic strength building exercise and stop omitting it from your training because it hurt you in the past.

For more videos on how to bench press and the proper form when doing an incline bench press or flat bench press, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at the link below and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

[athleanx]

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If you don’t win, no worries. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…

[theprosico]

Jeff: Enters the gym

Cable rope attachment: Aw shit, here we go again

[PatrickReynoldsfit]

If Jeff doesn’t go on the joe rogan podcast we all should internally rotate our shoulders

[NumberPKAFan]

Jeff doesn't wear hairgel his hair muscles are just flexed

[jackjeffrey]

This guy is the real deal.No bro-science just real science, plus he doesn’t make you feel like a failure just because you can’t move the weights he does. I am 63 and have been training with weights since I was 16 and I wish there had been someone like him around then. I have shoulder problems from playing sports plus two car accidents but I refuse to give up. Most of what I do now I learned from Jeff and recently I have noticed a lot of people at my gym using movements from his videos so he has reached and I am sure helped a lot of people as well. Keep up the good work Jeff! And yes I do the face pulls.
Jack Jeffrey, Ontario, Canada.

[mmafighter]

-Doctor, it hurts when i do this!
-Then don't do this.

[tiimsmiith]

Pastor: Do you Jeff, take Facepulls to be your lawfully wedded wife?

Jeff: I do.

[andy-pvgx]

Been struggling for weeks with my shoulder...followed your advice and was amazed at the results...thanks Jeff.

[diffrentcopy]

Jeff, stop listening into my conversations. about 3 weeks ago hurt my shoulder and needed this video, thanks. 3rd time ive had a pain and less than a month you get the vid out to help.

[rishabhrao]

Do superset of bench press with face pulls to avoid shoulder pain 😅

[majunior]

Is it possible to overdose on AthleanX videos? I think I'm addicted

[vuluv]

I’m a high-school student doing weight and strength training. Ironically today I felt sudden pain in my shoulders today after doing my bench press and shoulder presses, helped me out a lot, thanks Jeff, no more pain for me ✋🏼

[NewYorkCityBoxing]

I had rotator cuff surgery years ago and this morning when I was bench pressing I heard a loud pop in that shoulder when the bar was at my chest. I really appreciate this information.

[messaroundaccount]

Legend has it that Jeff does charity work by knocking out people in the local gym who don’t do facepulls

[alexandernichev]

Jeff please do the perfect push or pull workout

[Based_in_reality]

I had a lot of pain in my shoulders while benching. I already started changing my approach because of what Jeff recommends and now I'm back to making increases pain free! Almost made my goal of 300lbs! This video serves to reinforce my understanding of the better technique and keep pressing! Thanks Jeff! You are one of the reasons I am going to school to become a PTA! I see just how important it is to be able to understand movement and execute it properly!

[thevboyzz]

Just wanted to tell you thanks for everything Jeff. I have been training for years but not Athlean X type of training. You are a big inspiration and I have been following your Videos for about a month now and already see Massive gains and more shredded then I have ever been. Thank you for everything keep being you and keep coming with the videos.

[samirlo]

How could you dislike.He is literally the best in the business

[naman_saxena]

Jeff doesn't use his hands while peeing because it causes internal rotation of his shoulders.

[mitchelpynakker]

I have been waiting for someone to tell me this.

Spent too long saying I can’t bench YET because of my labrum or impingement.
NEEDED THIS. Thanks again Jeff.