Perhaps you've felt it before. The dull ache somewhere in your shoulder. The stiffness and trouble moving your arm through a full range of motion. Something that feels like tendnitis or worse in the elbow. Many times the blame is placed on one exercise: the Olympic Barbell Bench Press. Perhaps sometimes this is warranted, but it can often be avoided through some sound practices.
Always Use a Lift-Off On Any Weight over 45 lb (i.e. the weight of the bar)
Most people want to work their chest, triceps, or both when bench pressing. The motion of un-racking the bar by yourself hardly engages either of those muscle groups, but does place an excessive amount of stress on the rotator cuff. Not only that, but many times un-racking yourself can put you out of position, and causes the need to readjust before you begin the lift.
Always Maintain a Natural Arch
If you look at a picture of the spine, you will notice the Lumbar and Thoracic regions have a natural curve to them. Trying to make your back completely flat will actually put your spine out of natural alignment, as well as make it hard to keep your shoulders back, which brings me to my next point.
Keep Your Shoulders Relaxed Back and Pressed Into the Bench (Retracted)
Anytime your shoulders roll forward in the bench movement, the contraction will transfer from the pecs to the shoulder girdle, which we don't want to happen. A simple trick is to imagine there is a pencil between your shoulder blades and traps that you are trying to pinch. Keep them pinched together throughout the whole lift. This will prevent your shoulders from rolling forward, and keep the contraction on your chest.
Don't Lower the Bar Too High Up On Your Chest
The higher you touch the bar on your chest (closer to your face), the more shoulder flexibility is required to touch the bar to your chest. Usually somewhere around your nipple line is where you want the bar to touch, depending on how big of an arch you are using (The higher the arch, the further away from your sternum the bar will be). The bar should move in a straight pattern, only slightly coming towards your face at the end of the movement.
Don't Flare Your Elbows
Keeping your elbows flared won't work the pecs more effectively, but rather will place more stress on your shoulder. Your elbows should be "tucked" slightly. Imagine your torso and arms create an angle. If your elbows are flared, the angle is 90 degrees. Now think about where your elbows will be if you decrease that angle to 45 degrees. This is called tucking your elbows. The actual position of your arms will vary from person to person. Just find what feels comfortable for you.
Don't Come to a Complete Lockout at the End of the Lift
Imagine all the force that is being applied to your elbows when you do. A safe bet is to come to 90-95% of a lockout, where your chest and triceps receive a full contraction, but the load isn't transferred to your elbows. This can apply to most lifts.
Focus on "Finding Your Slot"
There is a perfect position for your body as far as bench pressing. When you hit that perfect form, everything will feel comfortable and natural, and you won't have any joint pain. Try to make every rep feel and look the same. This will also lead to greater strength and size gains.
Achieve Balance in Your Body Structure
If one muscle is over-developed, and that muscles antagonist (opposite) is under-developed, your body will let you know it. For example, if most of my workouts are lots of pressing with little pulling work, my chest is going to be overdeveloped in comparison to my back. Your upper back includes some very tiny muscles known as the rotator cuff. If this imbalance exists, my chest and shoulder muscles will actually begin to change my body's structure, and pull my shoulder girdle forward. This will stretch the rotator cuff muscles ( which are already small to begin with) to an unnatural position, putting them at an extreme risk of injury. ( If you've ever seen people with shoulders that are slumped and rolled forward this is what has happened.) This principle is true with any muscle group. Many injuries can be avoided by giving sufficient attention to all muscle groups. A way to fix this imbalance would be to greatly increase the volume of pulling exercises (lat pull-downs, face pulls, reverse flies, rows) and if needed decrease the volume of pressing movements until the imbalance is gone (you will know, because if the problem is an imbalance, the pain will go away when you fix it). If you are short on time, a good (though not the only) option is to super-set opposing muscle groups. That way each muscle receives equal attention. Plus it's a heck of a workout.
Replace Assisted Reps (the spotter helping you get multiple reps) and Partial Bench Presses (only coming halfway down on the eccentric portion of the lift, before going back up) With Board Presses
All three of these ideas are meant to adapt the body's nervous system to heavier weight. We know the shorter the distance you move the bar, the more weight you can use. However, with partial bench presses only going halfway down, your joints take the brunt of the load when you stop suddenly and press back up. Placing boards on your chest will still allow you to get the same effect, but the weight will transfer to your chest instead of your joints when you reverse the momentum.
Avoid an Excessively Wide or Narrow Grip
Because of the angle caused by an excessively wide grip, a lot of strain can be placed on the shoulder girdle. That being said, the longer your arms are and broader your shoulders, the wider the grip you will need. What may be too wide for one person may not be for another. If you feel a pinching sensation in your shoulder as you lower the bar, your grip is probably too wide. Experiment until you find a pain-free position.
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Begin increasing weight after you feel comfortable with your form. Don't worry if the weight isn't good enough for someone else, because they were once where you are now. ( Or sometimes, ironically, are below your current fitness level.) Not only will you save yourself from injury by perfecting your form, you will also make faster progress using good form, even if initially you lift less weight. Everyone starts somewhere, and through patience and persistence you will be able to achieve your goals. You just have to stay ri-FIT-ulous!
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