Persisten shoulder problems w/ bench press

[njs23]

Ok, so I know this topic has been discussed extensively but I haven't really found much that has helped my situation...Ok stats first of all..

age 24
6'0 230 lbs

squat- 270 3x5 (recent reset from time off, previously 300)
OHP- 145 3 x 5
Deadlift- 370 1x 5
Bench Press- ??


Well after starting the program less than a year ago, I had to omit the bench press because of shoulder pain. From what I've researched it seems to be a rotator cuff injury, that will not go away. I have tried foam rolling, shoulder dislocations, etc to no avail.

I have been only Overhead Pressing without benching for the last 2 months because if I bench, it puts me out for almost a week. So today after that 2 month period, I decided to try and bench to test it out. I did several warm up sets, and the shoulder felt decent, didn't hurt, but I could feel the pain faintly. Then doing a set at 165, I could barely get it racked after a few reps. Now, the weight itself doesn't strain me at all, but the shoulder makes it rediculous to get it up. I can press 145, I should be able to put a hell of a lot more up on the bench.

Any suggestions as to what to do about this? I really do want to bench, and this has been pissing me off for the better part of a year now.

[njs23]

Unfortunately I can't get it checked out by a doctor, or I would have long ago..I haven't done any rehab really, just a lot of foam rolling, and dislocations before pressing. It has helped a little bit, but not enough. Basically my shoulder feels loose, all the time, but very much moreso after benching.

My form is pretty solid, I have paid careful attention to that, as I don't want to make my shoulder even worse...

[Tom Green]

Hows your range of motion? Do you ever do any posterior roator cuff work?

[Dastardly]

Join the club. My shoulders are more fucked that you could imagine.

Have you tried benching with a neutral/parallel grip? (you will need dumb bells or a "football bar" for this. Works fairly well for me.

[barnone]

i would recomend going to mobility wod and looking up all the different shoulder stretches

[njs23]

How would you describe it?
How did it happen?
What you think may contribute to causing it?
What training did you do before it happened, what training were you doing when it happened, what have you done since?
What makes it worse, what makes it better?

Try and be as descriptive as you can, ie. suddenly-gradally happening, sharp-grindy-achey-tingly-numb (pain), where you notice the pain symptoms, anything else you might think relevant (job, hobbies, lifestyle factors that could influence it and that sort of thing)

Nothing specifically happened that I can recall, however the first time I had the pain was after a little league game probably 15 years ago. It has been on and off pain ever since. Ever since I can remember if I even just play some football with friends it will flare up from throwing the ball.

I have been on unemployment and in school for the past year, before that I have always done warehouse work , with some heavy lifting at work, but that never caused any pain...

I have been in the gym pretty consistently (took over a month off this year because of shoulder pain, that's when I decided to omit benching for awhile). The weird part is, I can press, and I can even do dips with no pain at all! That's what I don't understand, you'd think dips would flare it up, but no..

What makes it better is laying off benching, but the thing is I can feel something isn't right with it, even while sitting here idly right now. It's more of a dull pain, and it's kind of hard to describe, but it feels like there's "looseness" if that makes any sense...

[Dutch]

I have had some shoulder problems, though not as serious as you.
you could try this:
don't grip too wide, control the movement, don't bounce.

start training your rotator cuffs
lying external rotations, keep elbow in place, mainly targets infraspinatus and teres minor
strict side raises , really make sure to keep the dumbell on the side of your body and not in front of it. This targets the medial delt and supraspinatus.
rear delt raises, internally rotate your shoulder to keep the medial delt out of the movement.

I wouldn't go below 10 reps, 3 sets per exercise, you could spread them across the week.

this might help fix weakpoints in the shoulder.

[Engel]

Google: "7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution". It will help you understand the shoulder structure and understand potential causes of shoulder pain. I had pain due to limited range of motion. I fixed it with stretches outlined in the book.

[njs23]

WOW...had a revelation, and I should slap my self for not trying this earlier...I moved my grip into to right where the knurling starts, and not only is there zero shoulder pain now, but I can already feel my Press/bench presses are going to skyrocket...I recently lowered my Press weight from 145 to 135 and have been working back up to work on form, and today I did 140 with the closer grip, and POWERED them out with ease, on my last set I did 8 reps just for the hell of it. I started working my bench in again at 155, and with the closer grip, I can tell that I will be able to make some quick, solid gains...I am really stoked

[cpbellavia]

How many bodyweight chin ups can you do?

How much weighted chin up can you do?

Do either of the above cause pain? Do you even try to do either of the above?