Shoulder position on the Bench.

[DaveJF]

Have a tendency to volitionally pull my scapula down the bench when I push my chest up b/c somewhere along the line I was taught that, rightly or wrongly. That may have been from a competitive PL'r so as to get an extreme arch, which we here might not really want for our purposes anyhow.

Re-reading that part of the blue book, I believe that is wrong and/or at least not mentioned explicitly.

So, from my understanding, we should be adducting the scapula like you're pinching a pencil in between before raising the chest, otherwise we should neither shrug the shoulders up the bench, or pull the scapula down the bench, correct?

Hope I'm making sense here, thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Shrug your scaps together, then push your arch up from your feet.

[DaveJF]

Thanks Rip, another cue to add to the log book. The OP as it was might've been better off in the technique section as I neglected to mention a dinged-up shoulder. Incidentally, the correct form doesn't hurt nearly as much, go figure.

[Jason Donaldson]

For what it's worth, I've found the cue of pulling the scapulae down ("put them in your back pockets", that kind of thing) can help keep me from shrugging my shoulders UPWARD and aggravating my neck, but that's an overcorrection, and I don't generally need it anymore. Such cues are inherently contextual, and not for general use.

[DaveJF]

For what it's worth, I've found the cue of pulling the scapulae down ("put them in your back pockets", that kind of thing) can help keep me from shrugging my shoulders UPWARD and aggravating my neck, but that's an overcorrection, and I don't generally need it anymore. Such cues are inherently contextual, and not for general use.

The shoulder in question has hurt on and off for over 30 years, originally from a fall (labrum), but also I'm sure has been made worse from questionable form and habits. Long before this I had a spotter tell me that when the set got tough, I'd shrug that shoulder "up" instead of keeping it "in the back pocket".


I guess my cerebellum was either "protecting" it or making up for less strength on that side, or both, but it turns out that scapula was probably ending up where it should've been the whole time.


Next for me is keeping the constant leg-drive for an entire set, another bad habit that will probably be easier to correct with the scapula in the right place.