Press substitute - lack of shoulder ROM

[sika]

Hello coaches,
I have limited ROM in my shoulders and it doesn't seem to improve no matter what stretching and rolling protocol I follow. To give you some idea:
- If I raise my hands from the sides, they form an angle of about 120 degrees.
- If I raise my hands from the front, they're about 20 degrees from vertical.

I can hang from a bar with arms straight up, it just seems like I can't contract the relevant muscles any further to get my hands there on their own. When I press I take a shoulder width grip which forces my arms straight up at the top, but I have to lean back to get the bar over my shoulder joints.

Is incline bench pressing an option for now? I will keep working on mobility, but I'm afraid it will take a while until I'm ready to press.

Here's a video from today. I keep stalling around 50 kg, which is probably due to lack of microplates as much as it is mobility. (My bench is at 95) On the 4th rep I got a little discomfort in my lower back due to the back arch. I know this is bad, it's just that I can't straighten up with the bar overhead. If my torso were straight, the barbell would be way out in front of me.

[Nick Delgadillo]

What happens when you use an empty bar?

[sika]

This


Before I picked the bar up I put my hands up as high as I could. Looks like I'm leaning back a bit even there though.

[Nick Delgadillo]

I'm not as concerned about your lockout as I am about the overextension of your low back. It would be great to see what your press looks like while you keep a neutral spine. As much as you can as you're a naturally a bit lordotic. Get your abs really tight and do a Press 1.0. It may help to do this out of stands or a rack.

[sika]

I'll give it a try on Monday, although I'm pretty sure it will look like a sieg heil with a barbell.

[sika]

Here are my attempts at press 1.0 with empty bar.

[Nick Delgadillo]

Bring your hands a little bit closer together and your elbows forward so that your forearms are vertical when viewed from the front and the side. I think you should stick to press 1.0 for now. Make sure to keep your abs tight. I'm still not sure what exactly is going on here, but the position of your low back at the end looks a lot better without the hip kick. If you need to reset to a really light weight, do it.

[sika]

Thanks a lot Nick. I tried with just the bar today but it was too crowded for filming. I've used a slightly wider grip before due to my inability to extend my hands overhead. Shoulder width grip worked though and I think I got my forearms vertical in the start position.

[Nick Delgadillo]

Good. It'll be interesting to see what happens.