Bench Press Injury Alternatives

[phalzee]

I'm 59 and currently have been following the intermediate old-guy program described in the latest version of PPST for a few months. Over the past month or so, increasing right shoulder pain has made it harder and harder to bench.

The shoulder pain stems from an AC joint tear I suffered 20+ years ago in a bicycle crash. I had x-rays taken a couple weeks ago that show "widening of the (AC) joint" but no evidence of "degenerative disease." So good news…no arthritis; bad news…it fucking hurts.

My shoulder doesn't bother me much outside the gym; only when I lift. So I've started with NSAID (naproxyn) and ice before I workout. So far I'm having limited succes with this. My question is, if it turns out I'm unable to bench, what should I do instead?

First I tried dumbell bench and it seemed worse for my shoulder than using the bar. So it seems to me there's two ways to proceed. (Three if you count just dropping bench press and I don't want to do that.) The first would be to use machines that replicate the bench press motion. I've tried the Hammer Strength machine and it seems promising. Second is cable cross over, or other chest flye-type movements.

Any suggestions?

[Greg Esres]

Have you tried neutral grip pressing?

[hamburgerfan]

Maybe try to reduce the ROM. Board press, floor press, etc. Pin presses are unlikely to be easier on the shoulder though.

[GaryC]

I would vote floor presses. If you can't set up for floor presses with the rack you have, you can bench with a thick pad in the middle of the bar.

[phalzee]

Thanks for the suggestions all. Neutral grip was much better, but starting at the bottom was bad. At the bottom of the range of motion is where it's most painful. So ideal would be a way to do an actual bench (i.e. start at the top) but using a neutral grip.

Tried bar bench with foam block on my chest to reduce ROM, but didn't provide much (any?) relief.

So far, cable cross-overs seem to be the best option, but it seems it's really nothing like benching. Thinking maybe I'll just double up and do overhead press at every workout instead of alternating with bench and add cable XOs.

[bob g]

Phalzee, were you overhead pressing along the way to your injury? It's fairly well established that doing both OHP and BP in about equal measure keeps the shoulders happy. That's been the case for me. Some folks are fine pressing while rehabbing BP related issues; are you able to OHP now? If so you may want to consider doing Presses until the injured shoulder heals. I'd definitely avoid DB benching.