Slingshot/Elite FTS shoulder saver

[Bbinck1]

Do you ever use either of these items with your clients?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't, sorry. But I don't really have any clients now.

[Bbinck1]

Understand. I am inclined to just keep benching old school without any of these things but I wondered if they might increase my longevity over the long haul. Though I suspect my poverty 240 bench is not high enough to really matter.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Is your shoulder injured now?

[CommanderFun]

I thought the main utility of those slingshot type devices was to let equipped lifters practice for equipped benching without having to get the whole shirt on.

[UberBabs]

I bought a Slingshot a while back at the suggestion of my coach. Here's a tip: Don't get one if you have breast implants.

[Bbinck1]

No i bench essentially pain free now, and my press is entirely normal. I did the ring press shoulder rehab protocol (more or less) which was good. I do press 2:1 to bench (frequency) now and am more cautious (meaning I really really warm up properly I a, careful about volume and don’t do stupid shit like try to do 1 rep maxes. I am not as strong as before it was repaired but close (240ish vs 275). But I’m also older now and more lifting to maintain at this point. I considered giving up bench entirely but since I can do it pain free I haven’t because I figured it is probably better to just try to be as close to standard programming wise. My question was more do these things help prevent injury in the first place, but I suspect that limiting the range of motion which is what I think the shoulder saver does probably doesn’t help much. I have zero idea of how the slingshot helps unless it helps with reinforcing an elbows in motion pattern which I suppose could help avoid impingement. Anyway I figured you would know if there was a real benefit for people with previous shoulder injuries or whether it’s just stuff for geared competitors.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Shoulder saver pad thing is great for training around shoulders that don’t like flat benching. The slingshot is a different animal. It just reduces the LOAD at the bottom of the range of motion, but you still use a full range of motion. That’s often the problem in the Bench - the bottom. The shoulder saver pad shaves off a few inches and for SOME, makes flat benching tolerable and thus trainable. For short guys like me with short arms it makes the range of motion so short that it doesn’t seem productive (ie 3 board presses are dumb). For an old tall guy with arthritic shoulders and long arms it’s a really good tool.

[Bbinck1]

Shoulder saver pad thing is great for training around shoulders that don’t like flat benching. The slingshot is a different animal. It just reduces the LOAD at the bottom of the range of motion, but you still use a full range of motion. That’s often the problem in the Bench - the bottom. The shoulder saver pad shaves off a few inches and for SOME, makes flat benching tolerable and thus trainable. For short guys like me with short arms it makes the range of motion so short that it doesn’t seem productive (ie 3 board presses are dumb). For an old tall guy with arthritic shoulders and long arms it’s a really good tool.

That is helpful. I have long arms and some arthritis in r shoulder. I may just give it a try and see. Thanks.

[Matt James]

Shoulder saver pad thing is great for training around shoulders that don’t like flat benching. The slingshot is a different animal. It just reduces the LOAD at the bottom of the range of motion, but you still use a full range of motion. That’s often the problem in the Bench - the bottom. The shoulder saver pad shaves off a few inches and for SOME, makes flat benching tolerable and thus trainable. For short guys like me with short arms it makes the range of motion so short that it doesn’t seem productive (ie 3 board presses are dumb). For an old tall guy with arthritic shoulders and long arms it’s a really good tool.

I'm dealing with a shoulder injury at the moment (labrum injury, non-SLAP) along with some rotator cuff tendinitis, and have just begun exploring limiting the ROM in the bench press since the bottom position irritates it. Would you program the limited ROM bench in a similar way to the regular bench?