Shoulders in

[grv575]

For the bench press, I see a lot of recommendations on forums for a shoulders in position (possibly as a reaction to the 90 degree shoulders out body building bench seen a lot in gyms).

What are the consequences of say a 60 degree shoulder angle compared to say 45 degrees for shoulder health. Is a 45 degree angle worse for the shoulders, maybe since it creates a small lever arm between the bar and the shoulders which must be stabilized by the shoulders? Or is there some anatomical aspect of how the shoulders work that I'm overlooking, so that 45 degrees may be somehow less stress on the shoulder joints (although might not make for as efficient a bench press)? Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

60 degrees is about where we illustrate the position in the book, for the reasons you state. The lever arm between the bar and the shoulder is manageably short somewhere between 60 and 75 degrees, with 45 degrees getting too far away. The lever arm is obviously 0 at 90 degrees, but the glenoid doesn't like to be loaded in this position, so 60-75 is a good place to bench press.