Touching the bar when you Bench

[Growinboy]

I am a solid advocate of full range of motion being essential for both strength and growth- guys Ive trained that even missed a portion of a movement see new results when I have them do the whole thing... As far as the pain- 2 things- many lifters do routines (BBer type routines) that cause the shoulder a lot of wear and tear- chest day, shoulder day, back day- in one week you could be working that joint as many as 3 or 4 times! I only do upper body work now once a wk, then twice a wk, alternatively- and my shoulder pain that initially started playing ball in college has now ceased... Another thing that helped my shoulder even when I was working the shoulders a ton, was to hit a different angle- I could incline press with none of the pain flatbench caused me...

 

[IronInsanity]

Another thing that helped my shoulder even when I was working the shoulders a ton, was to hit a different angle- I could incline press with none of the pain flatbench caused me...

Agree with this. Even a 10-20 degree angle can help.

 

[Body_Builder]

Somewhere around 1" above. I also suffer from shoulder pain on my right side frequently. I'll have to try some info given here.

 

[deadweight]

i allways touch chess..i do alot of pause reps and controll reps...pushing the bar upward about half way up ...never lossing tension on my chess...dw

 

[Flathead]

Coming from a powerlifting background I have always brought the bar all the way down and touched my chest at the bottom of the rep. Over the last 5 years or so I have developed shoulder problems of which I get the runaround from my doctor as to what it mat be and he just gives me a shot of cortisone which works for about two weeks. The pain always starts about 3 inches from the chest and progressively gets worse as I lower the weight.

Do you tough the bar to your chest and if so have you experience the same problem? Im trying to decide if its the weight or the full range of motion benching. Up to 275 I do not have any issues, once I get to 315 they progressively start to get worse.

Motion or weight?

I always touch the bar to my chest with a split sec pause. Now there's been times in the past when my shoulder would act up at which point I'll incorporate board presses for a few weeks until it comes around. Beings your in the 3" range I would do double board presses until your shoulder improves.

"Motion or Weight?" > As a PLer myself, that's a tough one to split up as everything we do is based on ROM under load.

Might want to get a second opinion on what exactly is going on in your shoulder. Especially with this issue continuing after 5yrs. Shoulder injuries are no joke.


Flat