Bench Press....... Yay or Nay

[JOKER47]

BB BP kills my shoulder and doesn't seem to do much for my chest. DB give me a much better chest workout. Plus, as mentioned above, I work out alone as well and DB don't require a spotter.

Many guys in here have menetioned that they don't like BB BP either. Everyone is different......Find out what works for you.


.02,
Joker

 

[jstrong20]

you need to do external rotator cuff exercises which will help rehabilitate and strengthen your shoulders.

 

[Fener]

You said it fonz, bp is a rotator cuff wrecker. i quit it a long time ago, and since then i've been able to build my chest to my best shape. A chest press machine is the best tool for working out chest if you have a suffering shoulder, belive me on that! dumbell inclines don't bother my shoulder either. After i passed the injury i discovered that i can do preatty much everithing (flat dumbell, heavy dips) but i'll never go back to flat barbell press. I can make an exception for the close grip bench press after pre exhausting my triceps, since the close grip suites my shoulders better and with prexhaustion the wheight is little.

 

[The_Eviscerator]

It isn't your shoulders that are fucked up, it is probably your form. Your scapulas should be tight as a drum touching each other during the lift and they should not flare out. Your ass and your upper back should be touching the bench. You should grab the bar at a comfortable width and try to pull the bar apart as you are doing the lift. If you follow these recommendations your shoulders should feel much better.

Believe me I had the same problem years ago and my form was the culprit. Now 5 years later I have no shoulder pain whatsoever.

 

[Burgboy]

Bench presses seemed to fuck my shoulder up on a regular basis....but about a year ago a fellow at a gym in detroit saved me....i always had great form imo...kept my ass and back down and did a fluid motion....Well the detroit dude showed me how taking the bar to my nips and not upper chest will help with shoulder injury and since then no problems...it truly has worked for me.

 

[DrSuperSaint]

I say YAY in moderation and alternate with DB presses

 

[G-Force]

I can understand people refusing to give up benching if it is not causing them any grief but IMO there are better exercises for chest that have a more complete range of motion and are less risky!

 

[The_Eviscerator]

I can understand people refusing to give up benching if it is not causing them any grief but IMO there are better exercises for chest that have a more complete range of motion and are less risky!

In a way I agree. Decline Dumbell Bench slams the shit out of my chest.

Still, Bench Press is still the king of all chest exercises.

 

[tury]

use a false grip

I used to have some shoulder problems when bench pressing, but a power lifter told me to use a false grip because using a false grip will allow your elbow to be directly below your wrist, so that your first motion is to push straight up. alot of the stress on the shoulder come from the regular grip because with a regular grip your elbows are pointing out just slightly, and the first motion that you do is to move your shoulder to align the elbow and the wrist so that you can press the weight up. Believe it or not it works, I know false grip flat,decline, incline and even military and have not had any shoulder problems since doing that. the only problem is that you drop weight until you get used to it and it also seems to ulitize your triceps a little bit more, but my bench is way up with no shoulder pains whatsoever.

 

[Ryvor]

One of the main things that ruins people rotator cuffs is bringing the bar too far down. If you're prone to having shoulder problems you should only be bringing the bar down so far that your upper arms(Bi's and Tri's area) are parallel(even) with the ground. Once you begin going lower than this you start getting in that area of tearing up your rotator cuff. Try it, the shoulder pain will go away and you will still get a killer chest work out.