Why does my shoulder joint hurt when I do bench press in the gym?

In recent years, people are more and more fond of fitness, which not only improves the physical fitness, but also has a good effect on weight loss and body shaping. When doing weight loss bench press, if the operation is improper, it is easy to cause shoulder joint strain and cause shoulder pain. The main reasons for such pain are improper operation, excessive outward extension of the shoulders, or the bench press distance is too wide, etc.

First: Shoulder instability!

During the bench press, the upper back must be squeezed and the shoulder blades must play a stabilizing role (retracting and sinking) and act as a platform. During the bench press, if the scapula is unstable, let the shoulder be in an internal rotation and shrug position! Can cause shoulder injuries!

What to do

Retract and drop the shoulder blades

The purpose of retracting and sinking the shoulder blades is to stabilize the shoulder blades, protect the shoulders, reduce the distance of the bench press (a technique for bench press competitions), etc.

You can imagine bending the bar or stretching it.

Turn the "elbow socket" forward, slightly externally rotate the shoulder, and rotate the palm counterclockwise at the same time. It seems like the barbell is about to break!

External rotation of the shoulder can pull the humerus back into the glenoid fossa of the shoulder joint, pulling the scapula backward and downward, and returning the scapula to the correct position. It brings torque to the shoulder socket, which is very important because it turns the scapula into a very stable platform during the bench press and prevents the rotator cuff from being squeezed and injured by the acromion.

Second: Excessive shoulder abduction!

Excessive shoulder abduction! It means "when you push up and down, the angle between your upper arm (humerus) and your torso is large, tending to be 90 degrees and parallel to your shoulder."

The angle between the upper arm and the torso is 90 degrees. Excessive abduction of the shoulder will cause your shoulder to be in an unstable state! The humerus moves away from the glenoid fossa and the scapula is lifted, causing a loss of shoulder stability! The shoulder capsule will be placed under tremendous pressure, which increases the risk of collision or friction between the glenohumeral joint head and other tissues within the joint capsule. When the bench press reaches the lowest point, the inferior glenohumeral ligament and the middle glenohumeral ligament will be hyperextended, and the chance of ligament and tendon collision or friction between the acromion and glenohumeral joint will increase.

It is recommended that the angle between the upper arm and the torso should be maintained at about 45 degrees when doing the bench press!

Third: The grip is too wide!

Many people think that the wider the breasts are, the greater the stimulation to the chest muscles will be. In fact, this is a misunderstanding!

Lying too wide will increase the shoulder abduction angle (same as above), causing the elbows to float up, which will increase the pressure on the shoulder joint and cause anterior shoulder pain.

It is recommended to choose a grip slightly wider than shoulder width. Note that when the barbell falls to the bottom, the forearm must be almost vertical to the ground. If the barbell is not directly above the forearm, it will cause unnecessary torque in the grip, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. Memorize your optimal grip distance so you can find it quickly each time you practice.