Shoulderblade pain from presses?

[harbinator]

Anyone else ever have a problem with their back not fitting on a bench properly. Im not sure if Im deformed I know Im not near as wide as some of the guys here (about 55" around shoulders) but when I lay down on a bench I have to constantly try and keep my shoulderblades on the bench. During a heavy lift Ive had a shoulderblade slide off the side of the bench and the next day it aches badly.

So, am I the only one with this problem? Its a Gold's Gym and they use standard hammer strength moveable benchs etc...

 

[georgie24]

shoulder injuries are the worst!!

always warm em up, and control your wieght's

all it takes is fucked up workout and you will have LONG TERM shoulder problems

 

[bigmodean]

Anyone else ever have a problem with their back not fitting on a bench properly. Im not sure if Im deformed I know Im not near as wide as some of the guys here (about 55" around shoulders) but when I lay down on a bench I have to constantly try and keep my shoulderblades on the bench. During a heavy lift Ive had a shoulderblade slide off the side of the bench and the next day it aches badly.

So, am I the only one with this problem? Its a Gold's Gym and they use standard hammer strength moveable benchs etc...

As long as my spine is centered and feet planted solidly on floor,somewhat spread apart,I balance well,what are you doing with you legs and feet while on bench?

 

[harbinator]

As far as I know I have them planted well, thats the kinda thing I dont think I would notice myself doing wrong unless someone was watching and pointed it out.

Ive gotten much better about it and the pain is starting to subside but I have to concentrate half of my lift on keeping my shoulderblades on the bench. Just seems Im doing something wrong and I can't figure it out.

 

[Creepusmaximus]

Do you lift one side at a different pace than the other? I just don't see sliding off the bench without being way off balance to one side. If that's true take the collars off the bars, then if you get out of wack you'll feel the weight slide around. Worst case the weights fall off the one side then the other and you make a lot of noise and look like a complete Jackass. Do that once or twice and I would bet your form would be much better.

 

[BiggT]

Some general advice is just do a check and make sure you're staying tight, pinching the shoulder blades together and tucking the elbows into the lats on the way down.

I know the benches you're talking about.....they are not exactly Forza's competition line, lol, but they are definitely okay for use, however they're not exactly build 'Ford Tough' lol. An old gym I used to go to had the Hammer Strength brand flat and incline benches. Out of curiosity, and for what it's worth, I just measured my shoulders around, and the 60" tape was a good several inches away from closing and I never had any real problems with the benches being too narrow.....although they are sort of sucky/cheap benches though, and the gyms buying them thinking they saved a buck will only have to spend to replace them within 5 years if anybody tossing around more than token weights uses them for any length of time.

 

[NJL52]

tucking the elbows into the lats on the way down.

All the way? Wouldn't that make it just a tricep press?

 

[BiggT]

All the way? Wouldn't that make it just a tricep press?

The width of your grip would determine how much tricep activation you get. Tucking them ala a close-grip bench is the correct way to bench though, actually a lot of people need to use close-grips before they really have the form 'click'.

 

[Cynical Simian]

All the way? Wouldn't that make it just a tricep press?

Take a look at your copy of Starting Strength - if I remember correctly, Rippetoe has a nice diagram of elbow positions that are too far out, too far in, and correct.

 

[NJL52]

Take a look at your copy of Starting Strength - if I remember correctly, Rippetoe has a nice diagram of elbow positions that are too far out, too far in, and correct.

In SS Rippetoe has them at around a 30 degree angle to the perpindicular of your body.

Something like: / (left arm)
o ----< (torso and head)
\ (right arm)

Tucked into the lats I would assume is close to
o (head)
/||\ (right arm, torso, left arm)

or closer.

In fact, heres the picture from the book, page 83.

http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.0&disp=inline&view=att&th=10fa2583c12d7fbd

Sorry for the crappy diagrams.

 

[Cynical Simian]

The link doesn't work, but it looks like you have the idea of what I was trying to get you to see. Basically, "tucking your elbows in" is just a cue, and unless you have really odd proportions or are using a very narrow grip they won't be all the way in.

 

[NJL52]

The link doesn't work, but it looks like you have the idea of what I was trying to get you to see. Basically, "tucking your elbows in" is just a cue, and unless you have really odd proportions or are using a very narrow grip they won't be all the way in.

Ahhhh mindgames.

BTW I'm not the thread starter, my shoulders are fine =P

 

[harbinator]

Its getting better now, it just seems I have to concentrate way too hard on positioning on the bench. When I see small frys that have never lifted come into the gym and lift with terrible form but don't have the same problem I do. Just wondering how I ended up with such an odd problem, you know most of the time you're doing something wrong form-wise its a widespread problem and you can look on elitefitness for a quick answer.

 

[bigmodean]

Thats why us "plats" donate to the cause,no source (for info)like this in the world!