best way to bench to put least amount of stress on rot cuff?

[KillahBee]

hopefully I will not get conflicting answers here, but, do any of you know from experience/knowledge what is the best way to flat or incline bench in terms of arm angle, where the bar should be on your chest and so on, so that it puts the least amount of stress on my rotator cuff??

thanks

 

[Liftbig]

tuck your elbows, and take it low.

 

[louden_swain]

Hm. . . .

Depends on your goals. . .actually the best way is not benching at all. This is if you want muscle development.

I personally recommend plenty of incline work (barbells and dumbbells and parallel dips).

Who says you can't build a big strong chest with these movements?

 

[d3track]

low incline dumbell presses

 

[bignate73]

flat bench low, elbows 45 deg or less. if you are going to do inclines, keep the elbows tucked also. inclines are easier to stress our shoulder because the range of motion is larger and people tend to flare the elbows and bring the bar high on the chest.

 

[punch]

Louden is correct. Flat benching puts the most strain on the rotator cuffs for sure. Incline work is what I did when I injured my rotator and it helped out greatly. Flat bench is NOT the end all be all. If your a powerlifter maybe, if your not one could make an argument that its an over rated movement.

 

[bignate73]

actually dips place more strain on the anterior deltoid than flat benching could even if going to parallel.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

why not strengthen your rotator cuffs so you are able to do anything you want.

NEVER walk away from a problem or pain. Attack it with intelligence.

http://www.dolfzine.com/page391.htm

 

[bignate73]

why not strengthen your rotator cuffs so you are able to do anything you want.

NEVER walk away from a problem or pain. Attack it with intelligence.

http://www.dolfzine.com/page391.htm

thats a pretty good article. ive used that with alot of people who said "i have a bad rotator cuff". "bad" most of the time means "deconditioned".

 

[Exodus]

an ounce of prevention is worth more than a lb of cure.

train your rotators reguarly so that they dont bother you.

incline has always been worse on my rotators....... the higher you go, (from decline up) places more shoulder rotation. decline has virtually no shoulder rotation. so if you want to flat bench, squeeze your traps, arch your back, fill your abs with big air, bring the bar low, and dont let the elbows flare more than 45 degrees from the midline of your body.

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