Shoulder pain and bench press: what do they have to do with each other?

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a physiotherapist.

My knowledge of the human body can be summed up in tables of Delavier's superclassical volumes: those with anatomical models drawn while doing very powerful exercises, colored active muscle groups, barbells, lat machine.

But if I have no medical knowledge, I have one thing that can do everyone good: I spent six months with a sore shoulder following some nonsense done in bench press, and I only got out of it after a lot of swearing, some technicality, and a proverbial shot of ***.

Let's begin.

Introduction: the "pain in the shoulder"

And nothing. Imagine a pain that throws pointed stars and lightning bolts every time you move your right shoulder. Oh no: not only when you move it, but also when you are stationary. Or when you are lying in bed. In short: always.

Imagine being in a car, stopped at a traffic light, and wanting to take something from the back seat, and not being able to do it: the cockpit full of stars and lightning bolts, which you even have to open the window.

The cause? A flat bench press indigestion, made strictly without heating. Not only of the flat bench, however: also of the accessory exercises for chest and triceps.

An inflammation, mild at first, and then it would have been better to stop. Instead: another flat bench, no warm up, no chat with a masseur or a doctor.

Remember what calisthenics say, Frank Medrano first and foremost: the shoulder is the most sensitive and delicate joint in the human body, and should be treated as such.

Shoulder pain, where does it come from?

The shoulder joint is - in addition to being delicate - also complex, having to manage the movements of the arms along different planes. In the midst of this universe of muscles and ligaments, there is the main referent of shoulder pain after the bench press: the rotator cuff.

When it becomes inflamed, usually (although it depends from case to case) the pain more than anything else is transmitted along the outer face of the triceps.

What to do - how to heal it

Question with a complex and, unfortunately, not unique answer. Some careful (= prepared) coaches in physiotherapy, will insert in your card a long shoulder loosening / warming routine, made of rotations in every direction, broom handle, windmills and so on.

Timing of healing: eternal. And in the meantime, no flat bench (and nothing military press, clear).

There is the medical way: consult a shoulder specialist - preferably versed in the sports world, otherwise what you may hear will be "no more weights".

Timing of healing: boh. I have not followed this path.

Third way: the hit of *** o. After watching a million videos about shoulder pain, stretching, self-massage, and after consuming the foam roller, here is the answer at the eight-odd minute of yet another video on the shoulder.

Just one stretching exercise. The right one, but that I had never considered.

Timing of healing: ten minutes, and the next day I was almost fine. Another ten minutes, and I had the courage to get back on bench.

What to do - prevention

This short story to say one thing: from the pain in the shoulder it is better to stay as far away as possible.

And do you know what is the right way to do it?

MAKE WARM UP, ALWAYS, DAMN.

Especially if you work in the upper body, pay particular attention to adding a good dose of specific shoulder exercises to your warm-up routine.

Why do you have it, a warm up routine, right?

 

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