Lift Letter: Why your bench press keeps hurting

Mar 23

Written By Gabriel Marcogliese

Most people feel that pinch in their shoulder when they bench and immediately assume it is a shoulder problem.

In my experience, it usually is not.

So what happens.

You stretch your shoulders, add band work, throw in some rotator cuff stuff.

It feels a bit better (for like a week), then the pinch comes right back.

Here's why.

Your rib cage is likely sitting in a compressed, flared position.

When that happens, your shoulder blades get pinned down against your ribs.

Now when you press, your shoulder literally has nowhere to go.

So the pinch is your body saying you are out of space.

Instead of avoiding pressing, we just change how you load it.

First, switch to alternating dumbbell presses. We still want strength gains. So let's modify.

You are still building strength here, but now one side can open while the other presses.

That alone usually gives your shoulder enough room to move (green side is opening up)

Second, add sidelying arm bars.

This helps open up your upper back, rib cage, and shoulder blade. You are basically creating space where things were stuck before. More space, less pinch.

Third, elbows on knees with a breath. Gently push your hands apart and take a slow breath in. You should feel space open up between your shoulder blades. That is what actually lets your shoulder move the way it is supposed to.