If your shoulder pinches when you press, you’ve probably been told to strengthen the muscles around it. Face pulls, band pull-aparts, cuff work.
It helps for a bit. Then you go back to pressing and the pinch is right there again.
Here’s why.
Your shoulder blade sits on top of your rib cage and slides on it. So the blade can only move as well as the ribs under it do.
When the ribs on that side don’t expand and move back, the blade has nowhere to go. Your arm goes up, the blade can’t follow, and the joint runs out of room. That’s the pinch.
Stronger muscles don’t make room. They pull harder on a blade that’s stuck.
So the fix is giving the ribs room to move again, and I filmed the drill I’d start with.
Side-lying, kettlebell in the top hand, reach tall to the ceiling without shrugging, then hold and breathe.
The whole setup is in the video, about two minutes.
The reach keeps the space open and the breath moves the ribs back under the blade, which is the room the shoulder was missing.
Once the ribs move, the blade follows, and the arm gets its space back without anyone forcing the joint.
Try it before your next press day and notice how the first set feels.
Hope you’re moving well and brewing better. ☕
Gabe
