Benching tip for Shoulder Pain

Benching, or Monday workout for most people, is that favorite exercise of a lot of people. So if your going to do it, do it right! Dave Tate has some great set up tips over at T-Nation. So I won't waste your time and repeat what he's saying. But I will give you this tip, when your experiencing pain in the front of the shoulder when your pressing, your subscapularis needs some love and attention.

Your Subscapularis is part of the rotator cuff. It's job is to hold the humerus posterior and inferior while your pressing. If its weak your humerus goes superior and anterior. This can let some soft tissue structures to get pinched ( impingement).

There are a few reasons the subscapularis can get weak. It can be inhibited from an over developed pec major. They are in an antagonistic relationship. It can be tight (tight = weak) from the infraspinatous (another rotator cuff mm) being weak. This will allow the scapula to shift with abduction of the humerus.

So get some soft tissue work done on the subscapularis, spend some extra remedial work on the external rotators of the rotator cuff, and do some direct stretching of your subscapularis. Picture is shown above. Make sure your scapula is pinned against the table or floor.