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Fix Your Shoulder Pain (BENCH PRESS!)



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Shoulder pain is one of the most common workout injuries that get in the way of you making gains, especially in your chest. In this video, I’m going to show you how you don’t have to stop doing your chest exercises just because your have pain in your shoulder. In fact, I will coach you through how to change the way you are doing the bench press regardless of what type of shoulder pain you are experiencing so you do not have to give up the chest gains.

First, it helps to understand the general types of shoulder injuries that can be the source of your pain. You can either have an injury to the labrum (and often times biceps tendon as well due to the proximity of it to the labrum), rotator cuff, bursitis, impingement, or the AC joint. Each of these has their own characteristic symptoms that slightly differentiate it from the other however it is best to have your shoulder evaluated in person by a qualified physical therapist for an exact diagnosis.

When it comes to working out with a shoulder injury it can be really tough. The fact that your shoulder joint is so mobile and intimately involved with all upper body exercises makes it tough to train around, unless you know how to do it. The bench press is a staple exercise for building a bigger chest and is one that also happens to be very difficult to perform once shoulder pain or injury has set in. That said, there are tweaks you can make to the movement that make it possible for you to start doing it again and not have it aggravate your symptoms. In fact, it could help to make your shoulder pain go away as you build it back stronger than ever.

When you look at the AC joint injury you have to understand that it is caused mostly by forced internal rotation (especially with some velocity). This can happen when you target too low on your chest or forget to arch your back and bring the ribcage to the bar rather than forcing the bar to seek out the ribcage. If you adjust the cage up by arching the back and dropping the shoulders back you can not only fix the targeting of the bar on the chest but you can effectively shorten the depth and keep your shoulders more secure.

With a labrum tear you are likely to have a greatly compromised shoulder stability. This becomes especially bothersome when you experience the pain at the bottom of the press. Here you are not only dealing with the most instability but you are also putting the biceps tendon on the most stretch because of the arm extending behind your body. This causes pain either way. The key is to temporarily switch to a floor press to have a more equal base of support for your shoulder.

The rest of the issues tend to revolve around one common outcome and that is the impingement that can occur in your shoulder from bench pressing. Here the goal is to create as much room as you can in the shoulder joint when doing the exercise. You can depress your shoulders which will deactivate the traps and create more room in the joint. You can alter the position of the elbows to be closer to your body which will do the same thing. Finally, you can switch the grip from overhand to underhand to make sure you are externally rotating your shoulders and creating room as well.

All of these changes are small but critical to getting you back to training your chest without shoulder injury. If you are looking for a program that helps you to get all gains without the pain, head to and get the athlean-x Training programs.

For more videos on how to workout with injuries or how to build a big chest with bad shoulders or shoulder injury, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at

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39 Comments

  1. Jeff. I am a powerlifter who has been dealing with some issues regarding the bench press for the last 4 months. This video is an absolute godsend. Thank you so much.

  2. Thanks Jeff! I’m just getting back into working out, and about a month in seems to be the point where I’m realizing the shoulder dislocations I had when I was young are still very much there. Your focus on rotator cuff and general shoulder mechanics is really helping me figure out some ways to start rehabbing those joints so that I can do exercises like the military press (by far the most humbling experience for me at the gym) without it feeling wrong and like I’m fighting my own body just to perform the motion. It’s been an enlightenment to feel all the ways that my strength in an exercise has so much more to do with how large the muscle is.

  3. I have the labrum injury from 10 shoulder dislocations. I’ve hired a few coaches who never explained to me what to do or why I was doing it even though that’s exactly why I spent good money on them to begin with!!!

  4. Once again Jeff great video. People without these injuries should listen to this even more, they never fully heal, as I had to discover later in life. Stay safe make sure to create that space in the shoulder!

  5. Thank you for this, I've been watching you since before I started my workout journey and it's been 3 years I am still coming back for more information whenever I feel something to my pains. Thank you again Sir 🤘

  6. I'm confused because none of that bothers my shoulder when I do the best press it's like in the back shoulder where my armpit is in the back of shoulder area? What is that are called?

  7. Dealing with the first shoulder injury of my life. I don’t want to stop training and give up all my gains, but literally every pressing movement hurts, even when I drop weight significantly.

  8. Such a great video. I recently got back to the gym but my pain is behind the shoulder. Still wondering if it’s rotary cuff pain since it’s not in the areas mentioned in the video.

  9. Thank you! I've been struggling with pressing! Would you be able to address a dumbbell fly safely/painfree with an impingement? also, I'm trying to work on pushups again but the pain is real:(

  10. A real mentor and guide for all age groups… A great teacher….. His Teachings are very thorough… More power to Jeff… Love his content… Never stop man

  11. Going thru physical therapy now, 3wks in actually, this 14min video has given me more incite than all of my knowledge AND sessions with my PT combined. Thank you!

  12. Thank you for this video been trying to figure out how to minimize the pain in my shoulder and these tips definitely help with the pain.thank you soo much 🤙

  13. I've been suffering with a bad shoulder since I was 18 poor lifting of keggs when I worked in a bar anyway tonight I'm going to try all of these options and see what fits me best and then I'm going to check back in in say a month or so see if any change happened for me always watching ur vids thanks alot Jeff ur a big help man 👌🏻🙏🏻

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