https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hgpyLrdWXs
Safest way to barbell bench press. You should be able to do (good form) pushups,and dips before worrying about it. If you have a history of shoulder issues go for dumbbell presses.
-Do you face pulls,cuban rotations and rows to balance it out though.
-Stretch the pecks,and lats out. Stretch the bicep.Have good overhead mobility before bench pressing.
-Don't try to develop a big upper body. Try to develop a strong healthy scapulae.
-Do your pulling work before your pressing work.I never understood why EVERY program has you do pressing before pulling.
Separate but relevant extrapolation on general shoulder health/ safety
I had to say this because someone brought up the supposed danger of bench pressing.
I'm not a fan of bench press,and its not necessary. Dips,plance presses, weighted pushups,hspu,ohp,are fine but the bench press is pretty damn effective for developing raw pressing strength and chest size for guys trying to look good. No denying that.
The reason why bench press is "known" to cause shoulder issues is because of the following reasons.
-poor form,flared elbows,and all that nonsense. People who do weird variations to try and "feel it in the chest man".
-lack of mobility. Tight pecks,bicep, front delts,and lats.
-Fucked up shoulders from overdevlopment of pressing muscles and lack of strength in smaller forgotten muscles that are important for a healthy scapulae.
-Not going through full ROM on pulling exercises. You want to go from protracted to retracted scapulae before even bending your arms to develop those small muscles. Also if you do farmers carries and deadlifts make sure you retract that fucking scapulae and have full thoracic extension while performing them.
-Using the "lat pulldown" as your main back developer. ESPECIALLY the way that personal trainers/body builders usually do it. It can be used to strengthen the scapulae if you want to but unless your overweight you should do chins instead.
-Specializing/obsessing over the bench press. Most dudes do it first in the gym,and all the time. If you're a competitive powerlifter that's one thing,but if your a normal guy who isn't competing in an athletic competition where your bench will be tested don't specialize in it and measure your overall progress by how much you bench. Do a variety of pressing exercises like I mentioned,and maybe some other activities if you have the time.
-Not moving the shoulder through multiple ranges of motion. The shoulder is such a complex thing that can do so much. You should stimulate it and move it through multiple ranges of motion. You can hang,do handstands,armcircles,and all kinds of crazy shit with it. At any one time you should make sure to use your shoulder to its fullest capabilities because other wise you will lose those abilities
-Steroids.......tendons take a long ass time to strengthen compared to muscle tissue. Steroids don't heal muscle tissue. (unless we're talking deca and peptides) If your muscles develop really fast (can happen during newbie gains aswell) compared to the tendons like when you take drugs you will get injured because the tendons just can't handle what the muscle tissue can.
-Smith machines. You're moving prime movers in absence of stabilizers.
-Retards who can't do a good pushup and are worried about how big their chest is. Bottom line there's something to be said about having a good base before loading up the plates.
Just to show everybody how fucked up there shoulders are try this.
Bench press is a very strong medicine. Strong medicine can be dangerous or it can be safe. It has side effects you need to account for, it has to be taken in the right dosages,and your doctor recommends living a healthy lifestyle in addition to taking it.
Safest way to barbell bench press. You should be able to do (good form) pushups,and dips before worrying about it. If you have a history of shoulder issues go for dumbbell presses.
-Do you face pulls,cuban rotations and rows to balance it out though.
-Stretch the pecks,and lats out. Stretch the bicep.Have good overhead mobility before bench pressing.
-Don't try to develop a big upper body. Try to develop a strong healthy scapulae.
-Do your pulling work before your pressing work.I never understood why EVERY program has you do pressing before pulling.
Separate but relevant extrapolation on general shoulder health/ safety
I had to say this because someone brought up the supposed danger of bench pressing.
I'm not a fan of bench press,and its not necessary. Dips,plance presses, weighted pushups,hspu,ohp,are fine but the bench press is pretty damn effective for developing raw pressing strength and chest size for guys trying to look good. No denying that.
The reason why bench press is "known" to cause shoulder issues is because of the following reasons.
-poor form,flared elbows,and all that nonsense. People who do weird variations to try and "feel it in the chest man".
-lack of mobility. Tight pecks,bicep, front delts,and lats.
-Fucked up shoulders from overdevlopment of pressing muscles and lack of strength in smaller forgotten muscles that are important for a healthy scapulae.
-Not going through full ROM on pulling exercises. You want to go from protracted to retracted scapulae before even bending your arms to develop those small muscles. Also if you do farmers carries and deadlifts make sure you retract that fucking scapulae and have full thoracic extension while performing them.
-Using the "lat pulldown" as your main back developer. ESPECIALLY the way that personal trainers/body builders usually do it. It can be used to strengthen the scapulae if you want to but unless your overweight you should do chins instead.
-Specializing/obsessing over the bench press. Most dudes do it first in the gym,and all the time. If you're a competitive powerlifter that's one thing,but if your a normal guy who isn't competing in an athletic competition where your bench will be tested don't specialize in it and measure your overall progress by how much you bench. Do a variety of pressing exercises like I mentioned,and maybe some other activities if you have the time.
-Not moving the shoulder through multiple ranges of motion. The shoulder is such a complex thing that can do so much. You should stimulate it and move it through multiple ranges of motion. You can hang,do handstands,armcircles,and all kinds of crazy shit with it. At any one time you should make sure to use your shoulder to its fullest capabilities because other wise you will lose those abilities
-Steroids.......tendons take a long ass time to strengthen compared to muscle tissue. Steroids don't heal muscle tissue. (unless we're talking deca and peptides) If your muscles develop really fast (can happen during newbie gains aswell) compared to the tendons like when you take drugs you will get injured because the tendons just can't handle what the muscle tissue can.
-Smith machines. You're moving prime movers in absence of stabilizers.
-Retards who can't do a good pushup and are worried about how big their chest is. Bottom line there's something to be said about having a good base before loading up the plates.
Just to show everybody how fucked up there shoulders are try this.
Bench press is a very strong medicine. Strong medicine can be dangerous or it can be safe. It has side effects you need to account for, it has to be taken in the right dosages,and your doctor recommends living a healthy lifestyle in addition to taking it.
