In the last installments we talked about a lot of reasons why you should train with an eye towards the future, ways to warm up and a few other things. Now let’s talk about ways to train RIGHT NOW while keeping injuries at bay.
Let’s jump right in to one of the most common injuries we see, the shoulder. How many of you know someone who is a little older that has been lifting for a LONG time who has banged up shoulders? I bet most of you know at least one. The culprit here is usually one of three things:
- Poor bench press technique
- Behind the neck presses
- Behind the neck pulldowns
NOTE: WE STRONGLY ADVISE NEVER DOING ANY BEHIND THE NECK MOVEMENTS
Let’s look at the bench press first. I am not going to go into a clinic on how to press properly, but I will say that if you think you know how to bench the right way, you might but probably don’t. Bench presses are one of the exercises we most frequently done DANGEROUSLY. If you train at TPS, attend a Training Day LINK and learn how to do it right. With that said, if you have shoulder s that are beat up, here are a few alternate exercises that you can do to keep getting jacked and strong and save your shoulders:
Bench Press Substitutes
– Swiss Bar™ Incline Presses:
The Swiss Bar has a neutral grip which places much less stress on your shoulders while pressing. The incline position also places much less stress on the shoulder. Most people with injuries to the shoulder can do incline presses with little to no pain.
-Incline Dumbell Bench Presses with Grip4orce:
As stated above, the incline position has far less shoulder stress and adding in the Grip4orce forces you to squeeze the handles harder. This creates what is called radiational tension throughout the body. Increased tension allows you to generate more force, and more importantly, in this case, it allows the rotator cuff muscles to fire very hard stabilizing the shoulder capsule.
–Super Shoulder Saver™ Bar Incline or Flat Bench Presses:
The Shoulder Saver Bar shortens the range of motion on the exercise allowing your shoulder to stay in a stronger position at the bottom of the press. This shorter range is much better for overall shoulder health, especially as we age.
Behind the Neck Press Substitutes -Dumbell Overhead Press with Grip4orce: The dumbbell press is a great substitute for the barbell press for those with beat up shoulders. Adding in the Grip4orcve on these has all of the benefits listed for the bench press. I suggest using a palms-facing each other grip to minimize the shear forces on your shoulders.
-Overhead Press: Follow this link to watch a video on how to do the overhead press correctly. When pressing, always keep the bar in FRONT of your body. Puttin it behind your neck on pressing and pulling movements sets the shoulder up in a very dangerous position and will frequently lead to injury. It is usually a cumulative injury, which means that it happened over time and not in one session.
Behind the Neck Pulldown Substitutes
-Pullups: Watch this video on how to do pullups correctly.
-Pulldowns: Always do pulldowns to the front of the neck. Add in Grip4orce to make them more effective. Watch this video on how to do them perfectly.
That’s it for this month’s installment. In future installments I’ll list some lower body exercises and substitutions, how to keep your joint s healthy, how to program your assistance work for maximum results and more.
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