Alleviate Shoulder Pain

Tweak Your Lifting Technique to Alleviate Shoulder Pain

If shoulder pain is keeping you off the bench press, the problem might be your technique.

This seemed like a solid plan at first, but now you’re in full panic mode because—even with this supposedly lightened load—your joints are still screaming. The average gym guy’s bench press is typically a comedy of technical errors. For most trainees, the problem with benching has nothing to do with their shoulders and everything to do with the fact that they’ve never been coached properly and have no idea how to perform the movement without hurting themselves. Before you scrap benching altogether, first consider these three technique fixes that can make a big difference instantly.

You love to bench-press, but your shoulders refuse to cooperate. In fact, shoulder pain has become such a limiting factor that you’ve switched your bench training completely over to dumbbells.

1 CHANGE YOUR GRIP

Consider the angle at which you press the dumbbells. If benching with a barbell causes you pain, why would you want to hold dumbbells the same way? Pressing with a palms-facing grip is perfectly acceptable—and even preferable—because it’s the first step in alleviating pressure on your shoulder joints.

2 KEEP IT TIGHT

Tuck your elbows on the eccentric portion of the lift. Flaring them way out to your sides is not the proper way to bench. You’re depriving yourself of a lot of power from the bottom of the lift, while forcing your shoulders to rotate through far too large a range of motion. Tucking your elbows to your sides on the downstroke of the lift requires less rotation, puts considerably less stress on your joints, and helps you generate much more force—allowing you to handle more weight.

3 POWER IT UP

Finally, pay attention to the position of your hands in relation to your elbows. When you start to drive the dumbbells upward, your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor, with the dumbbells directly over your shoulders. This is your force vector—a straight line that begins at your elbows and extends through your hands and into the ceiling.

Abs 101

Picture this: Two guys are strolling the beach, checking out the bikinis, both of them regular gym-goers. One has 18" arms, a billowing chest and... a baby-smooth midsection. The other guy's arms barely stretch the tape to 16" and his chest, while defined, doesn't cast nearly the shadow as his buddy's. But from pec to pelvis this guy has a crisp six-pack, edged with a clearly defined pair of obliques and some nice serratus action going on.

Now, which guy's physique do you think is going to draw more attention from admiring eyes? To paraphrase ZZ-Top: Girls go crazy for a sharp-abbed man.

With this ab primer and 3-part workout at your disposal, you'll have a better understanding of your own ab anatomy and have the tools to develop an impressive six pack of your own, not to mention grab the attention of the fairer sex.

AB ANATOMY

Before delving into the routine that will turn abs of dough into abs of steel we should provide a refresher course in the anatomy of the muscle groups which together we commonly refer to as the abs. 

MUSCLES YOU CAN SEE

Rectus Abdominis

This is the ol' six pack; the muscle group that turns heads, of both interested ladies and envious guys. The rectus abdominus originates at the bottom of the sternum and inserts at the pelvis and is responsible for pulling your knees up to your torso and vice versa. It's important to keep in mind that when we talk about training the upper and lower abs keep in mind it's all part of the same muscle group, just different ends of it.

External Obliques

The external obliques run diagonally down the sides of your body, between your rectus abdominus and lats. They're the ones that give the torso that detailed look that indicates a well-conditioned athlete or contest-ready bodybuilder. The function of the external obliques is to twist the body from side to side and therefore are utilized every day throughout the day, not to mention during every exercise that requires lateral stabilization.

Serratus

These are the fingerlike muscles you find running from your lats to the sides of your ribcage. Because of their positioning and connections they need to be trained differently from the other muscle groups of the abdominal region.

MUSCLES YOU CAN'T SEE

Transverse Abdominis- The transverse abdominus lies directly below the rectus abdominus and while it's invisible to the eye, training it will pay off big dividends for those looking for a slimmer waistline. Think of the muscle as a girdle that covers the front of your lower torso, keeping organs from distending out past your ribcage. Having control of your transverse abdominus can make a marked difference in the appearance of your midsection.

Internal Obliques

Lying below the external obliques are the internal obliques which, while not visible without a scalpel (ouch), serve a similar purpose to the external obliques. They actually run in the opposite direction of the externals to provide a powerful set of torso muscles that can torque the body left and right with great force and precision. There isn't a sport, from hockey to baseball to golf, that doesn't employ the internal obliques extensively.

Intercostals

These muscles actually run beneath and between the ribs and aid in inspiration and respiration.

TRAINING ABS
In putting together the ultimate ab routine you want to make sure to hit each of the four visible muscle groups, but by the same token, don't want to create such a long, arduous routine that you'll never want to do it. So, a combination of thoroughness and efficiency is key, and the best way to achieve that is by figuring a way of hitting the most areas of the abdominal region using the fewest exercises.

As you probably know, there's a wealth of ab exercises at our disposal that cover every square inch of the midsection. But for our purposes we will limit your workout to six of our favorites, to be performed in three different pairings twice a week, followed by what we call "Gut Busters" [see Exercise Descriptions].

That's six workouts a week — a lot to be sure — but the right amount if you want standout abs come June 21st. Also keep in mind that each of the three distinct workouts should take you a total of around five minutes — brief, but intense and effective.

THE WORKOUTS

Each of the following workouts is to be performed for four rounds, with one minute's rest between rounds.

WORKOUT #1 [Monday]
EXERCISE                                               SETS          REPS
Captain's chair knee raise                        1                 20
superset w/
Alternate knee crunch                               1                 20 to each knee
superset w/
Gut Buster                                                    1                 30 second hold

WORKOUT #2 [Wednesday]
EXERCISE                                               SETS          REPS
Flutter kick                                                    1                50 total
One-arm kettlebell crunch                         1                10 per side

superset w/

Gut Buster                                                     1                30 second hold

WORKOUT #3 [Friday]
EXERCISE                                               SETS          REPS
Weighted lying knee-in                             1                 15
Weighted twisting Roman Chair              1                15 to each side

superset w/

Gut Buster                                                    1                 30 second hold 

EXERCISES

Captain's Chair Knee Raise
You know that thing in the gym that you climb into and support yourself in on your forearms with your back pressed against a pad as you do knee raises? That's called a captain's chair and it's mighty effective for hitting the rectus abdominis.

No doubt you've done these before, but keep in mind not to swing your legs or jerk your hips up and forward with each rep. Let your abs do the work, raising your heels as high as you can—above your head if possible. This aims at the lower rectus abdomens.

Alternate Knee Crunch
Lie on your back on the floor with your legs tucked up so that your thighs are perpendicular with the floor and your lower legs parallel with it. Clasp your fingers behind your head or cup the back of your head and alternate pulling each elbow to the opposite knee. Concentrate on curling your torso forward with each rep and returning to the start position with the opposite movement. This hits the upper rectus abdominus, obliques and intercostals.

Flutter Kick
Lie on your back on the floor with your arms down at your sides and the backs of your hands tucked under your hips. Alternately raise one leg, then the other, from a position of an inch off the floor to about eight inches off the floor. You're essentially doing with your legs what you do when you're swimming. It's a quick but controlled movement. This targets the lower rectus abdomens.

One-Arm Kettlebell Crunch
Lie on your back on the floor with a kettlebell or dumbbell in one hand. Ten to twenty pounds should do the trick to start. Extend the arm with the weight so that it's perpendicular with the floor as you keep your other arm to your side. Bring both feet in so that they're flat on the floor. Push the weight as high as you can using just the muscles of your upper torso. This will work your serratus and intercostals.

Weighted Lying Knee-In
Sit on a bench with a 10-20 pound dumbbell (to start) placed on one end between your feet. Press your feet together and lie back, holding the end of the bench above your head. Raise the dumbbell with your feet by pulling your knees in towards your torso. Extend your legs until they're straight and withdraw them again. This is a great exercise for your lower rectus abdomens and your intercostals.

Weighted Twisting Roman Chair Sit-Up
Hold a plate either against your chest or behind your head as you perform Roman Chair sit-ups with a twist of the shoulder towards its opposite knee on each rep.

Gut Buster
Get on all fours with your back straight, but your stomach relaxed. Suck your stomach in as far as it will go while curling your spine. Hold this position for 30 seconds with minimal breathing. 



SIX PACK?
While the Rectus abdominis is colloquially known by many as the "six pack," some people may display four "rows" of abs, giving them an eight pack, while others (most notably Arnold Schwarzenegger) show just a four pack. Rather than indicate anatomical variations in the actual abdominis muscles, the number of packs a person displayed is determined by the number of bands of fascia (a kind of connective tissue) crossing the abdominal region.

Think of rubber bands stretched around a balloon. The bulges in the balloon represent the parts of the Rectus abnominis that we see. Just as strips of the balloon are pulled in and obscured by the bands, so too are strips of our abdominals pulled covered by fascia. So, no matter how many sets of crunches or leg raises you ever do, the number of rows of "abs" you have now will never change.

BREATHE!
While it goes without saying that proper breathing is important during your training for every bodypart, during ab work it's especially important. When you follow up a deep inhale with a forceful exhale you actually work your intercostals—muscles that lie over, under and between your ribs. In effect, you're training them. Strong intercostals give you the ability to take deeper breaths, which helps move oxygen to hard working muscles. Think of dynamic breathing during your ab workouts as a Catch-22 with benefits.