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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2841 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I did the heavy thing!

Thankyou for the kind words!

In regards to the shoulders, I like to take care of my rotator cuffs - so I warm them up every session regardless of what I'm working and it's helped eliminate any pain I used to feel. Along with doing facepull exercises with a decent weight to really squeeeeze at the top of the contraction.

With the popping, does it occur no matter what the exercise or is it with specific things like pressing movements? I found my shoulders used to pop and were being overused when bench pressing - until I focused on retracting my scapulae (shoulder blades) and truly driving it into the pad underneath it, it gave me a proper stable base, removed my shoulders from the equation and kept them in a safe spot. Since then it's improved not only the bench numbers but my shoulder health as well!

I just got to work so I'm lacking links but as soon as I get home I'll supply some good viewing for shoulder maintenance!



user-inactivated  ·  2841 days ago  ·  link  ·  

LazarusRevives - this is great advice and something I have experienced as well. I used to bench on a bench so narrow my shoulders were in free fall when I pushed up, and they would pop out to an extent. very bad in the long run. avoid that by thinking explicitly about your shoulders while you lift. (or just find a different upper body exercise that isn't benching, if you go to a normal gym this is easy.)

some stretches you can try -- one, do arm rotations before every time you use your shoulder muscles; arms straight out sideways, doing concise little circles and then widening them. two, get an elastic band, step on one end, and bring the other end out away from your body with resistance.

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LazarusRevives  ·  2838 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I had not even considered the width of the bench I have at home until you said this! I think that may actually help. Maybe a bit of thick foam board for some moderate support that doesn't limit range of motion. Hmm. I'll also try out the rotations and get myself some bands. Thanks for the tips 👍🏻

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