The bench press is an extremely effective exercise for building strength and size in your chest, shoulders and triceps. However, it can be a risky exercise that can cause shoulder pain, especially if you have structural imbalances, a pre-existing injury or poor technique. If you wish to continue bench pressing without developing sore shoulders, then it is important to reassess your technique and add other exercises into your program, which can help to relieve shoulder stress.
Causes
A very common cause of a sore shoulder is damage to the rotator cuff muscles. The rotator cuffs are a group of four muscles which work to support and stabilize your shoulder joint, which can cause you pain if they become damaged. The most common rotator cuff injury occurs when the tendon of one of the muscles --- the supraspinatus, becomes inflamed and pinches between bones. The pain worsens when you extend your arm overhead or in front, as you do when bench pressing.
Technique
When you bench press, ensure that you dig your shoulder blades down into the bench, squeeze your core and glutes hard, and tense your legs. Corrective exercise specialist Mike Robertson recommends making sure your elbows do not flare out. Flaring your elbows places a huge amount of stress on the shoulder joint, and will likely cause pain and injury over time.
Assistance Exercises
Shoulder soreness may occur due to muscular and postural imbalances. An overly developed chest, combined with weaker shoulders and upper back muscles can contribute to shoulder injuries. Strength coach Eric Cressey advises adding in a lot of upper back exercises such as face pulls, band pull aparts, rear delt flies and prone trap raises into your program. After each bench press session, pick two upper back exercises and perform three sets of 15 repetitions of each. You may also wish to include some direct rotator cuff work, with some internal and external cable rotations.
Deloading
Even if you have no muscular imbalances or postural issues, and your bench pressing technique is perfect, handling heavy loads over a sustained period of time can still contribute to shoulder soreness. Trainer Jim Smith recommends scheduling three or four deload sessions every four weeks or so, where you avoid bench pressing, and focus on body weight exercises, stretching and recovery methods, which will give your shoulders a break from heavy lifting.
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