How come I can do push-ups all day, but if I try to bench press I get a piercing pain in my shoulder (just below my calvicle, I think)?!
Haven’t noticed any other movement where that pain is so strong. I do feel discomfort if I sleep on that side.
The load on your shoulders is both much different and potentially much much higher. You should probably take a look at technique and grip width. Also make sure your shoulders are specifically strong for this type of pushing. Your body might just not like (flat) benching. Some people’s don’t. Not much to do then, but just accept and move on. If you don’t have some specific attachment to or need for the movement, you don’t really need it.
Maybe try real pause benching with lower loads exclusively for a while. Doing them exclusively on lighter days or on your warm-up sets gets plenty of reps in at some point down the line. Great to get the bracing and technique right and to get your shoulders strong enough in every phase of the lift.
And honestly, just be careful. If you feel pain in a movement, don’t do it. You only get one set of shoulders, don’t fuck them up for something ultimately unimportant. Having a functioning shoulder every day is much more important than a PR if you’re not competing.
While both are compound movements, your shoulder blades are far more free to move for a push up. This allows some muscles to compensate for others. You may have to reduce the weight for bench press a lot until your shoulder adapts.
I thought the opposite: the bench press is a more open kynetic chain than push-ups… that could be it. What muscle do you think it could be? It feels like the subclavius, but that would be odd wouldn’t it?!
But you’re restricted by the bench. Actually open chain is less stable so the risk of injury is higher.
I must have expressed myself wrongly. That’s my intuition as well - the fact that the open chain is more unstable can more easily lead to injury. Maybe a weird synergy, lack of motor control…
Last session (yesterday) I did my bench press with only 20kg more or less. I could complete all series no problem, but then during the night I regretted having done that.
@RustySerpent@lemmygrad.ml is right - I only get one set o shoulders.
Last session (yesterday) I did my bench press with only 20kg more or less. I could complete all series no problem, but then during the night I regretted having done that.
This is still creating piercing pain regardless of whether you complete the exercise. That sounds beyond just a delayed onset muscle soreness. On any movement, you can be lifting a weight well within your capability and still get an injury.
You should go lighter until the problem doesn’t arise. There are other exercises you can do instead if you want to go harder. The pushup is great actually.
Having had shoulder injuries myself, I don’t heavy bench press ever now. The old injuries would always flair up so I learnt my lesson. I prefer a decline push up or dips or certain machines.
Thanks.
