Isolation movements can prevent muscle injury

I have been bench-pressing for a little over a year and a half. Lately, I have been getting pretty heavy with the weight in order to stimulate some growth. But the past few workouts my shoulders have been hurting a bit. Do you think I am going too heavy with the weight? How can I lift heavy if my shoulders can't handle the weight?

It sounds like your shoulders might be a little bit unstable. In order to increase stability in the rotator cuff and make sure you don't injure yourself while pressing heavy weight, you should be doing isolation movements for the smaller muscles in your shoulders. Here are a few examples:

External rotation. Lying on your side, hold a light dumbbell in your hand (the hand that isn't trapped under your body). You want your upper arm and elbow tucked in close to your side. Keep your elbow bent at a right angle. Keeping your elbow motionless, rotate your arm up away from the floor, and stop just before your forearm is perpendicular to the ground. This movement strengthens the rear deltoid and the posterior aspects of the rotator cuff.

Internal rotation. This is a movement most easily done with a cable or strength band. Standing, follow the same steps as above, except the resistance will be as you rotate your arm toward your body (think pulling your wrist toward your stomach).

These two basic exercises will help build stability into your shoulder. If you are still experiencing pain, you should probably talk to one of the trainers in the gym, who will be more than happy to advise you on further exercises to improve the stability of your shoulders.

Another solution might be to widen your grip on the bar for a few workouts. This will change the insertion angle of your arm into your shoulder socket, thereby allowing the ligaments that feel the most stress during benching to rest. It also decreases the involvement of the triceps in the exercise, so your chest is a bit more isolated.

If you are still having trouble benching heavy weights, take a few months off from heavy lifting and come back slowly. Joints experience the same wear and tear that any other often used body part does, so giving them a good rest is never a bad idea.



What are some ways I can prevent injury from weight lifting? I have been injured a few times in the past, and I want to make sure that I am taking all the right steps to avoid injuring myself again in the future..

First and foremost, stretch thoroughly before each and every workout. Even if you are only doing your back on a specific day, stretch every body part. A good session of stretching can take up to 15 minutes. Second, perform light warm-up sets before each and every exercise you do. Exaggerate the range of motion, and keep perfect form to get your muscles and joints ready for the heavier weight. Always use a spotter when performing heavy barbell or dumbbell exercises. Another important aspect of injury prevention is making sure you exercise the stabilizer muscles. You should make sure you do exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff, the back of the shoulder, and the lower back, among others. Also, exercises to strengthen the muscles in the neck are recommended for injury prevention in a lot of sports (football, hockey, etc).

Try to avoid exercises that place your body in precarious or unstable positions, such as really heavy behind-the-neck shoulder presses, or lat pull-downs behind your neck. For narrow grip bench presses, don't put your hands too close together, as this can injure the wrists and leads to an unstable position. Proper form is obviously very important, as improper form often leads to injury. Listening to your body is another key factor in preventing injury. Never work a muscle that is still sore from a prior workout, and never try to work through an injury.

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