Shoulder Health and Pressing

Training your shoulders with Bench & Overhead Presses is important... but rear delt & ‘rotator cuff’ work is IMPORTANTER!!!

If you lift weights, or play a sport, chances are you’ve experienced some sort of shoulder pain...

And chances are you’ve also put it down to ‘too much pressing’ and gone on to limit your pressing (and progression) in an attempt to fix it...

And as a weightlifter who has a bar overhead 5 or 6 days a week, I couldn’t disagree with this approach more.

The problem isn’t too much pressing, the problem is too little rear delt & ‘rotator cuff’ work!

Theres really no excuse not to do it either, as its really easy to sneak in, and it wont add any time to your training!!!

My advice is to pick a rear delt movement & superset it with all your barbell pressing sets for 10-15 reps, I usually go with some variation of a facepull for overhead movements, and a rear delt fly variation for horizontal movements, but thats just me & theres no right or wrong.

As for the ‘rotator cuff’, do some research & pick a movement, stick it in your warmup for 3 sets of 10-12 reps & change it up every session.

Use Dumbbells, plates, cables, bands, TRX or even bodyweight, it really doesn’t matter as long as you do something.

Theres plenty to choose from, but if you want some ideas, my personal favourites are I.Y.T.W variations & a banded scapular retraction to 90 degree external rotation with a press.

Implement these techniques & it’ll help you have healthy shoulders that last your fitness journey.

Of course, all these are only just preventative measures and if you already have shoulder problems... GET TO A PHYSIO!..

And if you have a Trainer that doesn’t at least know where the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor & subscapularis are... get a new one!

Adam Johnston, 10th August 2019