A Hidden Cause of Bench Press Shoulder Injuries

Watson Dumbbells

A hidden cause of bench press shoulder injuries is actually a weakness of the long head of the biceps.

The long head of the biceps is stressed more when the elbow joint is behind the upper body as they are when doing incline curls.

If you have strengthened your rotator cuff and external rotators, and have addressed muscle adhesions etc, but still experience some pain in the bench press, then you should check your numbers on incline curls and see if your weights match the norms for your bench.

I hope this quick tip helps.

If you want your programs designed to address your individual needs feel free to reach out. https://www.totalhealthperformance.com.au/onlinecoaching

If you need some work on addressing muscle adhesions feel free to book in for a performance session. https://www.totalhealthperformance.com.au/performancesession  

 

The 2% Rule of Progress

How do you know if you are progressing at a decent rate or when it is time to change your program?

You can use the 2% Rule of Progress.

As Charles Poliquin taught us, the 2% rule of progress states that you should be able to add 2% more weight to the bar or add 1 rep per set for a given exercise.

For example, if you squatted 100kg for 5 reps in your first workout, then you should be able to either do 102kg for 5 reps or 100kg for 6 reps in your second workout. Once you can no longer progress at this rate then it is time to change program as you have adapted to it.

Now this is assuming that recovery is optimized. If nutrition, sleep, hydration, etc aren’t in order, you can’t use the 2% rule of progress as effectively.

As a trainee becomes more experienced it drops from 2% to 1% of progress. This generally takes 5-6 years of training properly.

Introduce Plyometrics Slowly

Plyometrics are used regularly but are often misused. Coaches tend to implement them too early on in a training plan and at too large a volume.

Jumps and throws are good to do but you should monitor your volume closely to avoid injury and overtraining. I feel this applies more to jumps as many athletes are already running, cutting, and jumping, when training for their sport. Doing too many ground contacts in the gym on top of all this work can lead to problems such as shin splints. You will typically see this throughout the offseason/pre-season in rugby league.

You should also slowly increase the volume of plyometric work anytime you have had a break from them, even if you have still been training. I hadn’t programmed any jumps for myself for a length of time and in my previous program decided to re-introduce some jumps. My tibialis anterior were sore after the second session and the volume was low. I only did 4x8 of tuck jumps on day 1, and 4x8 broad jumps on day 2. So, my weekly volume was only 64 ground contacts. By week 2 and 3 of my plan, I was fine. The point of this, is that it doesn’t take a lot of work to cause muscle soreness initially, so you have to monitor the volume and increase it gradually. The following chart is a good starting point when considering how much volume to do:

(I can’t remember the source as I have had this a long time so I apologise for not giving credit or having the reference)

Some things to remember when trying to develop power:

• Quality is more important than quantity.

• Intent is key.

• In most cases, you should be fully (or near) recovered between sets.