How to Fix Shoulder Pain on Bench Press
Correct bench press technique to eliminate anterior shoulder impingement by mastering scapular retraction, elbow tuck angle, and bar path mechanics.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Flat bench
- ✓ Olympic barbell
- ✓ Power rack or bench press rack with safety pins
- ✓ Weight plates
- ✓ Barbell collars
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Flat-soled lifting shoes
- ✓ Resistance mini-band
- ✓ Lifting chalk
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Set rack safety pins 1 to 2 inches below your arched chest level to catch a failed rep.
- • Never bench with a thumbless 'suicide grip' while diagnosing joint discomfort.
- • Do not push through sharp or clicking pain; reduce load to an empty bar immediately.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Set Scapular Retraction and Depression
Lie back onto the bench with eyes directly under the bar. Retract your shoulder blades backward and pull them downward into your back pockets, pinning your upper back firmly into the bench pad.
- • Chest is puffed upward before the bar is unracked
- • Shoulder blades are visibly pinched and locked against the bench surface
- • Neck and head remain relaxed against the pad
- • Allowing shoulders to roll forward into internal rotation
- • Shrugging shoulders up toward the ears
Optimize Grip Width and Wrist Stacking
Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width, ensuring your forearms will be perpendicular to the floor at the bottom of the movement. Wrap your thumbs fully around the bar and stack your wrists directly above your elbows.
- • Knuckles point directly to the ceiling with straight wrists
- • Bar sits in the base of the palm over the radius bone, not in fingertips
- • Taking an excessively wide grip that forces shoulder flare
- • Letting wrists bend backward into hyperextension
Unrack with Lat Engagement and Maintain Arch
Plant your feet flat on the floor directly beneath or slightly behind your knees. Pull the bar forward out of the J-hooks using your lats, rather than pressing up and protracting your shoulders.
- • Bar travels horizontally forward into start position over the shoulders
- • Upper back remains completely pinned to the pad throughout the unrack
- • Glutes remain in solid contact with the bench
- • Punching the bar up out of the hooks, which unlocks scapular retraction
- • Lifting glutes off the bench to clear hooks
Tuck Elbows and Control Descent
Lower the bar under control, tucking your elbows to roughly a 45 to 70-degree angle relative to your torso. Avoid letting your elbows flare straight out to 90 degrees, which pinches the rotator cuff tendons.
- • Elbows track in an arrow shape relative to torso, not a 'T' shape
- • Bar descends smoothly over a 2 to 3 second count
- • Flaring elbows out to 90 degrees perpendicular to the body
- • Bouncing the bar off the ribcage
Establish the Lower Sternum Touch Point
Bring the bar down to make gentle contact with the lower sternum or base of the chest, directly over the vertical forearms. At touch point, your forearms must remain vertically aligned from both side and front camera angles.
- • Bar gently touches the lower ribcage/sternum area
- • Forearms form vertical 90-degree posts under the bar from all angles
- • Touching high on the clavicles or upper chest
- • Letting elbows drift backward behind the bar line
Press in a J-Curve Without Protracting
Press the bar upward and slightly backward toward your eyes in a smooth curved path. Lock out the elbows at the top while keeping your shoulder blades pinned firmly into the bench.
- • Bar finishes directly stacked over the shoulder joints
- • Shoulder blades stay flat against the bench pad at full lockout
- • Chest remains elevated with no shoulder roll
- • Pushing shoulders forward at the top of the lift to achieve lockout
- • Pressing the bar straight up instead of back toward the rack
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Max Euceda — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Olympic barbell? Pair of dumbbells with a neutral/semi-tucked grip
- No Flat bench? Floor surface (Floor Press) to naturally limit painful range of motion