re: Daily Strength Check-In

So this is nothing ground breaking, but it’s helped me immensely to avoid shoulder pain on bench.

Before this it’s a good idea to use that pvc pipe to do some shoulder stretches. Some banded pull aparts too.

1. Sit on the bench and reach down to the floor stretching your shoulders to the front. I’ll usually do a few arm circles when I sit back up.

2. Lay on the bench and get your torso and legs into the position you’ll lift from.

3. Reach your hands back and grab the bar that connects the posts (supports the upper end of the bench that you’re laying on). So your hands are in a similar position to that which you’d start a behind the neck press from.

4. While in this position really stretch the shoulders, focusing on digging your scapulas into the bench and squeezing them together. You’ll arch your back a bit too. I’ll kind of rock back and forth a little to make sure I’m really balanced on the bench.

5. Now, maintaining that bedded down into the bench feel reach up and grab the bar.

6. Squeeze the bar tightly. This helps me really focus on keeping all my involved muscles tight.

7. Take a big breath, filling up so that your stomach protrudes and arch your back more simultaneously.

8. Unrack the weight and do your set.

I do this for every set and it’s really helped my shoulder. It’s also nice to have a routine to prime myself before each lift.

Good luck.