I just got off the phone to a friend of mine who’s suffering from a shoulder issue (possibly shoulder impingement syndrome).
Apparently likely caused by excessive barbell bench press and imbalanced training.
This is a common problem unfortunately due to various factors from muscle imbalance to simply putting excessive strain through the connective tissue because the bench itself tends to restrict the scapula from moving.
There are ways around it, I will admit that but the vast majority of people aren’t taught the correct positioning.
As the saying goes ‘big bench bad shoulders!’.
Personally I don’t do flat barbell benchpress anymore for two main reasons:
1.Because it’s just not functional for my current needs.
2. Because there are healthier ways to train myself in that pattern that carry over to my functional needs.
The crawl pattern does a variety of positive things for your movement and besides offering a functional flowing movement that strengthens the pec minor and major, it can offer great conditioning for the TVA and multifidus.
Your coach,
Rupert Hambly
