Trouble with delts

While bench press is one of the most popular training movements, it is also the most common culprit for shoulder injuries in the weight room. Proper shoulder care can help prevent injury, strengthen the joint, and improve results for other muscle groups that rely on the shoulder joint for stability.

There are three components of proper shoulder care. These are stretching, control drills, and strengthening. All three together provide a comprehensive plan to keep the joint flexible and strong.

Stretches

There are several stretches that help keep the shoulder joint flexible and able to comfortable move through it's full range of motion. Light stretching can be performed before training, but longer stretches should always be performed after any upper body training. It is important that the joint is warm before stretching, so if you are stretching before a workout, you should perform some of the control drills listed later in this article prior to attempting to stretch the joint. Stretches should be held statically for a minimum of 15 seconds and up to a minute at a time, and can be repeated for two or three sets.

The first stretch is the trap stretch. Place one arm by your side with the palm facing away from your body. Grasp the top of your head with your other hand. Now, gently pull your ear towards your shoulder. Keep your shoulders and torso level. This should stretch the trap muscles of the opposite side of your tilt.

The second stretch is the shoulder stretch. Take one arm and place it across the front of the chest. Now, use the other arm to pull the first arm across body and towards the chest. This targets the anterior deltoids, or the front of the shoulder joint.

The final stretch is the rear shoulder stretch. Hang one arm by your side. Now bend it so that your hand is reaching for your back. Try to push your hand as far across the middle of your back as possible. With the other arm, reach up and over your back. Either grasp the first hand or dangle a towel and grab the towel with your first hand. Use the second hand to pull up.

Control Drills

Control drills are simple exercises designed to warm up the muscle joint, improve coordination and work the muscle through a full range of motion. Unlike resistance exercises, they are not meant to fatigue the joint, only to prepare it for work. Control drills can be performed before a workout to warm up the muscle prior to stretching. If you don't stretch before a workout, you can still perform the control drills as a warm up for the workout itself. I recommend shoulder control drills before any workout that involves the shoulder, whether it is direct shoulder exercises, or exercises like bench press, flies, or any upper arm (biceps and triceps) workouts that include the shoulder joint as a stabilizer. You can perform about ten repetitions of this and work up to three sets, but don't push to the point of fatigue or exhaustion.

The first control drill is the lateral rotator cuff. Grasp a light dumbbell (no more than five pounds) and place it in front of your body, so that your arm is at a right angle and the dumbbell is on the opposite side of your body, palm facing in. Now, rotate across your body until the palm is facing out and the dumbbell is away from your body. Rotate slowly but firmly, as far as you can comfortably go. Try to increase your range of motion each time. Try to keep the upper arm stationary – rotate it only – and the forearm parallel to the ground.

The second control drill is the external rotator cuff. Grasp a light dumbbell as before. This time, bend the arm at a right angle away from the body, with palm facing in. Now, rotate the dumbbell upwards until the palm faces out. Try to keep your upper arm parallel to the ground. Perform this in a similar fashion to the previous control drill: slow, but firm.

Finally, there are shoulder rotations. Spread your arms out to your sides. Trace a circle with your fingertips, starting with small circles and rotating forward (over). Slowly increase the speed of the rotation and the radius of the circles within your comfort range. After doing this ten or more times, repeat with the opposite direction of rotation.

Exercises

Finally, the shoulders should be exercised like any other muscle group. There are two distinct varieties of shoulder workouts, and both should be performed at various stages during your training. The compound group are exercises that involve most aspects of the shoulder joint. These include movements like the clean and press, military press, and Arnold press. The second group is the isolation group which involve very distinct planes of motion, such as the side or lateral raise, front raise, and rear deltoid raise or reverse fly.

If you find your bench press is 'sticking' it may be that your shoulders are the limiting factor. To avoid weak shoulders, prioritize them to the front of your training. Build a comprehensive program of stretches, control drills, and shoulder exercises and you will not only be surprised at how much you advance with your other exercises, but will also be doing your body a favor by helping to avoid injury. Be consistent with this regimen and you can avoid the trouble with delts.