What to do before a bench press

When performing a heavy bench press, do an exercise that will prepare your shoulders so you can perform the routine exceptionally well.

Over the years, we at MASmusculo have worked with many athletes with shoulder problems that prevented them from doing the bench press with heavy weights and a standard bar.

To avoid similar problems, it is best to prevent shoulder-related joint injuries, which also affect self-esteem. Since the bench press is an icon for athletes both physiologically and psychologically, it is worth working on the shoulders and preparing your posture.

In a compound chest exercise like this one, the muscles of the torso and back also work, including the lats and pectorals; however, the deltoids work hard as accessory muscles.

Why work your shoulders

Your shoulders do a considerable amount of work whenever you perform back and chest exercises, but performing exercises that target your deltoids is also important for the following reasons, according to the studies and the logic of physiology itself:

• They facilitate most arm movements, but practically all upper-body exercises involve the shoulder muscles to some extent.
• If your shoulders are weak, they will take a beating even if you perform exercises such as the bench press perfectly; however, they can also help prevent weekend injuries, such as those involving a rotator cuff.
• Bodybuilders take shoulder training seriously because they know these muscles play an important role in their appearance, which, after all, is what bodybuilding is all about.

The solution would be to strengthen your shoulders during shoulder days in your conventional workouts, but adapting band shoulder dislocations as a basic warm-up for the bench press is practical for everyone.

From this perspective, we analyzed an improved version that will really take off and prepare your shoulders so you can train like never before.

A practical solution

Using bands wrapped around your body to dislocate your shoulders has several variations; the classic version involves remaining standing.

However, this new method, which can be considered “improved,” uses a bent-over position, which many experts call «wraparounds».

Why bend over?

• The most common mistake with regular dislocations is performing them with the spine too extended and the rib cage flared; this happens mainly when reaching the band overhead and behind you.
• The point is that you would not press overhead this way, so why should your shoulder warm-up be any different?

In short, the solution is to bend your torso, making it nearly impossible to overextend and resolving the problem.

Before the bench press, it makes a difference

You can use this band-dislocation technique while standing, but combining it with the bent-over modification will help you get more out of your bench press.

• Pulling it toward your knees will activate your lats and rear deltoids even more.
• Meanwhile, pulling it toward your back will involve your pectorals and serratus anterior even more.

The idea is to maintain shoulder muscle and joint health and thus perform well on the bench press.

How to perform dislocations

Try them as a warm-up exercise or perform combined dislocations as active recovery between sets of your main lifts.

If you are stuck working at home or in the office, doing them occasionally throughout the day would not be a bad idea either, as it will have a positive effect on any bench press you do during the week.

A few sets of 6–10 repetitions should be enough, because beyond that you should feel a stretch in your pectorals and biceps and get a good squeeze in your chest and back as you wrap the band in both directions.