. For lanky trainees the conventional range of motion on bench presses, espe-
cially with a close grip, is probably excessive and will cause shoulder prob-
lems.. en there is very poor form in a good exercise that uses a safe grip. Such
destroyers include not keeping tight at the arms-straight position in the
pulldown, pullup or row, wrong bar path in the bench press, swinging
and arching in the barbell curl, and slamming into the lockout of pressing
moves.. Excessive training volume or frequency will damage your shoulders. Any
shoulder, chest or back exercise heavily works your shoulders. Even on an
abbreviated program—where, for example, you train each exercise once a
week but while training three times a week altogether—you can overtrain
your shoulders. Bench press on Monday, dumbbell row on Wednesday, and
press on Friday, means three shoulder workouts per week. at will wear
down even a superman’s shoulders, eventually. Even two demanding shoul-
der workouts a week is too much for some people. Be careful how you struc-
ture your weekly training schedule. Give your shoulders plenty of recovery
time.. Inadequately warming up your shoulders before performing any very
demanding exercise for them will cause damage.. An excessive imbalance between the external (weaker) and internal (stron-
ger) rotator muscles of the shoulders will produce shoulder problems. is,
on top of the other sources of shoulder havoc just outlined, sets you up for
rotator cuff problems. Train the -fly once or twice a week, to strengthen
your shoulder external rotators.. Rigorously analyze your exercise program, and discover where you are
harming your shoulders. Rectify the problems, and you will hugely reduce
the chances of shoulder problems ever impeding your training progress.Shoulder external rotators
. e external rotators of the shoulder include two small muscles called the
infraspinatus and teres minor. ese are much weaker than the internal
rotators, which include the pecs and lats. To distinguish between external
and internal rotation of the shoulder, imagine you are standing and shaking
hands with someone with your right hand. While in that position, if you