Shoulder Pain, Bench Press, and Extension

Do you get pain in the front of the shoulder with bench press or push ups? The front of the shoulder is a sensitive area and has a lot of nerves that pass through this area. If the head of your humerus presses forward into this bundle, it can cause some pretty nasty pain. What causes this to happen? Lack of shoulder extension.

 This is shoulder extension:

You need about 30-40 degrees of extension to perform a push up or bench press (just ignore that the elbow is bent, it’s still shoulder extension). See below:

If you are lacking full extension, the whole shoulder girdle will tip forward like so:

Here is a simple assessment. Lay on your stomach with your elbows bent and try to lift your fist off the table. If you can’t lift your fists, you are likely missing shoulder extension. 

I’d recommend first starting by doing a “pec release”. The pec can limit extension, so grab a firm ball and try to decrease some of the tension in the pec like so:

Then, improve extension like this: 

You can also try the Bully Stretch: