So I've been getting a lot of messages and interest from people that like what I said and it made a lot of sense to them about the post I did on the ”2 upper back pulls to every horizontal push”. I thought I would explain it a little more as to why this helps so you can save your shoulders!
When it comes to upper body training especially, for men, in most gyms the bench press is the King of all the upper body exercises. It’s great for strength & hypertrophy which makes it a staple exercise for athletic and aesthetic based training particularly for the Chest, Triceps & anterior (front facing) delts! I love the bench press, it’s one of my favourites, but what other effects can it have on the body especially if we become more dominant in this exercise and muscle group to other exercises and other muscle group’s?
Like any muscle on the body the muscles used during the bench press, mainly the chest & anterior delts, if they become more powerful than their antagonist (opposing) muscle they can begin to pull a joint out of alignment. This is because there isn't equal force in either direction. This becomes detrimental to the joint's health, which in this case is internally rotating the shoulders (rounding and forwards pulling of the shoulders)!
Now when we take into consideration our daily lives as well, and the position we are mainly dominant in during a lot of our daily routines which again are internally rotated as well:-
1. On our phones
2. Driving the car
3. Eating our dinner
4. Working on our computers
The list can go on & on!
As you can see over time staying in this position and with the added tension from our chest and shoulders we end up putting negative strain on our shoulders health in the long run!
But Tom I do a lot of back work, I do loads of pull ups & lat pull down!
Which is great! BUT......
As I said earlier we need to equal the pressure on your shoulder joint. Unfortunately your latissimus dorsi, your Lats, the big triangle shaped muscles in your back which are the main muscles for lat pull downs & pull ups, actually internally rotate your shoulders as well, so they can actually add to this problem!
So what do we do then?!....
We work the upper back!
We work the muscles that do the opposite and that externally rotate the shoulders like your posterior delts (the back of your shoulders), the infraspinatus & Teres Minor. These muscles are responsible for bringing your shoulder line back into position and creating equal pressure on your shoulder from all the heavy bench and dumbell pressing we see a lot of in every gym!
These muscles are A LOT smaller than the muscles that pull in the opposite directing so we have to put some work in to create balance - which is where the Rule “2 upper back pulls to every Horizontal push” comes in! We want to put a lot more volume on these muscles to create more muscle growth which in turn will save your shoulders in the long run! For example if I’m doing 5x5 on heavy bench press I want to be covering at least 25 reps on my upper back.
Some of my favourite exercises I use are:-
1. Band pull aparts (underhand grip & overhand grip)
2. Face pulls
3. Rear delt flys
4. Pronated (overhand grip) rows
You can also use Rows to your advantage to build a strong upper back. For example T-bar and bent over rows are great as long as you are really engaging the upper back by squeezing your shoulders together and contracting your upper back muscles!
These are a few that me and my clients use to keep our shoulders healthy for everyday life and able to still compete in sports we enjoy. In some cases these activities are also their livelihood & professions. We all will be able to make progress for a lifetime rather than causing an injury and having to stop training the way we like or retire from your profession younger than planned!
I hope this helps and can save you some mileage on your shoulders and in turn keep you training and competing in your sports for longer!
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