shoulder popping whil benching

[JimmyC]

there is a painless but annoying popping in my right shoulder when doing the bench press (at the bottom of the motion to be specific), whats that about?

[wauhawk]

I don't get it when doing a BP but I get this in other motions. I was told by Dr. and Physical Therapist that it's the tendons in your shoulder moving around and kinda snapping over the bone. I hope I'm explaining this right. For the most part nothing to worry about unless pain developes. You may want to have it checked for sure and do some rotator cuff work.

[Bill Hartman]

It could be nothing or a sign of something changing within the shoulder girdle.

"Popping" shoulder sometimes indicates that there many be some instability (usually anterior instability if bench pressing) in glenohumeral (shoulder) joint.

It could stem from postural issues, flexibility issues, isolated weakness, and bad training techniques and program design (or obviously any combination).

I've done some "quick fixes" by treating the subscapularis. Sometimes the subscap. will get overtrained or repetitively strained (it can be injured and not produce symptoms) resulting in altered function. The subscap keeps the humeral head from translating forward in the g-h joint. If it is unable to function properly, you may be getting some anterior movement of the humeral head. As it shifts, it may be causing your "pop".

How do you fix it?

A few possibilities:
1. Limit range of motion in the stretch position in your pressing exercises (i.e., floor presses, pin presses, etc.)
2. Become more proficient with your bench press technique for your structure (yeh, everyone's an expert, right?)
3. Know when the set is over. Many trainees take sets beyond the point of techical break-down/alteration in an effort to achieve "failure". As the scapular stabilizers fatigue, your stabilization strategy will change and may cause repetitive strain. This may be asymptomatic for a long time until a very bad day comes.
4. Discontinue exercises that reproduce the pop. Don't worry you won't waste away.
5. Reduce the frequency and number of pressing exercises.
6. Get the shoulder looked at by a health professional. Forum diagnosis is not the most accruate method.

Bill

[wauhawk]

What Bill states is close to what I was told. I was given som stretches and told to do more work with posture and forcing my shoulders back more. My posture tends to push them forward and that's bad for more than just the shoulders. This may be a part of it for you. But only a medical pro actually looking at you should say for sure. Also as Bill stated.