Not trying to jack your thread or anything but since this seems to be going nicely I figured I'd try and get an idea of what my problem is. I injured my shoulder, assuming rotator cuff, during my shoulder workout day but I don't know what exercise it came from since I didn't feel any discomfort until that night. I can do all of my chest and back exercises perfectly fine with no pain or discomfort in my shoulder. The only time it hurts is if I try and throw something like a baseball or football or for military presses. Not really sure where to go with it right now.
This is from Joe DeFranco.
Q: Hey Joe,
First off. I've learned TONS of **** from your webpage and youtube videos and have applied it with great success for myself and my athletes. So thank you for being one of the FEW honest guys in the industry.
Obviously it's no secret you train football players. My question is if you were working with a quarterback would you change anything regarding shoulder work. I understand that lower body training would likely stay the same, but I was just wondering would you still have them bench pressing with a barbell or do you think that would be too stressful on the rotator cuff and shoulder joint in general? I guess to simplify what would change on a max effort upper body day for a quarterback?
Thanks man!
Justin B.
A: Justin,
I'm not one of those coaches that says,
"I never let my quarterbacks perform barbell benches". I have no problem letting a quaterback barbell bench every now and then during the off-season, but it definitely shouldn't be the main focus. BTW, I don't think the barbell bench is as "bad" as most coaches think - as long as you're teaching your athletes to
retract and depress their scapula,
tuck their elbows, and '
push themselves through the bench' when pressing. This (proper) technique can drastically reduce the stress on the shoulder joint when barbell benching.
The reason the barbell bench press has been labelled a "dangerous" exercise for quarterbacks is because the barbell locks you into an 'internally rotated' position (pronated grip) and your hands cannot move freely (like they can with dumbells). This "fixed", internally rotated position is associated with impingement of the rotator cuff tendons. One "remedy" for this is to have your throwing athletes press with a
neutral grip barbell. In order to go from a pronated grip to a neutral grip, you must
supinate your hands/forearms (which means you are
externally rotating the humerus). External rotation repositions the humeral head and gives the rotator cuff tendons more "wiggle room", without impingement, as you press the bar.
So to answer your question; if you're going to have your quarterbacks perform Max-Effort Upper Body workouts with the rest of the team, I'd suggest focussing on neutral bar pressing variations (flat, incline, floor, different grip widths, accomodating resistance, etc.) and/or dumbell press variations (5-7 rep range). Also, do not forget to incorporate push-up variations with your throwing athletes! (Although I suggust using the push-ups as more of a supplemental exercise.) Push-ups are classified as a closed-chain movement because the distal segment is fixed (hands on floor) and the proximal segment is moving (your body). Closed-chain movements will always be safer than open-chain movements. This is why push-ups are a big part of many shoulder rehabilitation programs.
According to DeFranco, athletes involving throwing like quarterbacks and pitchers should try to perform bench presses with their hands parallel (facing each other) due to the humerus being in such an internally rotated position during a flat bench press with a barbell.
