I injured my shoulder by using too much weight on the bench, I took time off but now everytime I bench I feel my shoulder crack. What should I do? Should I just switch to incline bench and flat bench dumbbell presses? I can do close grip bench without an issue, but once I move my hands away from my side BAM shoulder pain.
Sounds like a problem I had this past year. I just started to feel healthy the past few weeks but it took a lot of patience, research and corrections.
Read as many posts on this site and other sites to gain info about what worked for people with shoulder injuries. Keep in mind the shoulder is complex and there are many diff types of injuries.
Working through the pain will get you no where. One by one you'll begin to not be able to perform your favorite chest/delt exercises. You have to fix the problem now before you injure it further. Cut out all the painful exercises. Focus on strengthening your rear delts and upper back. Do more pulling exercises. Find some rotator cuff exercises/stretches and do them daily. Even if you think it's not a rotator cuff injury, it can't hurt to do them and will prevent future injuries.
I read a lot of posts on joint supps and tried a few. I like the combo of fish oil+orange triad (contains joint support like glucosamine)+super cissus. I take extra glucosamine if I put extra stress on the joint that day. Formutechs Flexible was great as well.
Finally you have to fix your form. No matter how great you think your bench press form is, it can always be improved. I found if I arched my back it took the pressure off of my rotated cuff. Felt so much better than a flat back press. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Keep constant tension on your lats. Focus on contracting the pecs on the way up. I thought the YouTube "so you think you can bench" was interesting and had a few helpful tips. But I would only go back to the bench after the problem is fixed. It may take a while.
Good luck to you. Nothing slams the breaks on your weight training progress like a shoulder injury.