bench press

My understanding of swimmer's shoulder is that muscle imbalance aggravates impingement of the rotator cuff tendons. The anterior muscles, including pectoralis major, are larger and stronger than the rotator cuff muscles and the other posterior muscle groups that stabilize the scapula and suppport the shoulder. So bench press could increase this imbalance, making the situation worse. Additionally, depending on how you perform the exercise, you may be impinging the tendons when you lower the weight (same problem with dips). So what do can be done to restore balance? RC stabilisers, rows? Doorway stretches are huge for anyone who is blessed with a chunky chest. It's like how if you over strengthen your quads without working your hams, they can pop because they can't cope with the load when they're engaged. Frequently hams are pulled when people try to slow from a run or change direction. As a note I'm in no way suggesting using weight that limit reps to 4.

I don't do dips or push ups either. Anything really where my shoulders are supporting my body weight. To restore balance, you should do RC exercises and scapular stabilizers, plus any exercise that strengthens the back and anterior muscles, especially the teres muscles. Rowing is good, although shouldn't be overdone. Any machine with a pulling motion that causes you to retract and protract the shoulder blades is effective. There are also dryland exercises that help strengthen the scapular muscles with retraction and protraction like the prone hitchhiker, etc. I'm not sure about doorway stretches ... I'm leary of stretching my tendons. But I can see where you would want to stretch the muscles in the front of the shoulder, but NOT the back. Presumably the tendons are loosey goosey back there from all the repetitive motion on fly and free. Or genetics. Or both. I'll show you my PT reccomended stretches tomorrow. As a consolation prize for you. :D You're right about not overdoing rowing. That is good advice for any and all things.

Interesting view point...but bench pressing can't be all that bad for swimming. By default, the abdominal muscles will get a work out...along with all the smaller muscles which are straining to push the weight upwards. Bench pressing in itself will strengthen your triceps (good for swimming). However, the best muscle building for the triceps will come from doing dips. Another muscle group to target are the lats. Lat pull downs on a weight machine and pull-ups/chin/ups will strengthen these back muscles. Very good for swimming. Maybe it all depends on how these exercises are being done. Bad form will cause damage.

Bad form will cause damage. So will bad exercises, like dips. A few years ago I read The Seven Minute Shoulder Solution. The authors were very negative about dips and bench press. I've heard this from other sources, including my PT.

I'm addicted to dips, nothing seems to burn the triceps like them. Any good substitutions? Skull crushers. See: www.exrx.net/.../BBLyingTriExtSC.html This entire web site is awesome... And created by a guy who lives in Kansas! Muscle and Exercise Directory: www.exrx.net/.../Directory.html Exercise instruction and weight training: www.exrx.net/Exercise.html Home: http://www.exrx.net/ Anna Lea

Totally agree with that Dr. Gull. When we were teen agers...doing dips were as easy as touching your toes. I remember climbing the ropes in the gym with just hands no legs. I can still do them now (dips). And it would appear that it all depends on how much weight you are dipping up and down. But then again at 45 years old... I weigh a few lbs. less than I did at 21.

A couple strong therabands stuck in a door and pulled slowly rearward with your forearm (humerus vertical and aligned with your abdomen) will make your triceps cry for mercy.

If I may, bench press like squats and lat pulldowns are a good basic exercises that hit the main areas. Doing these in a safe, good form way with weight won't do anything bad. Obviously trying to progress to heavy weight to build muscle may over bulk the chest and/or lead to injury, but in it's own right benching with freewieghts at least, hits your core too...just not your lower half like press ups. To be honest you could do squats, lats and benchpress and generically hit all the muscle groups. Most folks would get good returns from these 3 exercises alone.

Terry Laughlin tore a portion of his rotator cuff doing bench press and was faced with a long recovery that involved surgery as I recall. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that bench pressing is outright bad for swimmers. I do think that bench pressing with shoulders that are already overworked from swimming is an invitation to a disaster though.

I do something like the "Skull Crusher" but with dumbbells so I don't crush my skull. Bench press seems to hurt my shoulders. I think a better lift for breaststroke is to take the cable weights and pull down and in with them. As I have said many times,I think if you are swimming 200s or less you are better off with High weights/low reps as swimming is low weight/high reps. If the exercise hurts do one that doesn't.