OpenTube

Stop Retracting Your Shoulders To Bench Press

elitefts

33,647 views

Maximally retracting your shoulder blades during the bench press is a deeply ingrained setup habit that actually destroys joint stability and locks up your upper back.
Discover how engaging your serratus anterior along with your lats creates a wider, safer pressing platform that eliminates shoulder pain and prevents destructive elbow flare.
Learning how to depress your shoulders and yield to heavy loads transforms your bench press into a smoothly integrated movement that maximizes raw strength.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:08 Why Your Bench Press Is Wrecking Your Shoulders
06:46 The Maximal Retraction Mistake
11:07 The Strongest Shoulder Position
14:10 Find Your Bench Press Sweet Spot
20:28 How to Actually Load Your Lats
25:28 Demonstration

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20 Comments

@eliteftsofficial Creator 1 month ago Pinned

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@sergiootero5904 1 month ago

"Go to that depressed position"

I'm already there! =,(

@user-nt4sl5hp5m 1 month ago

It's good that this conversation is being had after decades of it being the standard. But I've given up on bench press after constant shoulder, neck and upper back pain.

@BuJammy 1 month ago (edited)

The same people that told us we HAD to retract our shoulder blades are now telling us we must not. What are marvellous sign that human beings can grown and change.

@Conciglio 1 month ago

This. I'm so glad to see this finally coming out by a well known channel. Im 33 and iv'e been benching for over half my life. Iv'e done every form variation imaginable on bench, watched every video on how to correct form. for over 7 years i had shoulder pain and instability when benching. Heavy, medium, or light weight, low reps, high reps, tempo reps, reps in reserve, to failure. Decline bench, incline, dumbells only for months. no matter what my shoulder/shoulders would hurt and feel/be impinged. retracting your shoulder blades into your scapula was hammered into my mind this whole time, just like "never have knees over the toes when squatting." those things were just simply rules. Around age 28 i finally tried what my friend was doing, not retracting at all and without rounding of course, actually letting his shoulders work during the bench and barely having any arch at all. Completely changed my life. I can now go to absolute failure on high or low reps and it hasn't bothered my shoulder in over 5 years. More people need to see this video, old methods once thought to be fact need debunked.

@nicksavich7970 1 month ago

Explaining how max retraction and max depression are impossible at the same is a good argument for this method. I am going to focus on retracting less. My torn lat and shoulder impingement are telling me something needs to change.

@Handlegoeshere1234 1 month ago

Retracting for bench fucked me up for YEARS

@OsmanToplica9001 1 month ago

Wow. This was the best benchpress video I've ever seen.

@julianssnavarro3992 1 month ago

I see Tom in the feed, I click. He’s an amazing addition to the team

@scott-hr3hd 1 month ago

Moving the scapula out of the way so your humerus doesn’t grind your superspanatus into spices.

@benmalloch 1 month ago

I’ve had this intuition for years but never knew how to put it into words or the physiology behind it

@easybrz 1 month ago

Nice cue about keeping the clavicle wide before depressing shoulders. Thanks appreciate the detail and effort in making this content ❤

@Md-ht3cg 1 month ago

Serratus is one of the most - if not the most - overlooked stabilizers in strength and physical therapy. Interesting video.

@RuckLiftSprintCarry 1 month ago

this was freaking Great.

@KnuckleDusterBuster 5 days ago

Has anyone else experienced collarbone pain from lifting like this under heavy weight?

@Howisthings 1 month ago

Yeah I wish I knew all this when I was younger before my shoulders hurt.

@Boofmasterflex 1 month ago

This is a beast of a refresh pull thank you sir for my gains to come!

@nelsonortas818 1 month ago

You are cool and sincere, which is what I respect bro... Keep Up the great vid

@Jp-ww6kh 1 month ago

Been thinking about this same thing lately, great vid, lot of truth in it

@ExecutionSommaire 1 month ago

I literally just got prescribed PT sessions for serratus rehab lol. We're always told to push and even pull with our chest out all through the movement, deactivating the serratus.