{"id":426,"date":"2009-12-23T09:52:28","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T16:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426"},"modified":"2009-12-23T09:53:08","modified_gmt":"2009-12-23T16:53:08","slug":"more-upper-back-exercises-less-bench-press-happier-shoulders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426","title":{"rendered":"More Upper Back Exercises &#038; Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever feel the tightness or ache deep in the shoulder during or after a series of bench press sets?\u00a0 I must admit I LOVED doing bench press all through college and in my early twenties.\u00a0 Guys love the chest pump and of course nothing impresses a girl more than broad shoulders, a big chest and beefy arms, right?<\/p>\n<p>Then as I began gaining years of experience as a therapist and started my personal training career, I began to realize a common scenario in men lifting weights regularly.\u00a0 They had horrible posture, weak posterior chain strength and sore shoulders.\u00a0 The common thread was this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bench press and loads of chest exercises 2-3x\/week and maybe some occasional back exercises thrown in once per week.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This repetitive bench pressing, dips and flies created a HUGE imbalance.\u00a0 Keep in mind for every chest exercise you do, you should balance it with a back exercise.\u00a0 Some believe the ratio of back to chest exercises should be 3:2, while others suggest 2:1.\u00a0 Suffice it to say I just believe we need less pressing and flies and more back exercises in general.<\/p>\n<p>The poor weak rotator cuff stands up tall in the teens, twenties and early thirties, but it eventually starts\u00a0to break down over time.\u00a0 Aside from modifying range\u00a0of motion, load and changing arm angles (all things I preach), you must work hard to reverse the effects of gravity by doing more upper\/lower back training to prevent the caveman syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>Your long term shoulder health depends on it.\u00a0 I have rehabbed hundreds of shoulders going through rotator cuff and labral repair that are no doubt in some way related to lifting abuse.\u00a0 Take my word for it when I tell you backing off the load, volume and frequency of bench pressing will add years of life to your shoulders and\u00a0prevent you from living on anti-inflammatory medication to make it through the day.\u00a0 I am not anti-bench per se, but I do believe once per week is more than enough for most of us.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I have included a link to a recent column I wrote for <em>PFP Magazine<\/em> on one such posterior chain exercise to work the upper back and cuff.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fit-pro.com\/ME2\/dirmod.asp?sid=&amp;nm=&amp;type=Publishing&amp;mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&amp;mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&amp;tier=4&amp;id=3263E49078064E4795DF28E315D3F9F7\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Click here<\/strong><\/a> to read the column.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, I added a video of the exercise below.\u00a0 This is easy to do and will immediately improve shoulder health.\u00a0 Consider adding it to your gym routine at least 2x\/week on upper body days.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"viddlervideo-37432-3732b920\" class=\"viddlervideo\"><p><a href=\"#viddlervideo-37432-3732b920\" onclick=\"loadViddlerVideo('37432','3732b920','player',437,370);\" title=\"Click to play this video.\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"437\" height=\"370\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-thumbs.viddler.com\/e2\/thumbnail_2_3732b920.jpg\" alt=\"Video thumbnail.\" \/><\/a><\/p><p><a href=\"#viddlervideo-37432-3732b920\" onclick=\"loadViddlerVideo('37432','3732b920','player',437,370);\" return false;\">Click to play this video.<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>In closing today, I want to wish all of my friends, family, subscribers and followers a Happy Holiday Season!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever feel the tightness or ache deep in the shoulder during or after a series of bench press sets?\u00a0 I must admit I LOVED doing bench press all through college and in my early twenties.\u00a0 Guys love the chest pump and of course nothing impresses a girl more than broad shoulders, a big chest and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,8,22,36],"tags":[427,25,20],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-injury-prevention","category-rehab","category-rotator-cuff","category-shoulder","tag-rotator-cuff","tag-rotator-cuff-exercise","tag-shoulder-exercise"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>More Upper Back Exercises &amp; Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff&#039;s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Upper Back Exercises &amp; Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever feel the tightness or ache deep in the shoulder during or after a series of bench press sets?\u00a0 I must admit I LOVED doing bench press all through college and in my early twenties.\u00a0 Guys love the chest pump and of course nothing impresses a girl more than broad shoulders, a big chest and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brian Schiff&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-23T16:52:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-12-23T16:53:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Schiff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Schiff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426\",\"name\":\"More Upper Back Exercises & Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff's Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-23T16:52:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-12-23T16:53:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7ecfca77bb5641821016294c8190473\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"More Upper Back Exercises &#038; Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brian Schiff's Blog\",\"description\":\"Injury Prevention, Sports Rehab &amp; Performance Training Expert\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7ecfca77bb5641821016294c8190473\",\"name\":\"Brian Schiff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfb4d8d97e576039b5949885812b9a4199eafdf93f5da9ccf83f9b671aac22f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfb4d8d97e576039b5949885812b9a4199eafdf93f5da9ccf83f9b671aac22f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Schiff\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.brianschiff.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More Upper Back Exercises & Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff's Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More Upper Back Exercises & Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff's Blog","og_description":"Ever feel the tightness or ache deep in the shoulder during or after a series of bench press sets?\u00a0 I must admit I LOVED doing bench press all through college and in my early twenties.\u00a0 Guys love the chest pump and of course nothing impresses a girl more than broad shoulders, a big chest and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426","og_site_name":"Brian Schiff's Blog","article_published_time":"2009-12-23T16:52:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2009-12-23T16:53:08+00:00","author":"Brian Schiff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Schiff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426","url":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426","name":"More Upper Back Exercises & Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders - Brian Schiff's Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-12-23T16:52:28+00:00","dateModified":"2009-12-23T16:53:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7ecfca77bb5641821016294c8190473"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?p=426#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More Upper Back Exercises &#038; Less Bench Press = Happier Shoulders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/","name":"Brian Schiff's Blog","description":"Injury Prevention, Sports Rehab &amp; Performance Training Expert","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d7ecfca77bb5641821016294c8190473","name":"Brian Schiff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfb4d8d97e576039b5949885812b9a4199eafdf93f5da9ccf83f9b671aac22f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfb4d8d97e576039b5949885812b9a4199eafdf93f5da9ccf83f9b671aac22f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Schiff"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.brianschiff.com"],"url":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.brianschiff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}