Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I have sore shoulders from bench pressing. Should I use cables instead? I really miss pressing.

Use dumbbells instead and save the shoulders. Dumbbells are great muscle mass and might builders.

Use various degrees of incline. Safer, smarter, better.

Try a two- or three-inch thick bar for bench pressing — it changes groove (very cool), whil it limits the weight you can use.

Don’t go heavy on the bench anymore or pay the big price — shoulder suicide.

Train smart, eat right, smile and live long… Godspeed… Dave

I had an A/C shoulder separation injury following a fall that was pinned, had the pin removed, and months of physiotherapy before given the all clear last August. Been advised by a personal trainer to avoid dips and possibly close-grip benches. What safe moves can I do to form a good triceps workout?  I’ve lost a lot of confidence here.

It’s been many months since the doc’s okay; you should be well on the mend.

Tough to advise on joint repair. Only the bearer of the injury can accurately choose the exercises, direct their grooves and the recovery process — commonsense, pain awareness, focus, warming up, abbreviated movements, light weights, slow and thoughtful reps, trial and error.

You might stick to various dumbbell presses to secure shoulders and work tris.

Try pulley pushdowns — overhead and forward-facing — with safe positioning of the cable and range of motion and medium resistance.

Lying extensions with a barbell and one-hand overhead extensions with a dumbbell are risk-worthy possibilities. Kick-backs… ugh.

Overall training will bring you back to full power and speed in time. Injury and recovery have a weird way of complementing the musclebuilder.

Confidence will grow with exercise-injury understanding and muscle strength and shoulder health.

Go… Godspeed

I am 21 years old and have been training since 2003. I have problem with my deltoids; when training, I can’t focus on them. I want to increase my shoulder size.

Lucky you. You’re young. It often takes years to accomplish the focus you are seeking. Try doing either presses or lateral raises for high repetitions — sets of 15 reps — to achieve maximum deltoid burn and pump. The pain will get your attention and you’ll discover the deltoids’ exact location.

My favorite approach to building big, strong and muscular shoulders is supersetting presses (front press, behind-the-neck press, steep-dumbbell-incline press) with lateral raises (side-arm or bent-over), performing 3 to 4 supersets of 6 to 8 or 10 reps.

Choose one or two combinations and practice them twice a week.

Do not hurry during your workouts. Think muscle and might.

Carry on with courage and intensity… Godspeed… Dave

Any ideas for adding extra weight on my bench press? I am not aspiring to be a powerlifter, I just want to take it up a notch from my current 185 x 10, to 225 x 8. I just can’t seem to get past 205 x 3. Help. Signed 49 years old and enjoying life.

My best advice is to not seek heavy weight on the bench press and instead use it as a muscle building exercise only.

Going heavy in the bench is notorious for causing frustration and shoulder damage, killers to long term training joy. Go to dumbbells on flat and various degrees of incline for safer, smarter, happier and more effective shoulder and pec development.

Employ the bench press to satisfy our almost instinctive need to perform the old standard, but take it to 80- and 90-percent effort (in either weight or repetitions) without losing form.

Change grip occasionally for varied muscle engagement, development and entertainment. Try the Apollon axle thick bar for a real treat and treatment.

When in doubt, call upon the IOL forum for daring input.

Go… Dave

Shoulder shrugs or shoulder roll: What are they good for, if anything? This would be done with a barbell, dumbbell or Smith Machine. I see it done a lot and have been told that it is not healthy for the shoulders, and I have an older friend who does them all the time yet complains of shoulder pain.

Hefty up-and-down dumbbell shrugs work most safely and effectively to build the shoulder cage and trap muscles. The grip, forearms and biceps are substantially stimulated as well. I’d skip implementing the bars and the rotating (rolling) action as these put an unnatural demand on the rotator regions and contribute to their separation.

Four sets of 15, 12, 10 and 8 reps ascending the rack is a nice mix once a week, wherever they fit your schedule and urge. After arms or back or shoulders or legs… after tea… after the gorilla…

Pull hard and pull again… Dave

I’m having shoulder pain lately. It could be tendinitis, but I’m not certain. Is this something to be concerned with? Should I rest it? Do you have any suggested workout or stretching routines for a shoulder problem?

Join the club. We struggle and strain and eventually get an injury for all our noble efforts. It ain’t fair.

I continue to train when pain rears its ugly head, working those muscle groups unaffected or least affected by the injury. This MO often assists in repair.

After warming up I work close to the pain and injured region to engage my own therapy. Most doctors can’t help till a real problem develops. They often suggest a layoff, water-boarding to a devoted nutsie lifter.

Do common sense warm-ups, light weights and so forth and go onward with bold caution… website full of info… look around. Here are a few links to get you started:

Handling weight training injuries

Tendinitis

Repair of shoulder injuries, part 1

Beware of heavy bench presses.

Go… Godspeed… DD

My question involves a chronic discomfort I have in what I am told is my rhomboid. It is basically a collection of knots behind my left shoulder blade, that I can’t seem to get rid of and seem to be agitated by bench pressing and occasionally by shoulder pressing.

I believe the knots are exactly that, knots of muscle fibers that need to be basically untangled and dispersed by a knowledgeable sport massage therapist, a chiropractor you trust or a therapist skilled in Active Release Therapy (ART).

Laree’s written a blog post that will explain this more fully, here: Triggerpoint therapy.
Works wonders to relieve pain, regain regional body function and allow healthy neuromuscular transmission… something like that.
Go… DD