How to Vary Bench Press Implements for Healthy Pressing

By djpope

August 21, 2019

axle bar, Bench Press, dumbbell press, extended range bar, fat bar, implements, injury, modification, modifications, neutral grip bar, Rehabilitation, Shoulder Pain, swiss bar, wrist pain

It’s time for another episode of STRONGER TV. This week we about some of our favorite modifications for the bench press. These modifications are really helpful for dealing with specific pain problems but also very helpful to continue making progress when lifting plateaus strike. Kiefer and I definitely recommend trying some of these variations out if you haven’t already.

In this episode we go over:

  • Fat bar pressing for wrist pain
  • Do fat grips activate the shoulder muscles more?
  • Why swiss bars are a nice alternate to straight bars
  • How elbow angle changes stress on the shoulder
  • How partial range bars can reduce stress on the shoulder
  • How extended range vars can increase hypertrophy and help with sticking points in the bench press
  • How varying the training implement can help add pressing volume to your program without irritating the shoulder
  • How to vary your dumbbell bench press technique to reduce shoulder pain
  • Why dumbbells force a reduction in stress to the shoulder

That’s it! Now you’re equipped with a few new bench press variations to apply when pain strikes. If you enjoyed today’s episode and want to support us and learn more please head over to our youtube page and hit the “thumbs up” and “subscribe” button to give us a follow. We’ll see you on the next episode!

Haven’t missed a bench day since 1985,

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS