Do You Suffer From Sore Wrists When Doing Bench Press?

A common injury when doing a lot of heavy pressing, such as bench and military press, is a sprained wrist. This is due to the extra flex-ion or hyper extension that happens to the wrist when under a heavy load. This usually occurs on days when the trainer is working their shoulders or chest muscles.

There are three ways to prevent yourself from suffering from a sprained wrist. For the purpose of this article I will be using the bench press as the example exercise.

The first, is simply to warm up. The purpose of a warm up is to get the blood pumping and the muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons ready for exercise. So many trainers walk into the gym and start off lifting moderate to heavy loads without a thought of warming up.

A warm up is very important and only takes 5-10 minutes. I should also note that dynamic stretches are more beneficial than static stretches.

Secondly, when performing a lot of pressing movements trainers tend to concentrate more on just making sure they can lift the weight, opposed to lightening the load, having better technique and feeling your muscle work. For example how many people have you seen doing bench press with their wrists bent right back (hyper extended). After performing rep after rep of a bench with a bent backward wrist there is no wonder why they have a mildly sprained wrist. When you do heavy pressing movements concentrate on keeping your wrist straight, (I like to use the phrase to keep the wrist 'rock solid'.) Doing this will decrease the chance of a sprained wrist from having your wrist at an awkward angle.

If your wrist is still sore even after keeping it straight then you may need to use some wrist wraps. Wrist wraps are elastic and wrap around the wrist and prevent it from flexing and extending. In other words wrist wraps keep your wrist in a straight 'rock solid' position. The use of wrist wraps will prevent your wrist from flexing or hyper extending to the point of injury.

Wrist wraps are a really great invention and, depending on your training regime could be useful for you, especially if you consistently train with heavy weights.

It is very important that you stretch out the muscles you have been working. When lifting you are constantly contracting your muscles and they become tighter and tighter. If you are doing a lot of heavy pulling movements your forearms can become extremely tight resulting in a muscular imbalance in the forearm muscles. This can also be a factor in wrist injuries while performing heavy lifting.

In conclusion if you are constantly lifting heavy weights the smaller joints, such as the wrists, can attain an injury. Implementing strategies such as warming up, using wrist wraps and stretching will protect you from injury. Another important injury prevention strategy is looking at your lifting technique. If your wrists are continually hyper flexed or hyper extended then it is only a matter of time until you suffer an injury.

Author: Matt D'Aquino
http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/

Matt is the founder of Beyond Grappling fitness and conditioning. He is a 2008 Beijing Judo Olympian as well as nationally ranked freestyle wrestler and National Champion in Brazilian Jujitsu. Matt has a passion for teaching all aspects of grappling especially the fitness and conditioning aspect. Recently he has been traveling the world aiming to qualify for his second Olympic Games.

To learn more about Matt and his fitness and conditioning training visit http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/.

Original article

Shoulder Press: Everything You Wanted To Learn About It

A lot of people have been asking lately the same question: why can't they develop their deltoid muscles properly? The answer is simple: because nowadays, people are more tempted to use machines and cables instead of free weights. Fact that definitely leads to the lack of progress.

Basically, the shoulder workout should be based on the shoulder press. Why? Because it is the most complete exercise and the most efficient when it comes to shoulder development. There are many variations of the overhead press: for instance, there are exercises like seated dumbell press, behind neck shoulder press, one arm press, etc. Still, even though the shoulder press is supposed to bring visible results, this does not mean that the regular overhead press will bring the same results for everybody.

The first rule of bodybuilding tells that if something works for one athlete, it doesn't mean that it will work the same for some other bodybuilder. This is why, coming back to the military press, in order to see which of the above mentioned exercises works best for them, young bodybuilders have to experiment each of them for at least one month. For example, in order to see what exercise brings the best results, people should schedule the shoulders workout at the begging of the week, preferably after 1-2 days of rest. The workout should have only one press exercise and no more than 5 sets/per exercise, including the warm up sets. Of course, as the shoulders are considered to be a small muscle group, no more than 18 sets of 10-12 repetitions (including the warm up sets) should be made. This means that the shoulder press should me the most important exercise from of the deltoids workout, followed closely by lateral raises and upright rows.

From my personal experience, the most efficient exercise is the one that people like to call "military press". Unlike the seated deltoid exercises, at this one the athlete must stand in his feet. This means that he can use a little bit of leg drive in order to increase the intensity of his/her workout. However, in order to get the best results, the leg drive must not be exceedingly big, as the main target of the shoulder press are the shoulders and not the legs. Make 6 sets of 8 to 12 reps at every deltoid workout, and it is impossible to not see the results.

Don't forget to eat and sleep properly!

Matei Iurea is a professional powerlifter that has been involved in bodybuilding and powerlifting for more than 10 years. You can find more about the shoulder press visiting http://www.shoulder-press.info/

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Tips For Improving Bench Press Strength That Will Let You Bench The Kind Of Weight Others Dream Of

The bench press is by far the most popular exercise in the gym and the standard by which many judge their own strength and the strength of others. It is also one the exercises that can be hard to excel at and plateaus at certain weights are hard to break through. The article below is going to go over a few points that will help get stronger at bench pressing

Eat Right To Grow and Get Stronger

All the lifting in the world is not going to give you any gains in strength or muscle if you are not feeding your body with the nutrients it needs to build new muscle tissue. This means that you must eat at least 1 1/2 grams of protein for every pound of body weight you have. You must also eat 1-2 grams of complex carbohydrates per pound of body weight as well. Keep in mind these amounts are just starting points and your body may need more or less so adjust them to fit your needs.

Rest Well Between Your Workouts

Most people do not realize this but the muscle growth actually occurs after you are done with your workouts and your body begins to recover not during the lifting periods. During these periods of growth your body will repair the damage you did while lifting the weights so make sure to sleep at least 7-8 hours every night and take a day off after 2 days of working out. To jump start your recovery when you are done with your workouts make sure you eat a protein filled snack!

Start Strengthening Your Supporting Muscles

The bench press involves more than just your chest muscles, your front deltoids, triceps are directly involved as well and almost every other upper body muscle you have is helping to stabilize and balance the weight. So make sure that you are working to get stronger shoulders and triceps as these will help you push heavier weights. But when going for more strength in the triceps and shoulders make sure you use compound movements that will let you move heavier weights as opposed to isolating shaping exercises.

Good Exercises To Build Shoulder Strength

Front Barbell PressSeated Dumbbell PressUpright Rows

Exercises To Build Strong Tricep Muscles

DipsClose Grip Bench PressesEz Bar Extensions

Use Varying Rep Ranges To Shock your Body

The biggest mistake that most guys make when trying to get stronger bench pressing is they only lift heavy weights and never venture into the higher rep range. While it is true the heavier weights will develop strength faster you muscles have fibers that only respond to higher rep training and not stimulating them is costing you both size and strength. I like to switch off to higher reps every few workout sessions just to keep things growing and keep my body confused!

You Also Need The Right Bench Press Routine To Follow

Once you have your diet and rest habits developed a good Bench Press Program that is custom tailored to you will give you that final edge you need to push the really heavy weight! One such program is called Critical Bench 2.0 and a full review can be found on my blog at http://www.getmusclemassfast.com/

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