Shoulder Pain While Bench Pressing?

If your shoulder hurts at the bottom of a bench, during lockout, or the next day—you don’t need to stop lifting. You need a better plan.

Does This Sound Familiar?

Pain at the bottom of your bench press

Sharp pain when the bar gets close to your chest

Ache in the front of your shoulder after upper body days

Clicking or pinching during pressing or dips

You’ve tried rest… and it just comes back

You’re not broken—and this isn’t something you have to train around forever.

Why Your Shoulder Still Hurts

Most lifters are told to:

rest

stretch more

get massage or dry needling

avoid pressing

That might reduce symptoms temporarily.

But it doesn’t fix the actual problem:

your shoulder’s ability to tolerate load in the positions you train

If you go back to the same training with the same capacity, the pain comes right back.

Our Approach: Keep You Lifting

At Performance Physical Therapy, we don’t pull you out of the gym.

We:

modify your training instead of shutting it down

build strength in painful ranges

improve your tolerance to pressing volume and intensity

address the actual demands of benching—not generic rehab

The goal isn’t to feel better for a week.
The goal is to bench pain-free long term.

So What’s Causing Shoulder Pain During Bench?

Poor tolerance at deeper ranges of shoulder extension

Sudden spikes in volume or intensity

Weakness in positions specific to your lift

Technique changes that increase stress on the shoulder

Training around pain instead of building capacity through it

This isn’t about a “tight muscle” or something being “out of place.”

What Our Approach Looks Like

Assess your bench press (not just your shoulder on a table)

Identify where pain shows up in your lift

Modify your training so you can keep progressing

Build strength in the exact positions that hurt

Progress you back to full intensity safely

Lifters We've Helped

Dylan Carter

@dylanliftsheavy_ish

Jeremy Helton

@fitprobloomington

This Is For You If:

You lift regularly and don’t want to stop

You’ve tried rest and it didn’t work

You’re tired of temporary fixes

You want a plan that actually fits your training

Ready To Bench Without Shoulder Pain?

You don’t need to guess your way through this or keep avoiding upper body days.

Let’s figure out exactly what’s going on and build a plan to get you back to lifting.

Should I stop benching if my shoulder hurts?

You should keep benching, however you will likely need to make modifications to your current training intensity or you will continue to experience shoulder pain while benching. Using different bars like a Swiss Bar or a Buffalo Bar can help reduce some of the strain on the shoulder while bench pressing in the short term.

Is this a rotator cuff injury?

The rotator cuff is commonly involved, however it is not as significant of an injury as you may think, despite the varying levels of pain. There are a number of tissues at the shoulder that can be involved. The rotator cuff plays an important role for stabilizing the shoulder during pressing movements, and when pain presents, it is better to think of the pain as a signal from too much loading in a given period, rather than a significant injury.

Will I need imaging?

More often than not, the answer is no. It depends on the mechanism of injury. If this is a pain that you have been dealing with off and on for several weeks to months, or even years, you do not need imaging. If this is a pain that came on suddenly and you have never experienced it before, the answer is still probably no depending on your physical presentation during the evaluation.

How long does this take to fix?

At Performance Physical Therapy, we can help eliminate pain within the first couple of sessions over the initial 2 weeks. However, building your pressing capacity back up in a safe and progressive manner typically takes 8-12 weeks depending on how long you have been dealing with shoulder pain when pressing.

Can I still train other lifts?

Absolutely! Continuing to train with different pressing variations is the fastest way to get better. In fact, we never tell our lifters to stop lifting. Continuing to train helps prevent further strength loss and expedites the healing process.