Adjustable Incline Bench

 

You have protruding blocks on both sides of your shoulders, called acromion. The distance between these blocks is your biacromial distance. Multiply the biacromial distance by 1.5, and this is your ideal bench press grip.

 

In the gym, you may see many people with too large an angle of shoulder abduction when doing bench press. This will not only prevent you from exercising more target muscles, but may also cause shoulder injuries.

 

Shoulder abduction angle: The angle here refers to "the angle between the upper arm or humerus and the torso when you push up and down." Many people will open their shoulders too wide to 90 degrees when bench pressing.

 

At this time, your shoulders will be in an unstable state. The humerus is away from the joint socket, and the scapula will also be lifted, thus losing the stability of the shoulder girdle. Without sufficient shoulder stability, it is impossible to do a good bench press and push-ups.

 

Once the shoulder is unstable, there is a risk of injury. Excessive abduction angle causes the space in the joint cavity to become narrow.

 

The subacromial joint cavity has tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules passing through it, and it is the most likely location for compression syndrome (because the space is small).

 

When the shoulder abduction angle increases, such as reaching 90 degrees (the angle between the upper arm and the ribs is 90 degrees), the already narrow space becomes even narrower.

 

The shoulder joint capsule will be under great pressure, which increases the risk of shoulder compression (the probability of friction, collision or friction between tendons and ligaments).

 

When the shoulder is flexed and abducted, the rotator cuff (rotator cuff) covering the tuberosity will push up and then rub against the acromion bone (there is also a bursa between the tuberosity and the acromion as a buffer).

 

When the rotator cuff muscles rub and squeeze against the acromion for a long time, part of the rotator cuff may rupture due to wear and tear. As long as there is a problem with one of the muscles, it will directly or indirectly affect other muscles or even other joints.