When many guys head into the gym, they’re concerned with their mirror muscles – the ones that complete the front side of the body (chest, abs, shoulders, and biceps). Since these muscles are the typical concern for building an attractive physique, they get the majority of the focus. The assumed king of upper body exercises, the bench press, often gets a lot of attention for boasting rights as a measure of pure strength. However, too much focus on the mirror muscles can actually cause an imbalance and completely ruin your pressing power.
The Test: Scapular Winging
To determine if your program is too push-heavy, stand shirtless and assume a typical posture. It may help to march in place for a few seconds to relax your body and avoid standing unnaturally. Have a friend observe from behind you. They should be focusing on your shoulder blades. Most guys that put heavy chest exercises as a priority in their routine develop rounded shoulders that pull the shoulder blades forward. This results in a term called scapular winging. It’s easily identified if your shoulder blades are poking out on your back rather than resting flat on your rib cage.
When your shoulder blades are flared out as in scapular winging, it reduces the amount of space your shoulder has to operate. With the shoulder rolled forward, the front part of your shoulder is pinched and can’t move as well. When forced into different positions, this may lead to injury and sideline your lifting for quite awhile.
The Fix: Forget the Mirror Muscles
Most programs focus on exercises that internally rotate your arm (think pointing your thumbs towards your legs and having the back of your hand facing forward). This further pulls the shoulder blades forward and encourages scapular winging. To reverse the process, we need to incorporate more pulling motions that externally rotate your arm and move it into a proper position. Begin incorporating this pulling variations into your program to help correct posture.
The Exercise: Kneeling Row
Directions: Set two cable attachments at their highest point. They should be over shoulder height. Attach a pulley handle to both cables. Kneel down on one knee in front of the machine holding a handle in each hand. Start with your arms outstretched in front of you with your arms internally rotated and thumbs facing down. Drive your elbows back in a rowing motion as you externally rotate your hands (move your palms facing up), ending with an underhand grip. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the end of the motion. Slowly extend your arms rotating your hands to the starting position.
Aside from strengthening the right areas, lengthening the chest and lats are a prime concern to help eliminate poor shoulder posture. Use a lacrosse ball or a baseball to dig into those tight areas and break up knots. To hit your lats, lie on the ground with the ball positioned just behind your armpit on one side. Reach your arm overhead and begin to slowly roll around until you find some tight areas. To isolate your chest, have the ball in the palm of your hand. Reach one arm across to the other side of your body and put the ball on the upper part of your chest (picture yourself doing the Pledge of Allegiance). Stack your other hand on top and slowly press down while moving the ball in a gentle, circular motion.
Combined with appropriate stretching, strengthening the right muscles will help pull your shoulder back into better alignment. This simple fix will help to increase your pressing power and lead to bigger numbers when you return to the bench. Always keep pulling exercises in your program to balance posture and prevent winging at the shoulder blade.