A main cause of shoulder discomfort related to bench pressing typically always has to do either with where you place the barbell or how wide your arm angle is. If you keep your arms at a ~75 degree angle you're able to keep your shoulders safe throughout the whole ROM (Range of motion). If our arms are bent at a 75 degree-ish angle, we can hit our targeted area safely, with our shoulders externally rotated. Making sure the barbell targets your is crucial when benching: It's not like this spot is "magical" for some reason, but it allows your shoulders to stay safe throughout the movement. As we've seen previously, the natural bar path of the bench press is not a straight line but rather curved/some type of "arch", I'd dare to say - which makes our nipple height the "right spot" to target with the barbell, on the descent part of the movement.Going lower/higher places unnecessary stress on the anterior deltoid, which over time, under constant overuse & heavy load, could cause issues with the shoulders. Curtesy of Pheasyque Instagram
