Recently coming off another injury to my shoulder I went to a professional bodybuilder/trainer for advice.
Problem: I found myself unable to lift heavy and not injure my shoulder, this put me at a dead end road without making any strength or size gains. The advice I received was so common sense it never dawned on me before to make this easy yet necessary change.
Solution: I went from lifting heavy on a flat bench to lifting heavy on a smith machine. This was something so simple and easy but has made a big change in my workouts. This is a good way to still push your muscles to grow using heavy weights but gives you more support on your tendons, joints and cartilage during this heavy push. It takes a lot of stress off of these supporting muscle groups and helps your body heal from its previous injuries. Another Bonus to using a smith machine is it allows you to get more comfortable with lifting and feeling the heavy weight come down at you. after all a lot of this game is "Mental"
Note: Even though your using a Smith machine it is always wise to use a spotter to help aid you during a heavy weights day.
Progress: withing 2 weeks I went from lifting 275 @6 Reps on the Flat Bench to 315 @8 Reps using the Smith machine. Life is good and shoulder is healing!!!
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