When it comes to the bench press, the technique of arching your back has become a somewhat controversial topic depending on who you talk to. Some people will say that it’s cheating, and others will tell you that you need to have a bigger arch to bench heavier weight. Determining the best technique for your bench press depends on your goals for the lift and your training.
If you’ve ever felt a sharp pain at the tip of your shoulder when lifting overhead or during a specific portion of the bench press and it’s held you back from expressing your strength, you've probably been diagnosed with shoulder impingement: a vague diagnosis that leaves you with the general advice of "Does that hurt? Don't do that". In the world of lifting, let me tell you: THERE IS A BETTER WAY.
You’re training hard, chasing PRs, and working your butt off to make a difference for yourself in and out of the gym. However, when things don’t go your way, you may end up in pain. Whether it’s a pain you’ve been dealing with forever or simply a new pain to add to the list, it sucks. Rest assured, it happens to the best of us.
In Part 2 of our article series on urinary incontinence in Powerlifting, we want to rule out the most easily modifiable factors, including belts, incorrect breathing, technical breakdown, and bloating. These fall under the realm of mechanical stress acting directly on the bladder that can cause leaking.
Barbell resistance training is the most effective type of exercise training to accomplish nearly all goals. From achieving a muscular and lean physique to maintaining health and function as you age, and rehabilitating from surgery and returning to your sport of choice. But often, doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors shy away from “lifting weights” because they lack an understanding of safe and effective programming and technique implementation across the life and healthspan.
Where peeing in your pants was once thought to only affect women who’ve had babies or entered the years of menopause, peeing in your pants has become as common as a barbell athlete losing a deadlift due to grip failure. Over the last 8 years, the growth of powerlifting has been tremendous and participation at USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Raw Nationals has increased 6.8x from 183 in 2012 to 1,260 lifters in 2019.
At Progressive Rehab & Strength we not only aim to help athletes recover from injury and return to training and competing using the most up-to-date evidence-based strategies for long-term injury risk reduction, but we also aim to help clinical rehab students and professionals integrate this into their practice.
If you’ve had chronic low back pain with multiple acute episodes of increased pain that makes it nearly impossible for you to continue training and you tell your new physical therapist that the last PT you went to did electrical stimulation (e-stim), heat, dry needling and gave you a home exercise program with some boring breathing techniques and a balloon to help you rehab, we’re here to help you and tell you why these treatments are NOT long-term solutions and how you can creative longevity from your pain and injuries with barbell training!
