Eliminate Shoulder Pain & Press More Weight With The Swiss Bar

Today, we will be addressing something that is VERY common when training, and that’s shoulder and elbow pain on some of the most basic muscle and strength building exercises. So, if this sounds like you and shoulder pain is preventing you from reaching your max potential, pay close attention!

Now, how many of you deal with shoulder pain when you’re performing an exercise like the barbell bench press, barbell shoulder press or a barbell incline press? And how many of you tend to avoid exercises like barbell skullcrushers, barbell curls and barbell bent-over rows because they always seem to cause elbow pain and discomfort?  Share this article with your friends, if you feel like it’s going to help them too.

How Can You Fix The Problem?

Well, the main reason why you’re getting all that pain and pressure in your joints is because the straight bar doesn’t exactly provide a natural movement pattern for everyone’s anatomy, ESPECIALLY if you tend to have a lot of tightness in your shoulders. We’re all built differently and not all exercises are for everybody. On top of that, the straight barbell doesn’t allow for much mobility THROUGHOUT the range of motion like dumbbells do because when you use a straight barbell, your arms are locked in place.  But with dumbbells you have the freedom to internally rotate your shoulders a bit until the movement feels more comfortable.

So the solution is easy right? Just use dumbbells! Well, not so fast.  While dumbbells will make an excellent solution for maybe fixing that pain you have in your joints, in most cases you won’t be able to overload your muscles to the MAX with as much weight as possible. Also, dumbbells require a lot of balance and stabilization which may place even more stress on your joints instead of getting rid of it for those of you who’re having joint issues.

Just think about how much more weight you can lift when benching or overhead pressing when using a barbell.  Even when it comes to exercises like skull crushers, bent-over rows or barbell curls, you’ll ALWAYS be able to overload your body MORE when using a barbell versus dumbbells. So, if this is you and you seem to be plateauing on any of these movements because joint pain is holding you back, here is what can you use to not only avoid joint pain, but still progress with your movements and that is the SWISS BARBELL.

Why The Swiss Bar Is Superior To The Straight Barbell

Now the swiss barbell goes by a few different names such as the Football Barbell, Multi-Grip Barbell and American Barbell, but whatever you want to call it, it works. 

The reason WHY it helps reduce shoulder strain is because the barbell itself has multiple places for you to grab it, allowing for a full NEUTRAL GRIP or slightly TURNED IN GRIP on exercises that you wouldn’t normally be able to do this on, such as a barbell bench press or a barbell shoulder press. This change in how you grip the barbell can also bring more triceps into your pressing movements as well, which will mean MORE POWER which directly translates to your performance out there in the field or court.  In fact, most people who turn to dumbbells on a bench press usually do so for the sole reason that you CAN internally rotate your shoulders a bit to reduce shoulder strain and bring more triceps into the movement.  But the big difference here is with the swiss barbell you will be able to create the same range of motion as when using dumbbells, but you will be able to press a lot more weight.

Use the promocode “mindright-15” for 15% off the Gronk Fitness Swiss Bar!

What’s The Potential Problem With A Straight Barbell?

Now, let’s expand on that last point a bit.  Typically, the main reason that holds a lot of you back from heavy pressing movements is the fact that the straight barbell places too much stress on your shoulders.  This is because they are stuck in a fixed position that leaves little to no room in your shoulder joints which can create friction between the tendons, synovial bursa and bones and over time can lead to shoulder pain or a serious injury.  

But with the Swiss barbell you have the choice of either adducting your shoulders with the neutral grip or slightly internally rotating them by using the middle grips to take as much stress out of the shoulder joint as possible.

Also, particularly if you’re not warming up and stretching before and after your workouts or if your shoulder mobility is limited for some other reason, pressing with straight barbells will most likely deteriorate your condition.

How Can You Utilize The Swiss Barbell?

The Swiss barbell can be used for much more than just pressing movements.  For example, if you want to bring more intensity to an exercise like the dumbbell hammer curl, now you can do that by utilizing the neutral grips on the Swiss barbell. Or maybe your wrists hurt when trying to perform a standard barbell curl, well you can use the slanted grips to simulate that exercise as well. 

However, one of the best exercises to use the Swiss bar for is the SKULLCRUSHER.  Most people usually forego this exercise because of the annoying elbow pain that tends to come with it or they just switch to dumbbells.  You could just use dumbbells, but if you REALLY want to load up as much weight as possible you need a barbell. But the added benefit with the Swiss barbell is you can use the neutral grips which will simulate the dumbbell position and also immediately get rid of or reduce any sort of elbow strain you might have during the movement.

Here is personal trainer and fitness expert, Scott Herman, reviewing the Gronk Fitness Swiss Bar and giving tips and advice regarding shoulder pain and the proper use of this invaluable training equipment.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! An easy and instant fix to eliminate shoulder and elbow pain on most exercises while still utilizing a barbell to lift some heavy-ass weights. Lastly, if you want to add something like this to your home gym, you can follow this link and purchase one! Don’t forget to use the promo code “mindright-15” for 15% off!