Narrow your grip to prevent shoulder injury

I woke up this morning with a little bit of pain in my shoulder, a carry-over from a rotator cuff injury that has plagued me for the past ten years or so. My guess is that I slept awkwardly on my arm, although it's entirely possible I've aggravated it recently during a weightlifting workout. Depending on how my arm feels by later this evening, I may or may not be able to make it to the gym. Frankly, it's my own fault -- well, it was the fault of my former, younger, and sometimes more careless self -- that I am still occasionally dealing with pain ten years after the fact; I should have used better form and used a narrower grip on certain exercises.

Rotator cuff injuries are among the more common suffered by regular weightlifters, and in most cases it occurs during the performance of the bench press. In light of this fact, researchers have found that narrowing your grip while benching may help reduce your chance of injury. And, to the presumed delight of many seasoned lifters, a study in the Journal of Strength Conditioning also found that this slight narrowing of grip will have little affect on the strength of your lifts.

In addition, always be sure to warm up with about 5 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio before beginning your lifting routine. And, don't forget to stretch before and after your workout.