Bad exercise techniques will cause upper back pain.

Many young guys get away with this but as you grow older, technique becomes more and more important to prevent injury and especially the back.

You might have encountered this excruciating upper back pain right in the middle of your shoulder blades and you have no idea why. It becomes so bad eventually that it will derail your training completely unless you rectify the training technique error.

The culprit is nearly always bench press or for that matter any pectoral press move.

Many guys lay flat on their back and press the weight upwards and at the end of the move extend their shoulders as far upward as possible as they push the weight upward.

Unknowingly, this places a HUGE strain on the upper back vertebrae. As soon as the shoulders press and move upward/forward towards the weight that strain on the upper back vertebrae is severe and will eventually cause big problems.

There are two ways to correct this problem and get the right technique.

First, arch the back ever so slightly when doing any pectoral press move. This won’t lighten the pressure on the vertebrae but it will help you get better form overall.

Second, pull your shoulders backwards as far as possible and KEEP it there. The moment that the shoulders start moving forward is when the pressure increasing drastically in the upper back vertebrae.

Guys, these 2 technique guidelines must be applied during the whole exercise and all reps of the set. Within a day or two you should start feeling relief from the upper back pain.

The back is not a muscle that can adapt. It is a fixed bone structure that degrades with age. Thus, as we age we need to ensure that we keep the pressure on the back as light as possible by making sure our exercise techniques are near perfect.

Now, go forth and take care of how you do any pectoral pressing move. It can and will save your back.

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Happy training

Gert Louw