Tip: Do This Before Heavy Bench Pressing

Your typical shoulder dislocates are done standing upright while bringing the band over your head and then back again. We've all done it. This new and improved method uses a bent-over position and what I call "wrap-arounds."

The most common error with regular dislocates is doing them with an overextended spine and flared ribcage. This mostly happens when reaching the band overhead and behind. You wouldn't overhead press like this, so why should your shoulder warm-up be any different!?

A good fix? Doing your band dislocates in a bent-over position. Bending over makes it almost impossible to overextend. Problem solved.

Wrap-arounds are simply an exaggeration on how far you pull the band around. Instead of just touching the band to your hips or backside before coming back in the opposite direction, you'll "wrap" it around to stretch the band further.

You can use this technique while standing, but combining it with the bent-over modification helps you get more out of your dislocates. Pulling it into your knees will further activate your lats and posterior delts, while pulling the band into your back will further engage your pecs and serratus anterior. All good stuff for your shoulder health and pressing performance.

Give these a try as a warm-up drill or throw some in as active recovery between sets of your main lifts. If you're stuck working at a desk, then doing them sporadically throughout the day wouldn't be a bad idea either.

A few sets of 6-10 reps should do the trick. You should feel a stretch in your pecs and biceps, and get a good squeeze out of your pecs and back as you wrap-around in both directions.