Cole Russo

Stop forcing shoulder position on the bench press.

Most lifters are taught to slot their shoulders by pulling the shoulder blades down and back.

But when someone struggles to slot the shoulders well, forcing this cue often just creates more compensation.

That’s because shoulder position is usually a reflection of axial structure — particularly the pelvis, rib cage, and cervical orientation.

When the axial skeleton is poorly organized, the shoulder has very limited options for how it can interact with the barbell or dumbbells.

In the first image, notice the shrugged shoulder and poor head position on the bench.

In the second image, improved cervical, mandible, and tongue positioning help organize the axial structure and allow the shoulder to fall into a much better slot to press.

Cervical positioning matters far more for bench press mechanics than most people realize.

Have you ever noticed your shoulder position change just from adjusting your head or rib cage on the bench?

Better shoulder mechanics often start upstream.

Most bench press shoulder problems aren’t actually shoulder problems.

Aside from the obvious difference in depth, these are two very different squats. Same pattern, same weight, but completely different intent.

By manipulating variables like tempo and external intent, you change how the movement is expressed and ultimately the stimulus it delivers.

If that’s the case, the best place to start is with a question:
What am I doing and why am I doing it?

POSITION —> PATTERN—> POWER

This is a simple model I learned from EXOS that I still find very useful.

POSITION is about accessing and owning the physical spaces required for a task.

PATTERN is about organization and adaptable solutions. It is the movement behavior that emerges through constraints, task design, and external cues.

POWER is about expression of force and intent layered on top of well-organized positions and patterns. It is more than just output, but the result of clarity, timing, organization.

This model can applied at a macro level for something like blocked periodization or rehab progressions but it can also be applied at a micro level for something like for intra-set or inter-set progressions.

I often consider this when trying to do an exercise with a focus of moving fast.

In the first video, im starting slower to dial in body positions, coordination, and timing of the movement. Then I layer in an external focus to move down fast and return to the starting position as quickly and cleanly as possible. All this happens in the same set.

With all the dogma, trends, gurus, and lack of context in the health and fitness industry, information on breathing is often expressed in a coarse and rigid manner. As in, “this is the way to breathe” (i.e., breathing should only be done through the nose).

If breathing should strictly be done through the nose, why is it also possible to breathe through the mouth?

Perhaps they are just different and both useful. Each offers advantages and disadvantages. However, from a therapeutic perspective, people tend to benefit more from nasal breathing.

Nasal Breathing helps down regulate the nervous system and provides warm/humidified/clean air to the lungs. But this is challenging for many due to malpositioning of the tongue or narrow air passages in the nasopharynx (see for great content on this).

Mouth breathing has less resistance and allows large quantities of air to be exhaled or inhaled. The air passage is shorter and larger, allowing deeper breathing and large volumes of air to circulate. This could be useful in circumstances of intense physical activity; a singer or musician playing a wind instrument that needs to get air in quickly; when trying to promote a maximal exhalation strategy. The mouth can also be used to occlude airflow by manipulating the lips/tongue/palate, which affects the respiratory volume and pressure between the thoracic and abdominal cavity.

The important takeaway is that breathing through the mouth versus the nose is context dependent. With training, it is probably best to maintain nasal breathing for as long as possible and then use mouth breathing as a strategy in certain circumstances of intense physical activity or to affect internal pressure.

Flow state 🤙

When trying to gain end-range shoulder ER, it is important to distinguish between depression of the entire shoulder complex versus relative motion of the humerus

The first picture you can see where the lats are “cranking down”. The second picture is a better position to use lower traps and rotator cuff.

That being said, the lats are a major part of actually throwing and should still be trained. Everything is context.

Awesome day! Thanks to everyone for coming out!

with
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Yesterday’s post on box jump set-up displayed the optimal loading position from a side view. Today we will look at optimal stance width from the front view and how it might affect box jump performance.
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As a general rule of thumb, the feet should be should be shoulder width.
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On the left, the stance width is too narrow. This is a less stable position, and therefore less powerful position. It is more difficult to get into a good loading position with optimal load sharing between the ankle, knee, and hip (refer to yesterday’s post).
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In the middle, the stance width is too wide. This position is often accompanied by some degree of ankle pronation / knee valgus / hip internal rotation (knees caving in), which will limit the ability of the ankle, knee, and hip to express optimal force into triple extension.
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On the right, the stance width is more in-line with the shoulders. This is the most stable position and most powerful position for maximizing vertical force.
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