The 90 Degree Pressing Principle

When it comes to lifting, the most common exercise performed by gym-goers is the bench press. On any given Monday afternoon, you will likely see scores of individuals headed over to lay on their backs and press the bar from their chest.

There have been countless powerlifters, bodybuilders, and coaches who have dedicated a significant amount of time to their bench press. However, what you may also see (or hear), is those same individuals complaining of shoulder or elbow pain. It is not uncommon to spot heavily wrapped elbows, shortened range of motion, and Advil accompany this popular exercise.

Today I am introducing one of my core principles when it comes to pressing: The 90 Degree Principle. To my knowledge, this was first introduced by Coach Charles Poliquin, and made popular to me by Stephane Cazeault of Kilo Strength Society and basketball strength coach Preston Greene.

The principle states simply that, over the course of a workout or week, you should vary your pressing angles by 90 degrees. In other words, if you bench press in part of your work out, but have another press in that same workout, the secondary press should be at an angle of 90 degree difference.

Furthermore, if you have bench press scheduled on Mondays, and another pressing lift scheduled later in the week, the second lift should be performed at an angle 90 degree difference to the first lift.

To paint a better picture, let's look at a sample upper body lift using this principle:

A1) Barbell Bench Press 6,6,4,4,2,2

A2) Chin-up (Neutral grip) 6,6,4,4,2,2

B1) Seated, supported dumbbell shoulder press (neutral grip) 4x6-8

B2) Seated cable row (pronated) 4x6-8

C1) Incline DB Curl 3x8-10

C2) Tricep Rope French Press 3x8-10

And so, two pressing workouts in the same week would be scheduled as such:

Monday: Flat Barbell Bench Press

Thursday: Standing or seated military press

As you can see, in both examples, there is 90 degree of separation within the lift, and within the week! The reason for such a principle, is that it will keep the shoulder and elbow joints healthy. It will avoid what we call "angle overload," and ensure that different muscle fibers and motor units are activated, not placing too much stress on any one angle.

Here are some other breakdowns of pressing and the 90 Degree Principle:

Flat Bench --> Shoulder or overhead press

Incline Bench--> Decline bench or dip

Next time you are performing an upper body lift and have different presses, consider the 90 Degree Principle. It will save your shoulders over time.

In strength,

Coach Bender