solarbear
Level 6 Valued Member
I have always bench pressed. It has been the one staple of my exercise routine. And when I experienced shoulder problems from a football injury I merely switched to Incline which was a lot easier on the shoulder and did that for a long time.
This year I discovered Kettlebells and haven't benched in about 6 months. Been doing clean and press instead. Long story short: I haven't really noticed a decline in strength at all. Sure my bench probably isn't quite as high as it was, but that would come back with 2 weeks of lifting, easily (mostly just getting a feel for it after a lay off). In a lot of ways, I feel stronger and healthier in my upper body. Oddly, I feel that KB clean and press has removed most of impingement issues and rehabbed my shoulder quite a bit.
A few thoughts:
I wouldn't necessarily replace bench with push ups, unless you got access to some way to add weight - eg chains. It just doesn't mesh all that well with Starting Strength progressions. Although, I am sure you could make it work if it was your only option.
I might try, as others have said, incline press. I have always felt it was a better exercise and it is usually easier on the shoulder.
I could also highly recommend some form of clean and press with dumbells or kettlebells.
This year I discovered Kettlebells and haven't benched in about 6 months. Been doing clean and press instead. Long story short: I haven't really noticed a decline in strength at all. Sure my bench probably isn't quite as high as it was, but that would come back with 2 weeks of lifting, easily (mostly just getting a feel for it after a lay off). In a lot of ways, I feel stronger and healthier in my upper body. Oddly, I feel that KB clean and press has removed most of impingement issues and rehabbed my shoulder quite a bit.
A few thoughts:
I wouldn't necessarily replace bench with push ups, unless you got access to some way to add weight - eg chains. It just doesn't mesh all that well with Starting Strength progressions. Although, I am sure you could make it work if it was your only option.
I might try, as others have said, incline press. I have always felt it was a better exercise and it is usually easier on the shoulder.
I could also highly recommend some form of clean and press with dumbells or kettlebells.