Band Pull Apart
Preparing shoulder blade motion, rotator cuff muscles, and upper back/scapular muscles, the band pull apart is a catch all exercise. It helps to open the chest and prime the upper back. It is typically performed too fast and the tempo should be slowed down.

Barbell Bicep Curls
Training the arms, specifically the biceps, in isolation is great overall arm, upper back, and shoulder blade training. It is also stimulating to the biceps tendon, a common complaint area. Isolation work here can keep the tendon strong and healthy.

Rear Delt Raise
This exercise is similar to the band pull apart, but requires an angled trunk, core stiffness, and doesn’t have accommodating resistance. There is more control and body awareness required. This exercise helps open the chest and warm up and build strength in the upper back/shoulders.

Wrist Mobilization
The wrists can be an issue with lots of pushing work and can be worked on with this self applied wrist joint mobilization. This drill improves the ease of motion through the wrist joints to make push ups or other ‘wrist-heavy’ movements more comfortable.

Pec Stretch
Stretching the pecs can help change shoulder blade and shoulder joint positioning for better lifting mechanics. However, if the shoulder joint is sore, soft tissue work on the pec may be preferable so that the joint doesn’t have to be torqued.

Lat Stretching
Whenever stretching muscles around the shoulder joint, we want to predispose the muscle to be stretched without excessively loading the joint shoulder itself. Since the lat attaches into the low back, you can round your back and side bend to stretch it more.

Self Myofascial Release of Pec Major/Minor
When tight, the pecs can limit shoulder blade and shoulder joint motion, creating inefficiencies and potential irritation in the shoulder joint over time. When the shoulder joint is sensitive, stretching the pecs may be aggravating. That is a great time to use self MFR instead.

Changing Bench Press Angle
An easy tweak to make when bench press is painful is to slightly angle the bench (this same principle can be applied to push ups). Elevate one end of the bench with a plate to change the angulation and resultant stress on the shoulder.