A question lands in my inbox:

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"Hey Coach,

my shoulders hurt when I bench press. Any advice?

Thanks"

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This question hits home since, as many of you know, I've been plagued by some issues in my right shoulder for years.

Plus, due to frequent heavy contacts on the ice resulting in broken collarbones and AC joint sprains in hockey players, I have to come up with safe yet effective upper body training methods for guys with shoulder problems on a weekly basis.

First things first, we​ want to use exercises ​that you can perform pain-free.

Knowing that stress to the shoulder is at its greatest where the bar meets your chest, you want to either find ways to unload resistance at the bottom or stay clear of there altogether.

With that in mind, a few solutions:

* Board press.

Have a training partner place a 2-, 3-, or 4-board on your chest. Bring the bar down to the board, then press back up as usual.

You can lift big weights and blast your triceps into oblivion in a safer range of motion.

For those who lift alone, Bench Blockz work great here.

For a DIY solution, attach a Hampton thick pad - which we normally use on hip thrusts - to the bar. Same effect.

* Floor press.

Another way to cut range of motion. You only bring the bar down to the point where your triceps touch the floor.

* Use a Sling Shot.

Designed by powerlifter Mark Bell, the Sling Shot forces you to keep your elbows tucked in while giving just enough assistance at the bottom of the lift to overcome the death zone pain-free.

Mark has benched 578 pounds (262 kg) raw in competition, so you can bet your sweet ass this product was invented by someone who knows what's up.

If any of these variations don't feel comfortable, then you really have no other option but to ditch the barbell bench press altogether.

While that may qualify as heresy to the average gym bro, you can build a strong chest and upper body without ever barbell benching.

Here's what you do:

* Push-ups and dips on gymnastic rings.

You're going to struggle with these at first. Because your smaller stabilizer muscles are weak, you'll be shaking all over the place.