Thread: Dumbbell Press Internal Rotation/Proper Form?

I have a new fear and it's dumbbell presses. I've been practicing my form for at least 5+ months now and it's pretty solid. I push my chest out, arch my back and decompress my scapula with my shoulder blades pulled back. However I have a habit of my shoulders raising and not staying back when I press. More times than I'd like to count I've experienced this popping in my right shoulder where it feels like my arm is gonna dislocate. (I don't feel any pain)

This feeling in my shoulder causes my arm to slowly lower until I am forced to drop the weights, it's likely coming from internal rotation.

Yesterday I didn't eat as much and got 4-5 hours of sleep which might have contributed to being weaker today. I thought maybe I was lifting too heavy but a couple days ago I was able to get 8 reps with the same weight.


Has anyone experience this? I'm not sure how to get my depth right with my forearms/elbows. My forearms are coming forward when I try to position my elbows under my nipple at a 90 degree angle, forcing my elbow to flare out which is what I'm trying to avoid.


On a side note: I'm having difficulty retracting my scapula after laying on the bench with a heavy weight, does anyone have any tips for getting into position? I've been straining my neck to briefly create an arch to get them tucked back. I've tried retracting my shoulders before leaning back but I can't keep them like that and my back rolls along like a wave until my head touches the bench, that's when I start pressing with my neck to create the arch.


Thanks for reading!