Bench Press Question
Discussion
simple question about bench pressing
1) when bring the bar down towards your body - how close do you bring it to your chest?
2) when pushing it up again - do you go all the way up and lock your elbows?
hopefully put this in the right place - seems to be people talking about training etc in here
1) when bring the bar down towards your body - how close do you bring it to your chest?
2) when pushing it up again - do you go all the way up and lock your elbows?
hopefully put this in the right place - seems to be people talking about training etc in here
1) Always touch your chest. Don't bounce, but tap. If you want to be powerlifting strict you need to pause on your chest, but not neccessary for general training.
2) Arms should be straight at full extension at the top of the lift. Only point I'll add is if you have hyperextensive elbows it's best not to go into hyperextension under load.
2) Arms should be straight at full extension at the top of the lift. Only point I'll add is if you have hyperextensive elbows it's best not to go into hyperextension under load.
325Ti said:
confirms what ive always thought
read the other day that stopping just short of full arm extension is meant to keep the pressure on the chest and help build muscle better - but could be a load of s**t
There is an argument for that I guess, but it would make FA difference in reality. I lift to lift rather than lifting to get big pecs, and IMO if you don't fully extend your arms, it's not a full rep. If you tried that at a comp for example you wouldn't get the lift, and locking out can be hard at big weight so should be trained.read the other day that stopping just short of full arm extension is meant to keep the pressure on the chest and help build muscle better - but could be a load of s**t
boothy1987 said:
Ha, that guy is, how do they put it - "a bit of a douche bag"He makes some reasonable points, but also some flawed ones. Your hips shouldn't leave the bench, once again this would fail a lift in competition, and if you're just looking for a chest training effect, it's making it easier on your chest so it's a pointless thing to do.
Secondly when he's going on about pulling the weight down to your chest; if you actually did that with any kind of weight on you'd probably break a rib. You'd never actively pull the weight down, you control the speed with an eccentric contraction of the working muscles (chest/shoulder/triceps), not a concentric contraction of your lats.
balders118 said:
boothy1987 said:
Ha, that guy is, how do they put it - "a bit of a douche bag"He makes some reasonable points, but also some flawed ones. Your hips shouldn't leave the bench, once again this would fail a lift in competition, and if you're just looking for a chest training effect, it's making it easier on your chest so it's a pointless thing to do.
Secondly when he's going on about pulling the weight down to your chest; if you actually did that with any kind of weight on you'd probably break a rib. You'd never actively pull the weight down, you control the speed with an eccentric contraction of the working muscles (chest/shoulder/triceps), not a concentric contraction of your lats.
plus Ive always been told to keep the back flat on the bench, and move nothing other than your arms? rasing the back like that could casue injury surely?
325Ti said:
Yeah I thought he was a bit full of it too
plus Ive always been told to keep the back flat on the bench, and move nothing other than your arms? rasing the back like that could casue injury surely?
I don't think it'll cause serious risk, but you will be less stable than with a flat back. It's also largely unneccessary. Some powerlifters will arch their back, but the hips have to stay in contact with the bench. Often means you can lift a little more weight; I prefer not to do this though.plus Ive always been told to keep the back flat on the bench, and move nothing other than your arms? rasing the back like that could casue injury surely?
Love the music. didelydoo said:
Loads of different way to bench. With/without an arch; feet flat and wide or close and on toes; wide narrow grip, shoulders pinched or not etc etc
What ever you do though, don't pull the bar down on yourself unless you're benching equipped, could lead to a nasty surprise!
Do you come down to quite far below nipple line with arms tucked in, or do you have arms sprayed out coming down to nipple line/above?What ever you do though, don't pull the bar down on yourself unless you're benching equipped, could lead to a nasty surprise!
I pause about an inch above my chest, it's just to stop me trying to chest on the last rep or so and bounce it off something solid like a rib lol.
I will say to use a traditional grip though (fingers and thumbs wrapped around the bar) rather than a suicide grip with no thumbs wrapped round.
I will say to use a traditional grip though (fingers and thumbs wrapped around the bar) rather than a suicide grip with no thumbs wrapped round.
Guys
Having a bit of trouble with my bench press. I've always benched until a few months ago when I decided to switch to using dumbells for my main compound work for a bit of a change. Now I've gone back to bench again I'm getting quite a bad pain in the front of my shoulders as I come down towards my chest. Any ideas what it could be? I'm using the same form as I always have, which is pretty good I think, and previously not had any problems with.
I continued the pressing (which I know I shouldn't have!) and I had very bad DOMS in the painful area for a few days after but now it has eased off.
Having a bit of trouble with my bench press. I've always benched until a few months ago when I decided to switch to using dumbells for my main compound work for a bit of a change. Now I've gone back to bench again I'm getting quite a bad pain in the front of my shoulders as I come down towards my chest. Any ideas what it could be? I'm using the same form as I always have, which is pretty good I think, and previously not had any problems with.
I continued the pressing (which I know I shouldn't have!) and I had very bad DOMS in the painful area for a few days after but now it has eased off.
325Ti said:
simple question about bench pressing
1) when bring the bar down towards your body - how close do you bring it to your chest?
Just touch.1) when bring the bar down towards your body - how close do you bring it to your chest?
325Ti said:
2) when pushing it up again - do you go all the way up and lock your elbows?
No, a tiny fraction short. If you lock your elbows a significant amount the weight is shifted from your pecs to your front delts - a very common cause of shoulder injury.Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff