Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
napsgear
genezapharmateuticals
domestic-supply
puritysourcelabs
UGL OZ
UGFREAK
napsgeargenezapharmateuticals domestic-supplypuritysourcelabsUGL OZUGFREAK

About Benching

U

ultragainz

New member
do you guys make the bar touch oyur chest when oyu bench?i do.....i see some people that are a about 3in away from touching the chest...whats better?
 
thats what i do but i see some people that dont do that and they say they got stronger by doing that not touching the chest
 
Well, I have found that I can bench more weight if I bounce the weight off my chest and use momentum to carry the weight upwards. ;)

Yeah, the bar has to touch my chest.
 
why bounce it off your chest, its the momentum, not you lifting it. Slow and controlled just barely touching the chest works for me.
 
i hit my chest then hold it about 3 inches off for 10 seconds and go back up i find it rips it better the burn feels great
 
Just barely touch the chest and the explode up.

It makes me :mad: when I see people bouncing the bar up and then thinking they did it.

Of course the only person they are hurting is themselves.
 
Spunky said:
come down, touch chest, pause, then explode up.
Click to expand...

This is the correct form - not only does one touch the chest but there is a pause at the bottom. Momentum is ceased.

I can't stand bad technique so here's my rant:

-If you saw someone doing it differently then they don't know what they are doing.

-If you do it differently but you think you have a good reason then you aren't bench pressing. You have created your own exercise. Hopefully it works for you but that doesn't make it a bench press.

-Think of it this way - if your technique will get you laughed out of a powerlifting meet (and the quoted technique will not) then you are executing the movement incorrectly.

The nice thing about America is that everyone is free to lift as poorly as they please. Unless of course I'm waiting for your bench. In which case I'd rather see you do 135 correctly than a chest caving, dick thrusting, butt pushing 350 with some dude getting a trap workout helping you.
 
there are many forms of cheating. I bench Westside style,but if someone want to arch their back when lifting, I don't really care. Just don't do 30 reps or use the bench to do seated barbell curls.
 
DO NOT BOUNCE THE WEIGHT OFF YOUR CHEST....I did that a couple of years ago and cracked my sternum....it hurt like a muther fucker....as far as not coming down all the way....they're cheating themselves out of a pec workout, that would make most of the work be done by the tri's and you defeat the hole purpose of even doing bench. You should use slow contolled movements making every muscle fiber in your pec contract
 
Anyone that using momentum in their routines cheat. Yes, some cheating is acceptable, but not for something like your chest. You're already using two secondary muscle groups: tri's and shoulders. Back to the matter at hand, come down about an inch from your chest. Never during an exercise should you take a rest. Another thing, don't extend all the way up when you bench, keep your muscles at a constant contraction. What I do aswell, I bring my knees up, kinda like when you're doing crunches and rest them at the end of the bench, this keeps your back straight and prevents you from arching your back. It makes it a little more difficult, but better for you in the long run. Anyone else agree with me?
 
Last edited:
spunky and madcow1 said it. I like semi-wide hand grips because if I go to wide it hurts my shoulders. Think powerlifters can arch the back as long as the hips stay on the bench and feet don't come off the floor.
 
That was me in Pinon Canyon about a 1 1/2 yrs ago while I was still in the Army. It's mostly desert type areas around there. The Apache helicopters landed after we were done with the training exercise for the day, so he let me and my driver come up and take a look. It's a kick ass feeling to be in one of those.
 
bissenmir said:
spunky and madcow1 said it. I like semi-wide hand grips because if I go to wide it hurts my shoulders. Think powerlifters can arch the back as long as the hips stay on the bench and feet don't come off the floor.
Click to expand...


Westside style is keeping your back flat on the bench,which is what I do. I keep both feet on the floor and have no problem keeping my back flat. after doing it this way for a few weeks, it seems more natural and powerful.
 
TxLonghorn said:
I hope y'all noticed the smiley indicating sarcasm.
Click to expand...
I know the feeling bro...Anyways I like to bring the weight down about 1 quarter to half way down so it looks like I'm stronger than I really am. ;)
 
LewdTenant said:



Westside style is keeping your back flat on the bench,which is what I do. I keep both feet on the floor and have no problem keeping my back flat. after doing it this way for a few weeks, it seems more natural and powerful.
Click to expand...

I hear ya! personally i like the back flat and sometimes bring my legs up on the bench. Cause i don't want any hernia coming back. I heard legs at 90deg. help this.

but when i'm feel n real strong, i put a bunch of weight on, look around(make sure all the chicks see) and then slip out the back door "like batman". ...hehelike pimp said.
 
In my opinion barely touching the chest is ur best bet... you build different muscles when you control the weight that way and also gives you a better workout in my opinion..but now if ur showing off in front of some punks in the gym go ahead bounce it...
 
Slowish negative, touch chest but don't rest weight, pause for a sec and drive back up. Don't fully lock elbows, go to just before locked to prevent elbow injury and keep constant tension on the pecs, without resting at the top.
 
here's the deal, different people have different thickness chests and different lenth arms. A skinny guy touching his chest is different from a fat ass touching his chest.

How far you lower the bar depends on your body type. For skinny people (I'm one of them) lowering hte bar all the way to your chest loads the anterior deltoids too much. THis is dangerous because the anterior deltoids were not designed to support this much weight at that angle. You are also not benefiting your chest by lowering it that far. I agree with lowering the bar slowly and in a controlled manner with a very slight pause at the bottom but the distance needs to be judged by the lifter. You need to be intune with your body and feel at what point the load is being taken off you're pecs and being placed on your delts, at that point, stop and begin the concentric portion of the rep.

All you guys that feel like you've ripped your armpits the day after you bench are going to far down and hurting your delts. The only reason for not going that low is there is no additional benefit to it and it MAY cause injury.

Powerlifting contests require touching of the chest because it's a standart by which all contestants can be measured equally, or so they think. A thick chested guy with short arms has a hell of a lot easier time touching his chest than a skinny guy with long arms. Doesn't seem like a fair method to me.
 
I come down touch the chest, slight pause and explode back up. I keep my back flat and feet on the floor no dancing around n shit.
 
"How far you lower the bar depends on your body type. For skinny people (I'm one of them) lowering hte bar all the way to your chest loads the anterior deltoids too much. THis is dangerous because the anterior deltoids were not designed to support this much weight at that angle. You are also not benefiting your chest by lowering it that far. I agree with lowering the bar slowly and in a controlled manner with a very slight pause at the bottom but the distance needs to be judged by the lifter. You need to be intune with your body and feel at what point the load is being taken off you're pecs and being placed on your delts, at that point, stop and begin the concentric portion of the rep. "

I agree with this. I go to about 2 inches from my chest (slow and controlled). Any lower and my shoulders are really in for it. I get plenty of chest developement with this range.
 
Absolutely agree.........I stop about two inches from my chest for a one second pause.....then explode back up. I have long arms, and if I go all the way down, it does more harm than good to my shoulders. As long as your upper arms are slightly below parallel, your good.


This thread belongs on the training board.
 
The farther down the better the stretch and muscle recruitment, however by going to far down you may limit the amount of weight that you can use as the movement at the bottom is limited by the amount of strength other supporting muscles have, its 6 of one half a dozen of the other. In general id say at the bottom of the movement, there should be a straight line from elbow to elbow with forearms pointing directly upwards.
 
AH, I do believe we have a winner...Westside is a great resource for everything related to power lifting. Som egreat adive given above. For those who would like to get some great articles about benching, squatting and general periodization for strength, visit the Westside Barbell Club at http://www.elitefts.com/

Lift BIG, eat BIG, get BIG

silverback7:D
 
Well sometimes i touch the chest and sometimes not. If i do partials i lift it up on the half way.

Btw something is badly wrong with my bench press. I train heavy duty style and i include chest/shoulders and triceps on the same workout. First i do 2-3 heavy sets bench press, the 2 sets incline benchpress and then shoulder press. HEre comes the weird thing, i can actually do more on shoulder press than incline bencpress! I dunno why, you tell me!

i can bench about 275 pounds and that is poor result guy like me. After benc press i do 2 sets incline bench with 70lbs dumbbles and i can do about 8--9 nine reps. After that i take barbell and the barbell with plates weight 140 pounds i can do 8-9 reps with it. So after bench press and incline bench i can do same or even more on shoulder press. That is weird.
 
Keep the weight on the target muscles. By touching your chests, your giving your muscles a chance to rest. That is not the objective. Bring your arms down to a ninety degree bend, pause one second the back up. never letting the weight off of the target area.
 
As others have posted, it can vary somewhat with body type and mechanics. From what I understand:

Guys with longers arms tend to recruit too much shoulder as they go below parallel (and touch the chest). The shoulders can really start hurting as well. So for these guys going to parrallel (or thereabouts) with the bar not only allows you to lift a bit heavier but keeps the load more on the chest muscle.

If you are in powerlifting contest, then you gotta touch the chest - thats the standard. But if you are bodybuilding, I say do what works best for you to achieve your goals and stay injury free.

Inver

P.S. I prefer heavy dumbells anyhow - can't beat that squeeze at the top as you bring em together.
 
I carefully bring the bar to my chest until it touches then I slowly remove my hands from the bar and place them at my sides and press the bar back up and onto the hooks using just my pecs... I dunno, works for me.
 
here is the deal... the controlled rep of lightly touching your chest and exploding up until just before your arms lock is what most consider the ideal press. But if you want to build power and size you need lift with more weight and when lifting more weight your shoulders will not be able to move the weight at the bottom of the lift, therefore one must cheat(in moderation) to complete the lift. This statement should not be construed to mean every lift should be with more weight than one can gracefully control. Variety is the key! Slow controlled with light as well as going heavy and cheating to a certain extent to place maximum resistance on the pecs.
 
Fuck 'HARD' that made me laugh :D :D :D

I'm a chest toucher, with my elbows flaired out parallel with the bar to minimize tricep involment. But who here does dips in their chest routine ?, I always do, and like barbell benching I always touch my chest to the dips cross member. Which means bring my arms well below parallel giving my pecs another kick ass stretch.

Regards

Bouncer
 
Wow - this thread went from proper execution to a "why it's okay for me to cheat" thread.

I have long arms too - I still touch my chest. This is called the bench press. It's about executing a movement not about how life is unfair and you can't bench as much as a short armed guy if you are forced to touch.

If you have a variation of the movement (a kinder term for cheating) then don't call it 'bench press'. It may work far better for your body type but it is not a 'bench press'. Your shoulders may not allow you to do the 'bench press'. Perform the movement your body allows but do not be deluded into thinking you are 'bench pressing'.

This is like the chicken legged fuckin' A who squats with 400 and never gets close to parallel. He would be pinned to the ground if he ever attempted a strict 225.
 
Anyone that really knows anatomy is going to tell you to NOT hit your chest, or even touch it.

That stretches things out too far, and places too much stress on the anterior deltoids and other parts of your shoulder as well (and take you that much close to tearing a rotator cuff).

There are SOME (few) people that can go that low and not cause potential damage, but they are the excpetion.

Kerks24 has it right.


Trust me, a lot of the reason guys have shoulder hurt a lot is NOT due to DOMS, or even some shouler exercies, its becuase they place undue stres on their shoulder while benching (and they do lateral raises wrong as well - but that a whole other problem).
 
kerks24 said:
.

How far you lower the bar depends on your body type. For skinny people (I'm one of them) lowering hte bar all the way to your chest loads the anterior deltoids too much. THis is dangerous because the anterior deltoids were not designed to support this much weight at that angle. You are also not benefiting your chest by lowering it that far. I agree with lowering the bar slowly and in a controlled manner with a very slight pause at the bottom but the distance needs to be judged by the lifter. You need to be intune with your body and feel at what point the load is being taken off you're pecs and being placed on your delts, at that point, stop and begin the concentric portion of the rep.

All you guys that feel like you've ripped your armpits the day after you bench are going to far down and hurting your delts. The only reason for not going that low is there is no additional benefit to it and it MAY cause injury.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY!!!
 
What is anatomically correct for the body or ideal for an individual is of no consequence.

There is a proper execution to the bench press lift. Any variation is just that - a variation - and not 'technically' correct.

I wish everyone the best when training but a bench press is a bench press and if you don't follow the correct technique you are using a variation. Call it a 'half press' if you want but it does not qualify as the classical lift.

For example - no one awards medals for someone who cleans a weight and then chooses not to jerk it because it may cause joint discomfort. Nice clean - Red lights - next lifter.
 
I like to put 4 plates on each side and have a buddy get on each side of the bar and lift it for me... i always make sure there are alot of people around so i can look like im doing it..

ever see those guys that load up a shitload of weight and kindda just sit on the bench but u never see em lift it? I guess they do that so ppl will think they can bench that much. who knows.
 
I squat ass to the floor. and pull my deadlifts off the ground. I do not touch the bar to my chest......I
I feel my chest stop working and my shoulders kicking in. I want to keep maximum tension on my chest, not my shoulders. I do that on shoulder day.

It destroys my shoulders and causes much pain on chest day. To tell you the truth, I like dumbells alot more.

I dont want huge overpowering front delts like most of the p. lifters I know and mostly everyone else for that matter. Stopping an inch or two above the chest allows me to avoid this.
 
Last night everyone did bench proper. Now it's ok to cheat. I'm with madcow1 on the press.

What about squats.

How many of you go all the way down to 90degrees, pause and lift? or do they hurt your knees?:bawling:
 
there's these guys in my gym and they load 3 plates on each side and from the very first rep they get help from there spotter.

funny thing is, they have prettey decent physiques and huge forearms. LOL.

No BS either. :D
 
Touch and go ( bring the weight down at a quick but controlled rate , stop at your chest then explode up ) for sets of more then 8 reps and full pauses for sets of 5reps and lower .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
benching 3 plates but can’t get to 4
Replies
6
Views
943
Ulter
Ulter
I
I’m interested in getting better at bench press
Replies
7
Views
520
chesty
chesty
M
Monday training at a packed gym
Replies
7
Views
796
SteveMobsterG
SteveMobsterG
G
smith machine yay or nay?
Replies
10
Views
1K
TeeGee
TeeGee
J
doing oral tbol for 8 weeks female
Replies
10
Views
969
ROIDDERS
ROIDDERS
Top Bottom