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Bench, Elbows in or out?
- Thread starter PfCgymrat
- Start date
depends on what your looking to do. it is much harder on your shoulders to have a wide grip but it hits your chest much better. you seem to be doing ok, as long as you dont have shoulder pain, benching 410 is alot. your body will naturally put itself in its most comfortable position. get down and do a pushup and see where your hands go and that is where i would position my hands on the bar. hope that is helpful.
I bench raw, but the principle's the same either way. First, your elbows are what provide support for the bar on the way down. You shouldn't be using your hands to manage the bar into place, but let your elbows act as the fulcrum to guide the bar down. Where your elbows end up is where the bar is going to be. So, when you bring the bar down, they should end up in a position that best supports the weight and be ready to drive the bar back up.
A shirted bencher may want to bring the bar down a bit lower than a raw bencher- that is more on his upper stomach than the top of his abs, though I'm not sure of the reasoning on this.
In any case, when they say tuck the elbow, it's really only a slight tuck Instead of flairing the elbows out, or hyper-extending them in (a sin I used to be guilty of when I first tried 'tucking them in') it should be a natural type of motion.
So you've taken the bar out, and let your elbows guide the bar on the correct path down. As they come down, you tuck them in by slightly rotating them in. It's a procedure that takes practise, your want them to end in a position to maximize your power: supporting the bar and ready to begin the drive up. Once the bar is halfway up, you begin rotating your elbows back out in order to support the bar into lockout.
When I warm-up, this is something I still practise with no weight on the bar. It's important to find that groove that's going to let all the component sof your bench to work together.
A shirted bencher may want to bring the bar down a bit lower than a raw bencher- that is more on his upper stomach than the top of his abs, though I'm not sure of the reasoning on this.
In any case, when they say tuck the elbow, it's really only a slight tuck Instead of flairing the elbows out, or hyper-extending them in (a sin I used to be guilty of when I first tried 'tucking them in') it should be a natural type of motion.
So you've taken the bar out, and let your elbows guide the bar on the correct path down. As they come down, you tuck them in by slightly rotating them in. It's a procedure that takes practise, your want them to end in a position to maximize your power: supporting the bar and ready to begin the drive up. Once the bar is halfway up, you begin rotating your elbows back out in order to support the bar into lockout.
When I warm-up, this is something I still practise with no weight on the bar. It's important to find that groove that's going to let all the component sof your bench to work together.
Parabellum
New member
With a shirt I go out, in and out again.
brbb
New member
Hey man,
I talked to a few of the guys on the team and the general consensus is that it takes a lot of the stress off your shoulders. One of them benches in both types of meets (raw 465 BP and equipped 570 BP) and said that he gets a lot more explosion off his chest with elbows tucked. I saw where you said in one of the later posts that you plan to use a shirt in the future. I would have to say based on this that it would be best to practice the same for both. I don't bench in any raw meets but my form is the same everytime I bench whether it is in a shirt or not. Hope all of this helps you out.
I talked to a few of the guys on the team and the general consensus is that it takes a lot of the stress off your shoulders. One of them benches in both types of meets (raw 465 BP and equipped 570 BP) and said that he gets a lot more explosion off his chest with elbows tucked. I saw where you said in one of the later posts that you plan to use a shirt in the future. I would have to say based on this that it would be best to practice the same for both. I don't bench in any raw meets but my form is the same everytime I bench whether it is in a shirt or not. Hope all of this helps you out.
SugarJay0126
New member
I point my elbows out for as long as I can. I find that when I reach failure like this, I am usually good for a couple more reps with my elbows tucked in, so basically I use this when it's time to "call in the reinforcements". -Jay
VanillaGorilla1
New member
in enough to push my tris against my lats
bignate73
New member
VanillaGorilla1 said:
I agree.
tuck em in a bit. it takes the stress off your shoulders. "pec" benchers don't tend to have much longevity due to tears and RC injury (in general). with tucking your elbows, you'll also notice youre not so "stretched" out at the bottom. you could bring an empty bar down and probably go a few inches further...thats what you want. It puts you right in the middle of your range of motion where most people are the strongest. you don't want to start your push at your absolute stretch limit.
Chambewy20
New member
Here's a movement, if you have access to bands, that will really teach you quickly how to incorporate lats immediately
http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=33894&tid=101
Hope this helps...
http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=33894&tid=101
Hope this helps...
love 2 lift
New member
Elbows in for me!
elbows in
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