Cambered Bar Bench...

[Sebass67]

The training board is dead and it seems most of the most knowledgeable people are here so i will shoot...

I was experimenting with a cambered bar bench today..felt nice even though it did take a bit of effort to get it to touch...anyhow, to
the point..

Anyone have experience with using the cambered bar for different exercises...what did you use it for and was it effective?

 

[genarr3]

I personally think it was a bad idea. It's very hard on the shoulders.

 

[psychedout]

A cambered bar may be useful for narrow grip bench, but not regular grip bench, IMO.

 

[Sebass67]

Anyone have any positive things to say...
?
Anyone?

 

[JerseyDevil]

I havent used one in years because of the stess it puts on the shoulds.... works great for shrugs though

 

[Lord_Suston]

good on decline bench to get added ROm, but flat bench is not a good idea IMo too much rotation on the shoulders

 

[ZKaudio]

I use it for narrow grip bench... usually b/c at my gym all the frat dicks fill up the regular benches...

 

[javolic]

..........................

 

[sh4dowf4lcon]

I used to like it, but then I had tendonitis in my shoulders and then it seemed I always reaggrevated my shoulders...
I personally just moved away from it.

 

[theprofessional]

seemed to work pretty well for me. Liked the extra stretch.

 

[Sebass67]

Yeah...thanks for the replies guys.
WEll, my bench needs to go up. So iam thinking getting a good cambered bar bench will mean a decent increase on my regular bench seeing as i will increase my range of motion through the joint. To minimize damage, strains, etc. If i did them for 2-4 wks at a time would that hurt that much?

 

[genarr3]

Yeah...thanks for the replies guys.
WEll, my bench needs to go up. So iam thinking getting a good cambered bar bench will mean a decent increase on my regular bench seeing as i will increase my range of motion through the joint. To minimize damage, strains, etc. If i did them for 2-4 wks at a time would that hurt that much?

As a general rule of thumb if you can't put your body into a postiion without the help of weight it's not a good weight training movement.

That "stretch" will slowly become a "tear".

There are dozens of movements and training routines that will improve your bench. None that I know of include the cambered bar.

You should browse the powerlifting forum for tips on increasing your bench. This really isn't the place for good information in that area.

 

[Sebass67]

True....i see what your saying...
I am only going to be going real light on it...i find that it works for the stretch portion...more as a warm up to dynamic work after...

 

[jackangel]

cambered bar benching is used by some folks, such as powerlifters. what everyone here mentioned about stress on the shoulders is an important point. that's why people use boards in conjunction with the cambered bar, in order to reduce the stretch to an acceptable degree. so if you want to do it, get some pieces of wood and and make a stack of sufficient thickness (depending on how deep the bend in the bar is). i suppose it's good for increasing strength off the bottom. i've never done it myself.

here's a link i google'd, with pictures:

http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/camberbench.html