Partial ROM Bench Presses: Is this something new?

[KOArtist]

I have been seeing a lot of people in my gym lately doing their bench presses with only about 2/3rds ROM, if that. I actually asked the dude if he was doing that because of a shoulder injury...because I've been having some pain in my left frontal shoulder area when i bench, and he said "yeah, you're not supposed to go all the way down because you will mess up your shoulders."

Is this "new info"? I indeed have a shoulder problem, and was considering trying it out to see if it helps..but is there any science behind this? Or has any experts suggested this recently or something?

Just FYI, I lift for athletic performance, not size/bodybuilding...in case that makes any difference

Thanks!

 

[jnevin]

I rarely touch the bar to my chest because of shoulder issues I have. I only go to about 90 degrees. I've asked physical therapists and personal trainers about it, and they've said there's no need to go all the way down.

 

[al420]

Well, depending on what aport you play you may need to place some strain on your shoulders... Not that the 'guy' you spoke w/ knows jack shit, but still.

The Bench Press is lift, and has rules to preform properly - one of which is touching your chest w/ the bar, another is locking out. I have seen tons of BB's that train the limited range of motion - some b/c they want constant tension on the muscle (at lockout there is some 'relief' , some b/c they are asshats.

What sport? Have you ever tried the Oly lifts?

 

[Tweakle]

the majority of college kids and other douchebags I see struggling with 180-225 in the gym would probably agree that a full range of motion is a waste of time.

done correctly (elbows in, lower to sternum) the bench is fine to do for a full range of motion. Try to isolate the chest by benching with your elbows out to the chest or God forbid to the neck and expect bad things to happen eventually.

 

[Tweakle]

btw - the real reason they do half reps is because they can lift more weight that way. Would suck to go down to 135 and do the lift properly. the chicks wouldn't dig that.

 

[alex2678]

Agreed with Tweakle here. I cringe when I see people putting a mighty 225 pounds on the bar and going down only halfway fighting their way back to the top.

Incidentally I tried the power factor training, which is a strictly partial range of motion workout, for a while back 7 or 8 years ago and succeeded in gaining strength only in that limited range of motion. My full range lifts didn't go up at all.

Better to use less weight, good form and go through the entire movement for better overall muscular conditioning.

 

[RottenWillow]

done correctly (elbows in, lower to sternum) the bench is fine to do for a full range of motion. Try to isolate the chest by benching with your elbows out to the chest...and expect bad things to happen

WOW. Just these few sentances cleared up some confusion I'd had about benching since I started training 4 years ago. Now I know why I messed up my shoulder a few years ago, but havent done so again lately even though I'm pressing considerable more weight now. Thanks.

 

[perp69]

Seems more dangerous to me to not train with full range of motion. You will be weak in the areas that you don't bench. Unless you are doing board presses then you can't really go down to the same level every rep. If you happen to go to low one time then seems like you risk dropping the weight on yourself do to your developed weakness.

Perp

 

[KOArtist]

thanks, just making sure there wasn't some "breakthrough" I missed or something...but I figured it was just a buncha sallies that wanted to look stronger than they are, haha. I'm a boxer, and my left shoulder has been buggin me, but I doubt it has anything to do with full ROM bench presses. Probably just that I've used my jab so many million times that I'm bound to have some overuse issues. And I do a lot of OLY's, but cleaning is starting to bug my left shoulder as much as benching too, so I'm in a pretty shabby spot right now. Guess I'll do some lower body only stuff for a few weeks and see if it goes away hopefully. peace

 

[silver_shadow]

yep it sounds like you saw a bunch of asshats using partial ROMs to LOOK stronger not powerlifters who were using rack lockouts/floor presses/board presses to GET stronger!