barbell benching question

[jounster]

Ok when most people fail at doing a rep (or most/all people iv talked too or seen) they pretty much can barely raise the barbell to start off with, but something weird is happeninf with me because when I start to fail, ill seriously be 3-6 inches from completion and be unable to finish it. I'm assuming this means a muslce group is lagging but I'm not sure which, does anyone have any idea?

[chazzy1864]

Originally Posted by jounster

Ok when most people fail at doing a rep (or most/all people iv talked too or seen) they pretty much can barely raise the barbell to start off with, but something weird is happeninf with me because when I start to fail, ill seriously be 3-6 inches from completion and be unable to finish it. I'm assuming this means a muslce group is lagging but I'm not sure which, does anyone have any idea?

The standard answer, based on the height of the bar would be your triceps are going out (lower half of the lift is primarily chest, with some tri support, where as top half is primarily tris with some pec support).

However it also could be your shoulders are fried, due to improper form. More often than not, most people shove their shoulders forward. That forces most of the load on your anterior delts, which burn out far quicker than your triceps and pecs. Make sure you are pinching your shoulder blades together, and drawing those shoulders back.

If you are still failing near the top after you've made sure to remove your shoulders from the lift, then you do in fact have lagging triceps. That may or may not be a problem for you. However you will then know how to fix it. Do tricep intensive work, you can still do bench, but focus more on the top half if you want, do tricep dips, skull crushers, french press, push downs, etc etc.

[b631]

at the top range it is the tris giving out, =)

[Saviour]

sticking point at the top = triceps is the weak link
sticking point at the bottom = shoulder is the weak link

[chazzy1864]

The shoulders shouldn't be the cause of a sticking point on a bench press.

[Saviour]

unfortunately they are, the anterior delt is largely involved in the bench press, so are the triceps, if you are having problem locking out at the very top then it is most likely your triceps.

[DJAuto]

Use accessory movements like board presses.

[khajja]

i'm with saviour. if you cant get it off your chest i think shoulders are the most likely culprit. if you can make it a couple inches off the chest and stop i'd say then its the pecs.

[jounster]

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I was thinking/feeling that my tris were letting me down and it seems that everyonw agrees that's the problem, my tris are behind my chest, I know what to work on now