Do you touch your chest (without bouncing) on every rep, or do you go really close? I want to know what is the best way for gaining mass, and good form in general. Most people that I see touching the bar to their chest usually bounce which is no good, so I thought maybe just coming really close is the best?
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08-16-2011, 11:51 AM #1
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Touching your chest on bench press
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08-16-2011, 11:53 AM #2
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08-16-2011, 11:58 AM #3
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08-16-2011, 12:30 PM #4
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08-16-2011, 12:32 PM #5
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08-16-2011, 12:48 PM #6
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08-16-2011, 12:53 PM #7
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08-16-2011, 04:01 PM #8
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08-16-2011, 04:03 PM #9
I think in competitions you must SLOWLY lower the bar to your chest, and hold it there until judge says (touching) and when he says you push back up. You aren't balancing it on your chest just touching. But if your not a powerlifter It's a matter of personal choice. I tend to touch my chest to make sure I get full ROM. ROM > EGO.
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08-16-2011, 04:07 PM #10
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08-16-2011, 04:12 PM #11
i touch the bar to my chest, in a slow controlled motion, so that i dont bounce it, thats why you should go slow on the negative and explode on the positive
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08-16-2011, 04:16 PM #12
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08-16-2011, 04:45 PM #13
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08-16-2011, 07:44 PM #14
This thread explains a lot of the estats I see on bb.com. Touch your chest, you aren't going to snap your r cuff off touching your chest with 185. The "bounce" that you're seeing might be the release of elastic energy built up from the descending portion of the lift.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/10...exercise-tips/
I always touch my chest, and it probably looks like I'm bouncing. If I were to actually bounce I would probably injure my ribs eventually.
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08-16-2011, 07:48 PM #15
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08-16-2011, 07:50 PM #16
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08-16-2011, 07:52 PM #17
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08-16-2011, 07:53 PM #18
Yes, touch your chest (dont bounce). Always do full range of motion on compound exercises. Your chest is engaged the most from the bottom of the movement to about midway then your triceps begin to take over. People who "bounce" the bar off their chest are bound to injure themselves and in my opinion it wouldnt count as a clean rep. Also those that go halfway down from the top of the movement and go back up are not engaging the chest to its fullest potential. If your movement is restricted then widen your grip(puts more emphasis on the shoulders, and outer part of your chest)
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08-16-2011, 07:57 PM #19
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08-16-2011, 08:23 PM #20
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08-16-2011, 08:42 PM #21
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08-16-2011, 08:46 PM #22
If you don't touch your chest it's a partial rep, just like not going below parallel on a squat is a partial rep. You can still benefit from partials, but typically not as much as a full rep.
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08-16-2011, 08:47 PM #23
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Touching your chest helps to insure that you acheive optimal pec extension, therein recruiting maximum muscle fibers and thus making you bigger and stronger, faster.
A 90 degree "bench press" is less than half of the motion, and is primarily engaging the triceps. Doing a partial ROM exercise like this could have use perhaps, if for instance you have trouble locking out on maximum effort attempts. However, it is just that; a partial.
If you watch those with fantastic builds and strength, you might even see them doing the opposite of what many others (idiots) have advised; they touch the chest, and leave out the top third or quarter of the motion. Limiting the range of motion this way is a great way to zero in on the pecs, eliminating that portion of the exercise where the triceps take over the majority of the load (the top of the lift, from oh, 90 degrees up or so).
In short:
-Touch your chest when you bench press.
-Anything less is not a full rep -- if you can't touch your chest and put the weight back up, YOU CAN'T BENCH PRESS THAT WEIGHT.
-To really focus on blasting the pecs, try cutting out the lockout portion of the lift sometime.Whatever you choose to do, do it decisively and with conviction.
-------------------
Squat: 405x1
DL: 515x1
Bench: 355x1
BW: 220
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08-16-2011, 08:51 PM #24
I used to. Then I learned how to bench. In order for the bar to touch the middle of my ribs (notice I didn't say chest), I'd have to take my elbows way to low. Upper arm shouldn't really go past parallel with the floor, especially if you're lifting reasonable weight (AKA working sets).
Real powerlifters, IMO, build a big gut on purpose. It really helps, in terms of how low they need to go. Combine that with the arched back... win-win situation.
In my case, I don't have a giant gut. And I have long arms -- which includes forearms. And I don't use a gigantic, exaggerated arch. So no... coming all the way down to contact is not appropriate. Unless I want to tear up my shoulders. Or risk tearing a pec. No thanks to that.
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08-16-2011, 08:53 PM #25
Also, by touching your chest with every rep you ensure that you are using the exact same ROM every time. With partials how can you tell if you are lifting more because you are actually stronger or just using a slightly shorter ROM?
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08-16-2011, 09:16 PM #26
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08-17-2011, 12:44 AM #27
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08-17-2011, 01:17 AM #28
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08-17-2011, 06:51 AM #29
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There was actually a guy at my gym, probably training for strength, who put some of those stacked yoga cubes/steps or whatever they're called under his t-shirt, loaded up the bar with 3 plates, and lifted like that, using it to bounce off of, with a pretty small ROM.. don't know how much it worked, but it looked pretty intense
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08-17-2011, 07:11 AM #30
sounds like board presses, dont know about the bounce though.
my ROM depends on delt health, something i have issues with. Lot less since i learnt how to bench press but still like hovering couple inches above. seems sheering force on delts starts increasing exponentially once u start hitting a lil under 90deg. read and was told that, but i go with how i feel.
i did start pin presses and start the rep on the bottom off of pins which are prob 2-3 inches above chest.Used to be fat, now just fat with a lot of muscle.
come check out my latest log: Layne Nortons Carbon line http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=169447773
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