Critique my bench press form

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 07:47 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khxeY3f1Dn0

Taken a few workouts ago. Pretty easy, i kept telling the guy to leave my bar alone. Lol. He still insisted on touching it with his finger tips. -_-;;

I've got another vid of a heavier poundage, i'll upload it soon.

dbcb314 · 01-14-2007, 08:02 AM

Really, from a bbing side of it, the only thing that stands out is that you need to pull your shoulder blades back when you set up. This will help protect you from RC problems, and from a bbing view will lessen the front delt activation some.

Now, if you want the pl/strength side of it there is a lot more... but I am pretty sure you bench for bbing...

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 08:19 AM

Hmmm... I'm not really conscious of whether i'm pulling my shoulder blades back or not whenever i bench, but yeah, bodybuilding perspective. Actually i'm not really sure what's the difference between powerlifting benching and bb'ing benching, as long as the weight goes up and down. Need to look more into it.

dbcb314 · 01-14-2007, 08:20 AM

well for a quick example... from a pling perspective...

ur arch is non existance and you have no leg drive

but for a bb'er that really isn't a big deal.

SDFlip · 01-14-2007, 08:24 AM

your feet were the first thing i noticed.

plant those f*ckers hard and press through them

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbcb314

well for a quick example... from a pling perspective...

ur arch is non existance and you have no leg drive

^^^^^^^^
This.... so, is it a good thing or a bad thing? If i don't arch, it gives me more range of motion right? I want my form to be very good. I'm pretty particular about form when i do an exercise.

jked4life · 01-14-2007, 08:26 AM

Well first of all

Your placement of the plates on the bar is all wrong.

The numbers and writing should be facing in...

S'rsly looks fine from a bbing standpoint.

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDFlipStyle

your feet were the first thing i noticed.

plant those f*ckers hard and press through them

Ok, so if i plant my feet hard, i should be able to press more? Damn... didn't know the bench press was so complicated but yeah ok, I'll be remembering all these tips you and db have given me so far.

**_Dominik_** · 01-14-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darklight79

Hmmm... I'm not really conscious of whether i'm pulling my shoulder blades back or not whenever i bench, but yeah, bodybuilding perspective.

From a BB perspective, pulling the shoulder blades back and pushing your chest out gives you a better stretch of the pecs at the bottom of the movement.

SDFlip · 01-14-2007, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Dominik_

From a BB perspective, pulling the shoulder blades back and pushing your chest out gives you a better stretch of the pecs at the bottom of the movement.

even from a pling/strength perspective, pulling back your shoulders will give you a more stable base to push from.

Drag · 01-14-2007, 08:34 AM

Yeah plant those feet. Overall you're better at benching than me. lol

ShreddedShruggin · 01-14-2007, 08:37 AM

Plant the feet, that's the only thing i'd change.

F*ck pulling your shoulders back, that **** is homo

-Grimmy

SDFlip · 01-14-2007, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darklight79

Ok, so if i plant my feet hard, i should be able to press more? Damn... didn't know the bench press was so complicated but yeah ok, I'll be remembering all these tips you and db have given me so far.

you should.

you'll need to bring your feet back a little though.

The Real Deal · 01-14-2007, 10:09 AM

lol did you scream "I got it" to the dude and he still touched it.

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real Deal

lol did you scream "I got it" to the dude and he still touched it.

Yeah, i kept screaming," I can I can I can". You can hear it in the vid. Lol. The dick still insisted on touching it. At least he just touched, not jerked it all the way up for me.

Ok, great tips from everyone. Now a question, can someone explain to me the biomechanics of planting the feet back when i bench? As in how will it enable me to bench more?

SDFlip · 01-14-2007, 11:02 AM

haha, maybe he thought you were talking to yourself.

next time say "i got it" or something a little less gay than "i can"

GEORGIACHAMPION · 01-14-2007, 11:06 AM

sorry a bit much to read but it describes form in detail for powerlifting
my bench went from 285 up to 315 in 2 weeks when i got this form down right

so much to say about this one. i compete in powerlifting, and i dont wanna brag but i do pretty good. cough world champion cough. but before i got into the powerlifting i was into bodybuilding. the difference in the for for bench is huge. its almost feels like a differnet lift. for a BB press your doing it right, i would just suggest hitting a bit lower to keep some stress off the shoulders and the ever so popular, pull your shoulder blades together. not for powerlifting its a bit hard to get used to. your going to want your feet below or behind your knees. plant those suckers hard because your going to drive with your legs. your hands should be wide, pointer finger on the ring, if your about 6' if your shorter adjust. now keeping your butt on the bench arch your back as much as possible. this brings your chest and abs closer to the bar thus making it a shorter press. when powerlifting always have a spotter help you rack and unrack. when unracking bring the bar all the way out to your lower chest/upper abs this is the sweet spot. bring it down slow and under control while pushing your body toward it. your going to want it to hit on your upper abs. when it hits keep it stationary and give a quik 2 count then drive through your feet and up. keeping the bar above your abs, dont swing back to far. throw a bench shirt on and keep this form and you will have a huge bench

SDFlip · 01-14-2007, 11:08 AM

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/step_up.htm

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDFlipStyle

haha, maybe he thought you were talking to yourself.

next time say "i got it" or something a little less gay than "i can"

No, they'll never get it no matter what I say. So I just tell them stand there, be prepared and help me only when i scream for help. That pretty much does it.

I did something like this:-
Bar x 5
Bar x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 3
120kg x 3
120kg x 3
Then a cooldown set of 100kg x 8

It's part of the Westside/5x5 hybrid. That was done on ME day. I only need a spotter for the last set of my work set, i wouldn't bother asking anyone else for help for the rest.

darklight79 · 01-14-2007, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDFlipStyle

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/step_up.htm

Option 4: Feet elevated and crossed (feet elevated on bench) .

Best for achieving the cleavage effect and getting a mad pump on…no, really, if this is how you bench, you need more help than this article can provide.

How do I do that? You shouldn’t.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Lol.... do you know ALL the guys in that gym bench like that? They love putting their legs up and crossed.

**_Dominik_** · 01-14-2007, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darklight79

Lol.... do you know ALL the guys in that gym bench like that? They love putting their legs up and crossed.

Never understood it. Might as well roll out the swiss ball and really get the core involved.

Whether you're benching for BB or PL, having your feet on the floor in a secure position makes a lot of sense. For PL there's the "leg drive" issue, but for bodybuilding you want to be pressing from the most stable position possible so you can focus maximum stress on the target muscles (pecs) instead of wobbling around. It's also a lot safer.