Benching

[87lifter]

Hey guys. Been quite some time since I started a thread in here, although I do lurk about quite a bit...

So over the past few weeks my bench has really stalled-out and I decided I might like to try using a PL form and see if maybe I like it better. So I did plenty of reading on here and watched a few vids and went in to bench yesterday. My main focus was keeping my elbows a little tucked (nothing to serious) and lowering more towards my lower chest rather than the middle.

While I did like the form, I still think it will take me a few weeks to get truly used to it. that being said, my question is about soreness. I knew this style of lifting was more tricep-oriented (and my tri's are killing me btw ) but my shoulders (especially the front delts) are sore as hell!! So I wanted to ask ya'll if that was normal or if maybe I wasn't doing the form correctly.

Thanks in advance for replies. Will Rep!

[swolegantor]

You changed your form to something your not used to and now you have DOMS.

I fail to understand why this requires a thread

[87lifter]

because benching is a chest movement so I was asking about my DELTS being sore

[METAL VIPER]

So I wanted to ask ya'll if that was normal or if maybe I wasn't doing the form correctly.

Normal. Anterior delts play a big role in benching. Don't worry about it

[Chad777]

PL form on bench takes some of the focus off the chest and adds more tris, delts, and lats into the mix. So yeah, its normal for your delts to be sore if you don't do it often.

[87lifter]

alright. ^^^^thats all I needed to know

Thanks guys!!! repped...

[Jason2459]

Hey guys. Been quite some time since I started a thread in here, although I do lurk about quite a bit...

So over the past few weeks my bench has really stalled-out and I decided I might like to try using a PL form and see if maybe I like it better.

If it's just a few weeks then it's not a plateau and you just need to be a bit more patient. Try 6 months to a year or more of stalling. Then you've really plateaued.

So I did plenty of reading on here and watched a few vids and went in to bench yesterday. My main focus was keeping my elbows a little tucked (nothing to serious) and lowering more toward my lower chest rather than the middle.

You may need to tuck more and/or you may need to increase or decrease your grip width. You'll want to stay tight and concentrate on bringing your shoulder blades together. Arch your back if you can.

While I did like the form, I still think it will take me a few weeks to get truly used to it.

It can take month, years or never to perfect or at least get consistent the bench. But then on the other side don't over think it.

that being said, my question is about soreness. I knew this style of lifting was more tricep-oriented (and my tri's are killing me btw ) but my shoulders (especially the front delts) are sore as hell!! So I wanted to ask ya'll if that was normal or if maybe I wasn't doing the form correctly.

Bench is a compound movement. Not a chest, not a tricep, not a shoulder, not any single muscle exercise. You should be involving your triceps, shoulders, traps, lats, gluts, legs as well as your chest.

[87lifter]

If it's just a few weeks then it's not a plateau and you just need to be a bit more patient. Try 6 months to a year or more of stalling. Then you've really plateaued.

Well I have stalled on every rep-range and frequency schedule I can think of, its just that I had switched back to something I thought might work a few weeks ago and still saw no results. But overall my bench has been pretty stagnant for 6+months (it's really my only lift that doesn't improve)

You may need to tuck more and/or you may need to increase or decrease your grip width. You'll want to stay tight and concentrate on bringing your shoulder blades together. Arch your back if you can.

I did try arching my back but I will try some different grip widths to see what I like best


It can take month, years or never to perfect or at least get consistent the bench. But then on the other side don't over think it.



Bench is a compound movement. Not a chest, not a tricep, not a shoulder, not any single muscle exercise. You should be involving your triceps, shoulders, traps, lats, gluts, legs as well as your chest.

I did what I could to involve all those muscles but another problem I had was trying to stay balanced on the bench. I felt like, with my feet sort-of tucked underneath I didn't have a strong base. Maybe i'll try kicking my feel out a few inches but still work on the leg-drive

Thanks!!

[isaku900]

because benching is a chest movement so I was asking about my DELTS being sore

as an aside...what is it with wanna be BBers trying to say that major compound movements are isolated to one muscle group?

what's the etymology? Is it b/c they try to shoehorn exercises into "muscle group" days? or what?

[Norse1308]

Hey guys. Been quite some time since I started a thread in here, although I do lurk about quite a bit...

So over the past few weeks my bench has really stalled-out and I decided I might like to try using a PL form and see if maybe I like it better. So I did plenty of reading on here and watched a few vids and went in to bench yesterday. My main focus was keeping my elbows a little tucked (nothing to serious) and lowering more towards my lower chest rather than the middle.

While I did like the form, I still think it will take me a few weeks to get truly used to it. that being said, my question is about soreness. I knew this style of lifting was more tricep-oriented (and my tri's are killing me btw ) but my shoulders (especially the front delts) are sore as hell!! So I wanted to ask ya'll if that was normal or if maybe I wasn't doing the form correctly.

Thanks in advance for replies. Will Rep!

I do a pretty decent tuck, so yea, your front delts will be really sore if you've never done it before. Hell, I had to drop a decent amount of weight off so that I could work up with proper form. The bench is not primarily a chest movement! It involves a whole bunch of muscles, and the chest just plays a role. As for the soreness? Yea, it's normal, just keep lifting and trying to get the bar below your nipples/to the upper abdomen.

[87lifter]

as an aside...what is it with wanna be BBers trying to say that major compound movements are isolated to one muscle group?

what's the etymology? Is it b/c they try to shoehorn exercises into "muscle group" days? or what?

not sure what etymology is can't comment on that HAHA!!

but when I bench with a so-called BB style I (key letter there) certainly feel the MAJORITY of the work being done by the chest. Now I CERTAINLY can't deny the involvement of the triceps but I consider it a chest movement when done that way because that's what i'm trying to hit.

but i've never been a fan of doing things only once per week so in my case, it's not because i have "muscle group" days. I really like the idea of westside training styles with ME and DE days and am trying to get my lifting partners to buy into it as well...

[mangiventofly]

if you wanna do bench for chest, press it like ronnie. he lowers it all the way down and then for 10-15 reps only goes halfway up. so basically, he only does the bottom half of the movement. overwhelmingly chest. but then again, he is a BBer. if you want power, forget that ****.

[Norse1308]

From what I hear...Westside is excellent for people wanting to get stronger at their 1-3RM so they can compete... and well not the best for BBers haha. Basically if you're doing a high-bar benchpress and your goal is to isolate your chest, chances are that you're not aiming to compete, as higher weights will eventually tear up your shoulder. Tucking your elbows also builds up your chest, but if you really wanna isolate it, do cable flys or some other weird ****.
Good luck with that.

[87lifter]

if you wanna do bench for chest, press it like ronnie. he lowers it all the way down and then for 10-15 reps only goes halfway up. so basically, he only does the bottom half of the movement. overwhelmingly chest. but then again, he is a BBer. if you want power, forget that ****.

From what I hear...Westside is excellent for people wanting to get stronger at their 1-3RM so they can compete... and well not the best for BBers haha. Basically if you're doing a high-bar benchpress and your goal is to isolate your chest, chances are that you're not aiming to compete, as higher weights will eventually tear up your shoulder. Tucking your elbows also builds up your chest, but if you really wanna isolate it, do cable flys or some other weird ****.
Good luck with that.

yah, I mean of course I still wanna build my chest but I was also just curious about PL form and what it could do for me. So I had to give it a try cause that's the only way I was gonna find out. But I will still probably keep Incline Presses (BB and DB) along with flys on occasion to help build my chest some more...

[matthewluke60]

because benching is a chest movement so I was asking about my DELTS being sore

LULLIN!!! Here is the order of progression, you lower said weight to tough your body, upon the press the first muscle to fire is the triceps, the second muscle to fire is the anterior delts, the last muscle to fire is the chest. The truth of the matter is the chest is a comparabley weak muscle to the triceps, and for some people their delts even become more dominant. (think of lifts that isolate the chest more like flys......not too strong now are they) But yeah, pressing will mainly be in tris and delts. Of course if you have your elbows out at the side like bodybuilders I'm sure its more chest intensive, but you'd be asking for a pec tear as well.

[87lifter]

Here is the order of progression, you lower said weight to tough your body, upon the press the first muscle to fire is the triceps, the second muscle to fire is the anterior delts, the last muscle to fire is the chest. The truth of the matter is the chest is a comparabley weak muscle to the triceps, and for some people their delts even become more dominant. (think of lifts that isolate the chest more like flys......not too strong now are they) But yeah, pressing will mainly be in tris and delts. Of course if you have your elbows out at the side like bodybuilders I'm sure its more chest intensive, but you'd be asking for a pec tear as well.

Very intuitive post. I never thought about it like that, but yah, I'm pretty weak on DB Flys (compared to other moves that is). Thanks for opening my eyes

[alcoholya]

Over and over you keep hearing it, the chest is not the key muscle in the bench press... if you build a bigger chest, you will not increase your chances of a pec tear, but decrease it. All this one-sided westside-or-die advice is not the only story on BP training, especially for people who do not use 40-ply denim shirts. Westside indoctrination is beyond ridiculous these days. My form is somewhere in between BB-style benching and Westside, elbows-tucked and lower on chest, and is a perfectly valid way to bench heavy weight. It feels comfortable to me and I will continue to train with this form. It is not "wrong" form. And not all advice for increasing one's bench press that goes against the Westside Dogma, is "wrong" either.

There are other approaches to training, quit knocking down posts which offer counter-advice to your own narrow, pre-conceived ideas about what is valid training for the Bench Press.

[isaku900]

Over and over you keep hearing it, the chest is not the key muscle in the bench press... if you build a bigger chest, you will not increase your chances of a pec tear, but decrease it. All this one-sided westside-or-die advice is not the only story on BP training, especially for people who do not use 40-ply denim shirts. Westside indoctrination is beyond ridiculous these days. My form is somewhere in between BB-style benching and Westside, elbows-tucked and lower on chest, and is a perfectly valid way to bench heavy weight. It feels comfortable to me and I will continue to train with this form. It is not "wrong" form. And not all advice for increasing one's bench press that goes against the Westside Dogma, is "wrong" either.

There are other approaches to training, quit knocking down posts which offer counter-advice to your own narrow, pre-conceived ideas about what is valid training for the Bench Press.

uh huh...and what exactly is "westside form"?

I believe most were advocating the general powerlifting form on bench press designed to protect the shoulder girdle and allow the strongest pressing muscles to exert the most direct energy transfer to the bar.

westside doesn't have a different bench form, they may train differently for it...but as far as I know they don't have a specific form.

[Jason2459]

uh huh...and what exactly is "westside form"?

I believe most were advocating the general powerlifting form on bench press designed to protect the shoulder girdle and allow the strongest pressing muscles to exert the most direct energy transfer to the bar.

westside doesn't have a different bench form, they may train differently for it...but as far as I know they don't have a specific form.

Simmons used to suggest more of a feet out, not tucked, and straight lined bar path. That's about as close to "Westside" approach bench you'll find documented.

Metal Militia is more of a feet tucked and J bar path.

And really the rest is all about the same.

[45BIG]

I have always had issues with the elbow "tuck" while benching. I have a decent raw BP but I figure I am using a more bodybuilding style of pressing. My problem is I cannot figure out how to tuck the elbows in without aggravating my shoulders.