Bench Press Form

SirKayGee · 07-04-2009, 06:59 PM

Two personal trainers have told me never to bring the bar all the way down to my chest during a bench press. One even said that my elbows should not bend more than 90 degrees during the motion. I have very long arms, so if I follow this edict, there is a substantial gap between the bar and my chest, which looks awkward to many people watching. Going down all the way to my chest does feel awkward though, as my elbows need to bend all the way to get it there and I feel like I lose a lot of leverage.

How far down does everyone else go on bench presses?

theshoupguy · 07-04-2009, 07:08 PM

Enough to barely touch the chest without letting the bar "rest" on it.

Mad_Dog_Divine · 07-04-2009, 07:09 PM

Bar lands on chest, momentary pause then explode up. If I ever perform a rep where the bar doesn't touch my chest it doesn't count as a rep.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together to form a flat surface to press off of. This will reduce the total distance the bar has to travel. This will work much better for your 6 foot 3 frame than for my 5 foot 8 or so frame.

sanchy · 07-04-2009, 07:10 PM

90 degrees broo maybe a lil more....i have the same problem long arms so it feels like im not doing as much work as other people by not going down as far but its supposed to be 90 degrees

Mad_Dog_Divine · 07-04-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanchy

90 degrees broo maybe a lil more....i have the same problem long arms so it feels like im not doing as much work as other people by not going down as far but its supposed to be 90 degrees

I disagree. Why take out nearly half the ROM? Go all the way down, stimulate and fatigue as many muscle fibres as possible. Rest, recover and repeat again next workout with 5 lbs more

JB12182 · 07-04-2009, 07:19 PM

I agree with their logic if we were talking about dumbells, but barbell, I don't think so.

theshoupguy · 07-04-2009, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB12182

I agree with their logic if we were talking about dumbells, but barbell, I don't think so.

Wha?
If anything, your ROM for barbell bench would be less than it would be for dumbbell bench... why would they recommend something like that? Increased ROM is one of the major advantages of using dumbbells.

Mad_Dog_Divine · 07-04-2009, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theshoupguy

Wha?
If anything, your ROM for barbell bench would be less than it would be for dumbbell bench... why would they recommend something like that? Increased ROM is one of the major advantages of using dumbbells.

Yeah, thats pretty much the point I was going to make.

SomeRandomName · 07-04-2009, 07:40 PM

Go all the way down, or maybe one or two inches above. If you've got tight pecs, it might strain the pecs a bit, in which case don't go all the way down... in a few weeks though they should loosen up/adapt and you ought to be able to go all the way down.

roman209 · 07-04-2009, 07:46 PM

Your PTs are wrong.

If your arms are too far flared out, you put considerable strain on your rotator cuffs. If your arms are too closed to your body it becomes a tricep exercise. It shoudl be somewhere in between.

You should bring the bar down to your chest, touch it your chest without bouncing it and then go back up to lock out. Deep breath before you unrack the bar and hold your breath for the entire rep. You should be able to get about 4 reps out before taking another breath. Breath should always be taken when the bar is at lock out.

dgoggil · 07-04-2009, 07:53 PM

all the way on lighter weights and 2-3 or so inches off for heavier, i do it this way

Wildtim · 07-04-2009, 08:04 PM

Your Pts have their heads up their butts. The bar should just touch your chest. However, in that bottom position your forearms should be vertical for a normal medium grip bench press this is probably the "90 degrees" they have wrong. This may mean adjusting you hand position on the bar. Tall guys or longer armed should have a wider grip than shorter guys or shorter armed. If your grip is to narrow and you are still trying to bring the bar down on your nipple line it will be uncomfortable.

DJAuto · 07-04-2009, 08:06 PM

I stop ~2 inches from touching.

peteskeys · 07-04-2009, 08:21 PM

If it doesn't touch, you aren't benching.

jgrube · 07-04-2009, 08:28 PM

only a small % of people have rotator cuffs that are so messed up they cant touch there chest when they bench.

stop using your long arms as an excuse not to go down all the way.

unless you have a unique RC problem.. touch your chest.

not to mention, you should be puffing your ribcage up high when you bench.. this would eliminate a lot of problems that long armed people have while benching.

JOSEF RAKICH · 07-04-2009, 08:31 PM

When benching you should not have your elbows at 90 degrees, Doing this just involves more front delt and less petorial. Drop your elbows down so that your chest is involved more. Also its best to touch your chest, the lowest part of the ROM is mainly the pectorial working, but when you get the bar closer to the top part of the ROM the front delts and triceps tend to come into play alot more.

This is why alot of pro's these days when benching touch there chest but never lock out, they like to stop roughly 2 inches before lock out.

EPMD · 07-04-2009, 08:33 PM

If you can stimulate your chest and generate growth without bringing the bar down to your chest, then do that. The goal is to grow the chest with minimal injury risk, not to please the form gods.

dantheman999 · 07-04-2009, 08:34 PM

I bench full range. Either paused or touch and go depending on what the plan for that lift is. I don't see how people have a problem touching, but then again i touch much lower than most gym rats and i dont flair my elbows.

Anyway i don't really care how other people bench. I sincerely believe that full range benching provides the most stimulation for growth and is the safest (since you would use much less weight than a half range bench). But if others want to bench half range because they think its better then go for it. The only thing that irks me about it is when guys start bragging about numbers to me. Then i will insist on full range for legitimacy.

jgrube · 07-04-2009, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dantheman999

The only thing that irks me about it is when guys start bragging about numbers to me. Then i will insist on full range for legitimacy.

yep.. its even more important with squats.. because most people dont even squat to parallel.. much less below it like i do.. so it is totally useless to compare my squat stats to theirs

dantheman999 · 07-04-2009, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgrube

yep.. its even more important with squats.. because most people dont even squat to parallel.. much less below it like i do.. so it is totally useless to compare my squat stats to theirs

Good thing no one squats to begin with so it rarely comes up. Plus i do way more than them with a full squat than they do with 1/4s.

It's those damn 1/2 rep benchers that post numbers close to mine that bug me. Maybe when im way stronger it wont bother me as much haha.

And yes, everyone, i am that vain. I must have little man syndrome or something.

GuyJin · 07-04-2009, 08:57 PM

Unless you already have severe shoulder problems (which I doubt) then you should be going all the way down, pausing a bit, then driving the bar up again. Since you do have long arms--and, yes, this can be a problem--adjust your grip accordingly, don't go too wide and do NOT flare your elbows out. I know that by flaring your elbows out you can place a greater stretch on your pecs, but for many taller guys, that's a sure way to wreck your RC's.

The only other thing I'd add to this is that you have to feel the bench working. Or not. If after you've set up properly you can't feel it and it doesn't do a thing for you, then ditch it, try incline benching or use d'bells, try decline bench, whatever, but never do an exercise if you can't derive benefit from it.

Oh, yes, shoot those personal trainers--not mortally, just wound them a little, make 'em think twice before offering advice that's more likely to hurt you than help you.