How to improve strength at the bottom of my bench

[rob56789]

What are some ways to improve strength at the bottom of my bench press? I'm having the most trouble from my chest to about 4 inches up then i can lockout easily from there.

[mrmrbill]

What are some ways to improve strength at the bottom of my bench press? I'm having the most trouble from my chest to about 4 inches up then i can lockout easily from there.

Try pin press/"dead bench" in a power cage. Set the pins at chest level, slide in on a bench, start pressing from the bottom of the movement. You can set some bands or chains from the bottom so more resistance is applied as your pressing up from the dead start.

[MichaelCJ]

Try pin press/"dead bench" in a power cage. Set the pins at chest level, slide in on a bench, start pressing from the bottom of the movement. You can set some bands or chains from the bottom so more resistance is applied as your pressing up from the dead start.

Yep, that's probably the best way. Pause bench, too.

You could also try weighted chest dips, WGBP, DBBP, and even some pec iso work.

[zildjian_4]

What mrmrbill said + I've always done DB bench with a greater ROM than BB.. I haven't really noticed any weak points in my bench, if it gets stuck at the bottom its likely just because the bottom is the hardest part of the lift, not so much you're extra weak there.. good luck!

[jolanar1]

Out of curiosity... is there a specific muscle weakness that would cause your bench to be harder at the bottom?

[mrmrbill]

Out of curiosity... is there a specific muscle weakness that would cause your bench to be harder at the bottom?

Can be a variety of things: untrained portion of the ROM from not practicing explosiveness out of the bottom, weaker back (lats get used in a support role, primarily in the lowest ROM portion), could be form-related -- not setting traps tight enough, ......





inB4 thread debate over lats/back in BP

[rob56789]

Try pin press/"dead bench" in a power cage. Set the pins at chest level, slide in on a bench, start pressing from the bottom of the movement. You can set some bands or chains from the bottom so more resistance is applied as your pressing up from the dead start.

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try next time i'm in the gym

[Anthony21]

Can be a variety of things: untrained portion of the ROM from not practicing explosiveness out of the bottom, weaker back (lats get used in a support role, primarily in the lowest ROM portion), could be form-related -- not setting traps tight enough, ......





inB4 thread debate over lats/back in BP

Lats def play an important role in the bench.

[recarp82]

stronger back means stronger bench,you could also try static press from chest level.load up the bar with more weight then you can press and just press for 10-12seconds as hard as you can. do about 8-10 reps of this.as was said before band or chains also will help.

[gashcader]

i'd train lats and delts a bit more....

heavy overhead pressing will help

[WillGoesBoing]

The cluster reps with the squat rack/pin method is good for improving your strength at the portion a few inches above your chest. In the OP's case he just needs to get stronger period. A lot of people I see at the gym stop the bar about 4-6 inches from their chest and that makes it exponentially easier as oppose to actually having the bar touch your chest with a pause and then go back up.

Guys who are doing say 225x5 without the bar going all the way to their chest, probably won't even be able to do 2 reps with the touch chest/pause method.

[SIG4]

Out of curiosity... is there a specific muscle weakness that would cause your bench to be harder at the bottom?

The bottom portion of the bench is just harder, that's the way it is. That is why so many guys in the gym and on this site skip the bottom portion. They won't admit it, they will claim some other bs.

[SIG4]

The cluster reps with the squat rack/pin method is good for improving your strength at the portion a few inches above your chest. In the OP's case he just needs to get stronger period. A lot of people I see at the gym stop the bar about 4-6 inches from their chest and that makes it exponentially easier as oppose to actually having the bar touch your chest with a pause and then go back up.

Guys who are doing say 225x5 without the bar going all the way to their chest, probably won't even be able to do 2 reps with the touch chest/pause method.

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't even be maxing at 225, but you are right on the money. I'm constantly seeing kids try and rep two plates, going half way down and in reality their 1RM is somewhere around 175-185.

[TigerStealth]

you can do rack presses where you set teh barbell in a power rack and lift it off the pins. you can also do paused bench where you pause on your chest. also you can use the hammer strength machines as they are good for doing paused presses too

[BombDonald]

I'm gonna say it's as simple as getting tighter and not bouncing, just from what I see from others in the gym.