Any tall benchers out there?

[StrongWant]

I'm almost 6'5, and I have a bitch of a time using my lats while benching. I get tight, unrack and do my first rep and lose all tightness. My bench is a major weak point and is holding me back from a 1200+ total. On floor presses I feel my lats fire hard, but I just cant do it on the flat bench. Also, the benches at my gym are 12 inches high lmao, could this have anything to do with it. Could a wider grip help?

[scottyk31]

Things that usually hold tall lifters back is technique and body weight. Would need to see a vid for the technique and if you are 6'4-6'5 you will really have to fill out.

[StrongWant]

I'm 240 right now. Usually sit around 220 so I plumped up a bit lol. Cutting slow again. Just wondering if anyone has any cues or tips maybe. If not I'll just keep grinding and hope it comes to me!

[Turtora]

I'm 6'9", but skinny as balls, so take my advice with a grain of salt:

I focus on [pushing] myself into the bench, rather than trying to press the bar out of the rack. Doing it slowly, it allows me to unrack the weight and stay tight in the upper back.

Specifically, I'm pushing my upper back and traps into the bench from a good arch.

That works for me. My bench max is only like 295, tho, lol. So w/e.

[isaku900]

yeah the 6'5 guys who are good powerlifters (there are very few, most guys that height gravitate towards strongman b/c of the advantage they have in loading events) are close to 400lbs. 240 is nothing.

[psychodiver9]

yeah the 6'5 guys who are good powerlifters (there are very few, most guys that height gravitate towards strongman b/c of the advantage they have in loading events) are close to 400lbs. 240 is nothing.

This I'm 2 inches shorter and weigh about what you do and I've neverbeen competitive in a meet always finish last cutting kills my bench

[BCalv]

6-4 wing span but im also only 5-10 do im def thicker which helps along with a fairly wide grip.

Hopefully you can pull big and squat big to make up for the lack of bench eventually.

[smokinHawk]

Arch more and take the widest legal grip.
I am only 5'8" but I have long arms for my height with a 6' wingspan

[Kevin71]

Flexibility helps a lot. Work on your arch more than the shorties.

[ecchastang]

I'm almost 6'5, and I have a bitch of a time using my lats while benching. I get tight, unrack and do my first rep and lose all tightness. My bench is a major weak point and is holding me back from a 1200+ total. On floor presses I feel my lats fire hard, but I just cant do it on the flat bench. Also, the benches at my gym are 12 inches high lmao, could this have anything to do with it. Could a wider grip help?

I fully expect to get some negative rep points from my comments, but let the uninformed proceed. The good thing is that you are maintaining tightness for the first rep, as that is the one that counts in a comp anyway. I also echo what others have said about a wider grip.

Now for the controversial. I find it strange that you "feel" your lats fire hard on floor press, but not bench press, as the lats offer zero upward momentum once the humerus is above parallel to the floor. With the floor press, there is almost no point in the lift where you are getting upward push from the lats. Also, unless your elbows are tucked and 45 degrees or less in relation to your side, lat involvement is next to nothing anyway. A video would definitely help with assessing the problem though.

[YourGunShowTix]

You're not the only one. I've got extraordinarily long arms for being 6', almost 80" and bench is by far my weakest lift. Bench height affects how much leg drive you can get in.
Get big, grip wide. I take it you're raw? Try working your upper back as much as your lats.

[notforeveryone]

Im tall but my arms are not all that long comparitively to my height.

Either way benching is tough. Gaining weight/filling out is great. im 260 and let me tell you, its simply not heavy enough. lol.

Try getting a vid of your setup.

Here is a set i filmed the other day. Granted, the bench im using is as close to comp spec as possible, iirc. So the height of your bench could drasticailly be affecting how you setup/tightness, etc. Now this is just how i setup. I pinch my shoulders together, tighten lats and slide myself into a position and then plant my feet.




Keep in mind, im not a great bencher.

[hammerfelt]

I find a narrower grip to work better. More leverage to grind. I go pinkies on the rings.

Do overhead press if you do not already. It seems to help me.

[breathinglife]

Yeah, for your height, 240 is small. I had a friend who was 6'5" and he was about as built as I am. Smaller upperbody, bigger legs--and he weighed 315.
Here is Sarychev, who is in the 6'5"-7" range, and is ~400 lbs. He still looks pretty svelte for 400!


He is OK at benching.

Also, what do you define as a weak point? Generally, a bench doesn't make a total, and it will only hold back a total a bit. What are your numbers?

[KillaKev001]

I find a narrower grip to work better. More leverage to grind. I go pinkies on the rings.

Do overhead press if you do not already. It seems to help me.

This. I put my ring fingers on the rings. I have about a 6'11 wingspan @ 6'7... Also, 5x10 @ 50% 1RM once a week seems to be helping me A LOT. Great form work & it seems to be helping me drive the bar up when I go heavy. Make sure your abs & chest are engaged too. Tuck those elbows & fire.

[Mitch666]

Not that a 315 bench makes me an authority on anything. But I find a closer grip much stronger. Tried moving it out (and stuck with it for months) and just got weaker. It might not make much sense but KK is like 6'2" and benches close(er) grip so it's not like it can't work.


For assistance though do spoto presses, nothing has helped me stay tight/use lats more than that.

[AbbeTube]

6'5 and only 240. That's your problem brother.

[StrongWant]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm only 19 right now, and just started powerlifting a few months ago. I'm wondering where everyone places the bar on their chest. I know leverages play a big part, but I've heard people saying to try touching very low on the chest when you have long arms, paired with a big arch. At this point, I've added 100 lbs on my squat in the last few months, and about 10 lbs on the bench.

Raw and good form. No half ROM here.

S: 420
B: 230 touch and go, 215 Competition style
D: 440 Conventional

I really want to compete but the guys I'd be going against are in the 300's for bench. No worries with adding poundage to Dead/Squat as I've yet to hit any sort of stall with that.

[Mitch666]

no hate but i really question your squat depth being as tall as you are with it that close to your deadlift.

Unless you have really short legs or something. Just hard for me to comprehend maybe because i'm 6'3" all femurs

[StrongWant]

no hate but i really question your squat depth being as tall as you are with it that close to your deadlift.

Unless you have really short legs or something. Just hard for me to comprehend maybe because i'm 6'3" all femurs

I low bar with a fairly wide stance. It was hard on the hips at first but now, it's not so bad. My toes are almost touching the sides of the squat rack in my gym. My pants are 36x34 so maybe that's short for my height? Also, I haven't tested my deadlift in a while, good chance it's higher now.. Estimated 1rm is 457. It's strange, my squat used to be MUCH lower than my deadlift, but somehow I've closed the gap. Speaking of deads, I pull tomorrow

[scottyk31]

Post a bench video, it's the best thing for us to help you. Everyone believes their technique is good, but there are small things that can really hold you back with bench technique. I thought I had good technique until I spent 1 year at 307 bench. I finally found that what I thought was tight wasn't, and how to use leg drive properly. Took me from 307 to 347 in just over a year.

[breathinglife]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm only 19 right now, and just started powerlifting a few months ago. I'm wondering where everyone places the bar on their chest. I know leverages play a big part, but I've heard people saying to try touching very low on the chest when you have long arms, paired with a big arch. At this point, I've added 100 lbs on my squat in the last few months, and about 10 lbs on the bench.

Raw and good form. No half ROM here.

S: 420
B: 230 touch and go, 215 Competition style
D: 440 Conventional

I really want to compete but the guys I'd be going against are in the 300's for bench. No worries with adding poundage to Dead/Squat as I've yet to hit any sort of stall with that.

Well, at your height you'll just have to get used to your total looking different than other people. Jeremy Hoornstra would probably put up something like 700sq/700bp/700dl if he ever did a full raw meet with his short arms (that's not an exaggeration.) Konstantin Konstantinovs with his stick legs deadlifts 200+ lbs more than he squats without wraps. Everyone has lifts they are good at and lifts they aren't so good at.

Your bench will probably be significantly lower until you fill out a bit. I had the same problem with my squat.

[JDHOORNY]

Well, at your height you'll just have to get used to your total looking different than other people. Jeremy Hoornstra would probably put up something like 700sq/700bp/700dl if he ever did a full raw meet with his short arms (that's not an exaggeration.) Konstantin Konstantinovs with his stick legs deadlifts 200+ lbs more than he squats without wraps. Everyone has lifts they are good at and lifts they aren't so good at.

Your bench will probably be significantly lower until you fill out a bit. I had the same problem with my squat.

I am shooting for 805/690/725 in April, but you're right, everyone has their specialty on body structure, shape, etc. I just have been benching longer so my deads haven't caught up as they usually taper off before a show...