How low do you go on Bench?

[TheBrownBomber]

I was always under the impression that the bar should touch your chest when doing the Bench press. But i have recently seen people in the gym pressing the weight back up once there elbows had made a right angle, that probably leaves the bar about 6-10 inches above chest, which i imagine puts 90% of the stress on triceps and not pecs, which is the right way for both flat and incline? Thanks for the help in advance.

[lunarhorizon]

if they are skipping out on going all the way, they are likly just doing it for their own ego because they can say they lifted more. touch, or at least come close if you are serious about it. i usually touch or stop and go about an inch,, its not fun to let it "bounce" on your chest when your a girl. :P

[breathingmurder]

I guess you could do it however you wanted if you were a bodybuilder although touching your chest would probably be most beneficial.

For powerlifting you have to touch your chest though.

[weightshead]

ive trained as a bodybuilder for the last three years. ive found , for me at least, bench puts on the most mass when:

* you take the bar to your within an inch or actually touching your chest
* and stop short of lockout

i've only recently started a WSB routine, so i have no idea whats best for power.

[TheCrazyCossack]

Touch your chest, I see lots of kids claiming they can bench 200 then only bring the bar down about 3 inches, not 3 inches from chest, 3 inches from lockout. Its really frustrating to see, especially when they have to have their friends lift the 200 off the smith rack.

Always go and touch your chest, dont bounce but touch your chest, for powerlifting and strength anyway, Im not too sure about BBing. If your a girl I guess you have some leeway, but as long as your not bouncing it should still be fine. The majority of the kids I know who lift weights, go to about a "fist"... where they have someone put a fist on their chest, and touching the fist is the accepted standard in my school. My advice is always go for the chest.

[NewBlackDak]

...The majority of the kids I know who lift weights, go to about a "fist"... where they have someone put a fist on their chest, and touching the fist is the accepted standard in my school. My advice is always go for the chest.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. "Hey get the kid with the fatter hands, so I can bench more!" Show them how to do it right.

A benchpress should come to a full stop on your body on the bottom. I actually stop on my upper ribs/abs.
There should be no bouncing, and it doesn't even have to stop for a full second.

Being a "girl" is no excuse either. I've seen plenty of women at plenty of powerlifting meets complete legal lifts. I saw one at the last meet I went to do 225!

[weener]

I've never even considered not touching my chest when benching, it seems a bit pointless not get the full range of motion out of the lift. I joined a new gym a few days ago and have seen a few guys benching to about 6-8 inches from their chests. To be fair they are lifting a decent ammount of weight, around 120kg (260lbs) for reps but they make such a show of it; grunting, shouting etc.... it just seems a bit silly when they arnt even completing the full lift. I know I and others there could easily do what they're doing, we just dont let our egos get in the way of our training.

[TheCrazyCossack]

I do tell them to go down to their chest... and do they listen? no.. because thats what the gym/fitness teacher has told them to go down to for tests, that is where they test at, because its what theyve always done, if you had always done something and someone said, oh go down that extra 3 inches... and lose 30 pounds off your lift? would you hop right on that.. probably not.

With that said I contine to promote going down to your chest.

The reason I put the thing in about girls is, a girl above ^^^^ close to the start said they had problems with it, personally I only know one girl who tries to get stronger, not toned, or have a nice butt or w/e... but stronger, she weighs like 250 pounds but thats beside the point lol, soo therefore I took it as a problem when that girl said it hurts... I wouldnt know.

[I-love-muscle]

well it's actually best to go down until the bar is 1 inch above the chest

if u go down, it rests for a second, if it doesn't rest then it puts more stres on your muscles therefore making it better

[powerlifter70]

Train like you compete...all the way down, pause, explode all the way to lockout

[Chief Ironbear]

i dont actually touch my chest with the bar but i go about 1/4 inch from it.

lately ive been pausing at the bottom for one full deep breathe then exploding up. I use a lot less weight, feel more like a pussy but feel it a lot more.

Every month or so I do it the regular way though with a split second pause at the bottom

[NewBlackDak]

Keep in mind that you're in the powerlifting/strongman board. In our minds it's not a rep unless it touches your chest, and your elbows lockout. We don't care how our muscles look. It's all about moving maximal weight the correct way.

As for the one that said would I do a lift differently if it made me loose weight....
Well I do/will/have, and anyone intelligent would aswell. The first time someone told me my squat was wrong I was about 3" high, and bending over horribly. I had to drop 50lbs to get it right.

[BobbyZeus]

If your going to bounce it off your chest, you got to be careful. As to not coming all the way down, this could help ones self asteem and pump up their motivation. By doing more weight, it pumps the person to belive they are getting massive gains, and they will put more time and effort. Eventually after a while they will be able to do go all the way down with that weight. Having the right state of mind is a big part of lifting. If that helps you to kickstart your lifting, do it by all means. People who begin to lift will ask question and they will eventually educate themselves on their workout routines. If you could do 280 RAW, but could only do 210 going all the way down, don't show off you could do close to 300, I think that pissess of people more than anything, lifters atleast.

[phreak]

to all the morons who cannot grasp the simple distiction between TOUCHING and RESTING: read a dictionary. Touching will NOT cause your tits to hurt, touching will NOT take any tension off of your pecs. Touching means just that: touching. Gently brushing someone's face isn't the same as punching it, gently touching your chest isn't the same as putting the bar on it and relaxing all muscles.

[Hat]

The times you don't touch your chest are when you're training boards, floor, or lockouts (and variations on those). It's ridiculous to train bench and not go all the way down. Even when I was a kid and saw that ****, I knew it wasn't the way to go. If you want to be a powerlifter, you obviously have to lift like one.

[Mr Beer]

"How low do you go on Bench?"

I was going to say "To my chest, duh", because I thought that was what everyone did. Looking at the thread though, it seems some people don't.

[lunarhorizon]

perhaps i should clarify why im careful about touching, i have peircings, and one was recently a bit torn. not fun. so yes, thats why it hurts sometimes if i touch too hard.

[TheCrazyCossack]

Keep in mind that you're in the powerlifting/strongman board. In our minds it's not a rep unless it touches your chest, and your elbows lockout. We don't care how our muscles look. It's all about moving maximal weight the correct way.

As for the one that said would I do a lift differently if it made me loose weight....
Well I do/will/have, and anyone intelligent would aswell. The first time someone told me my squat was wrong I was about 3" high, and bending over horribly. I had to drop 50lbs to get it right.

I preach touchign the chest, and I'm sure you/other powerlifters would lose 50 pounds for correct form, but these people wont... I probably should have phrased the question diffrently... do you think most teenagers who want abs biceps and a chest (beach muscles) would be willing to drop 30 pounds off their bench, probably not. Powerlifters is a different story, these kids just want to say they bench alot... well... not really alot lol but you know what I mean, and they dont care about proper form, all they care about is their ego and their abs.

[Mr Beer]

perhaps i should clarify why im careful about touching, i have peircings, and one was recently a bit torn. not fun. so yes, thats why it hurts sometimes if i touch too hard.

There you go, nipple piercings and being hardcore just don't mix

Though it's probably a good way to make sure you're not bouncing the bar off your chest.

[MIBOWMAN]

Touch your chest. This kid at ashcool today was gonna try forhis PR (135), haha bitch... and he goes down 4 inces and starts going up, I pushed the bar down until it hit his chest, and he couldnt even press it up once, proving that he a a vagina.

[TheCrazyCossack]

Lol while I dont know how old he is, so I wont comment on how big of a .. vagina.. he is lol, But I dont know if I would be pushing bars down on kids, maybe telling them to touch thier chest or it doesnt count... and threatening to push the bar down, but pushing the bar down on someone seems like something from a prison movie lol.

[Pain_is_temp]

I always touch on the way down when I am doing my "working" sets. However when I am warming up or doing some real high rep fatigue sets I generally like to stop about 2 inches from touching and stop short on lockout to keep the load completely on my muscles. I do these after my heavy sets; seems to always really finish off my pecs real well.

[BobbyZeus]

Touch your chest. This kid at ashcool today was gonna try forhis PR (135), haha bitch... and he goes down 4 inces and starts going up, I pushed the bar down until it hit his chest, and he couldnt even press it up once, proving that he a a vagina.

Had the kid got injured, guess who is liable? Your Alpha Male persona is funny though, lol.

[TheCrazyCossack]

Guess he could use the "But the kid is such a big vagina!" defense... that would work if I was the judge lol.

[BobbyZeus]

Guess he could use the "But the kid is such a big vagina!" defense... that would work if I was the judge lol.

ROFLMAO

[hiii98]

I dont understand the discrepancy of opinions here... this is a powerlifting forum, the only way to bench is to touch your chest period, technically you should even hold it there for a count of one second before going back up to lockout.

[AMG]

[QUOTE=TheBrownBomber]
I was always under the impression that the bar should touch your chest when doing the Bench press.


Correct. Your Chest gets the most work at the bottom of the movement.


But i have recently seen people in the gym pressing the weight back up once there elbows had made a right angle, that probably leaves the bar about 6-10 inches above chest


The it isn't a complete rep.


which i imagine puts 90% of the stress on triceps and not pecs, which is the right way for both flat and incline? Thanks for the help in advance.


The bar should go all the way down and touch.

[breathingmurder]

This is a powerlifting messageboard?
The bar touches the chest... true for ANY federation.

[hiii98]

This is a powerlifting messageboard?
The bar touches the chest... true for ANY federation.

bump

[Perceptionist]

this is what happens when you have a forum full of people that lift weights for different various reasons at different levels of the game...