elbows in or out on bench

[dssea]

Which way to place elbows is better for gaining size on the chest?

[drewbie 51]

id say straight right angle from the bar is best and most natural

[guitarguy]

Just do what feels natural, your body will be stronger that way, and you will use more of your chest muscles.

[Carnutzzz]

Try keeping your elbows tucked in. This keeps your rotators tucked-in, and in my experience, helps prevent injury. Elbows out is awkward and asking for trouble IMO. Ask me how I know. ;-)

[snodaddi]

carnutzz has a point on this one. when the arm is extended away from the side of the body, the rotator cup is open and at its weakest point. keeping your elbows a little closer to your body will take the stress off of the rotator and put it back on the chest(specifically the pectoralis major and minor,which is located under the pec major and attaches diagnally at the anterior delt)

carnutzz, did you have to undergo any surgery for you to know that?

many people make the mistake of doing what "feels natural" but sometimes what feels natural is not healthy when it comes to weight training. knowing the right movements will help you make better gains and keep yourself safe from futher injury.

soryy drewbie no offense meant, just adding from what i have experienced.

[Carnutzzz]

I have not had any surgery, but I probably could have used it. The initial injury was caused about 7 years ago during a heavy bench period. I had been making very serious gains, and wasn't thinking about the time it takes connective tissue to catch-up to strength gains. I was warming-up with about 215, when the shoulder gave, and I had searing pain in the joint. My elbows were wider than they should have been. I have reinjured it, not to the same extant, on several occasions since. Re-injury is always a worry when I go into my heavy poundage periods. I'm smarter now though.

I did undergo 2 months of physical therapy, and I've modified my workouts to reduce exposure to injury (no military presses, no straight bar bench). A heavy emphasis on dumbbells works nicely.

Also to answer the original posters question- in Yoga, there is a position which is much like the bottom of a push-up. Proper form is hands under shoulders, elbows tucked-in. This is the correct form for a solid pose, and considered "correct" for strength in maintaining the pose.

[MrB]

The closer the elbows are to the torso, the more the triceps get worked. The closer to 90-degrees you get, the more the chest is borught into action.

The drawback is the closer you get to 90-degrees the more strain is put on your rotator cuff (not cup ... just so you know in the future). This is why some people avoid the bench press altogther.

Personally, I think that with balanced strength in your shoulders shoulders (rowing strength = ppushing strength), combined with some weekly rotator cuff work, the bench press can be safely.

You're both right though. With arms perpindicular to the torso, the chest is worked more and it cna be harder on the shoulders. Arms close the torso and it's basically all triceps and front delts.

Ideally, one should just alloow their elbows to be located whereever they feel most comfortable. I don't know anyone that presses with perfect 90-degree angle formed by their arms and torso, more like 60-70 degrees.

[Kane Fan]

how long does it take for conective tissue to catch up to the main muscle strength gains....
(is 5 or 10 lb gain per month safe?)
thanks

[Carnutzzz]

First off- my aplogies to dssea for getting his post off-topic. To keep it on topic, let me first remind people that the bench press is a compound upper body development exercise. It does not specifically target the chest. I'm not so convinced that moving your elbows out takes the chest out of the equation. You can probably move emphasis slightly, but you're still going to be hitting the chest. To directly work the chest, do flyes- this movement is what works the pecs directly, taking them through a more complete range of motion.

Kane Fan- I don't think there are any hard rules about that. If you're talking about your bench, or your curl increasing 5-10 lbs a month, that is pretty safe. Its simply a matter of injury resulting from overtraining. Get your rest- go easy every few weeks of heavy lifting and strong gains. I was working with heavy-hitters back in the day that forced me to raise my bench from 195 to 275 in about 3 months. I don't think that's very safe.

[dssea]

yeAH I see some power lifters bench with more of the elbows in . I just have always done it the other way but I am thinking about making the transsition. I got a decent bench now but my divisons in competition. I have a nations coming up in november.

[Lift THIS]

I did rehab for two months on my shoulder as well.. still don't know whether it was caused by bench or side raises. One of the two hosed me, though. Rehab people taught me how to do side raises with my thumbs up and when i do them that way, I don't feel pain.. if I have palms down, I feel something tweak in my left shoulder and it hurts like fkg hell for a split second.

Anyways, Dorian has an EXCELLENT article on strengthening the shoulders via rehab-like exercises that build the ancillary muscles to take strain off the cuff to do bench press pain free.

Peace