Bench Presses

[mr intensity]

Bench press, the common dingle berry of society considers it to be the judge and jury to determine an individual’s strength. While others and myself will disagree with such urban rules the bench press by far is the most popular and practiced exercise in most gyms. It is considered that every Monday across the globe is “bench day.” Thus in honor of the bench press I will try to explain good solid technique ranging from grip, form and ROM.

There is more than one way to actually lay down on the bench a traditional method or power lifting. The difference is:
Leg position
Feet position
Arching the lower back

Traditional your legs are approximately making a 90 degree bend and are out in front of the bench while a power lifting leg position the legs are bent at a more acute angle than 90 degree. This more acute angle causes the quad muscle to stretch and “load.” This stretch will allow the lifting to tighten the lower body and actually use this “loaded” stretch to help drive the weight off of their chest. The acute angle also causes the lower back to lift off the bench which is referred to as an “arch.” The arch is beneficial because it forces the upper back and shoulder girdle to lay flat on the bench giving the lifter a solid foundation such that the load of the weights will firmly plant the lifters shoulder blades into the pad of the bench.

Contracting the traps and lats is part of the traditional and power lifting set up. By contracting these muscles you securing the shoulder joint into its socket. This keeps the shoulder in place and restrains the shoulders from rising up in a horizontal or vertical direction towards the lifters head which could cause shoulder injury/dislocation.

Trap “tucking” and contraction help. It is helpful to have a firm contraction of the traps, by extending your arms and using the pillars to the bench to push/tuck the scapula-shoulder blades the lifter can achieve a much firmer trap contraction which will provide a firmer shoulder girdle foundation.

Elbow position is another critical piece of benching. Because your shoulder joint rotates, hence why people get rotator cuff injuries, by keeping your elbows in close this allows the shoulder to rotate. The further away your elbow is away from your torso the more it begins to hinge, this will result in a shoulder injury over time. Also, the synergy of the shoulder and elbow joint are greatest when the elbow is close to the body, as the elbow travels away from the body the weaker the synergy of the this compound movement; its a simple fact that the closer your elbow gets to your head the weaker your entire arm will become.

Your grip is another area; try this to figure out your best grip. Stand up with your arms held out to your sides make a fist and your palms are facing the floor so your body makes a "T" *pretend your in the village people for a second* pull your shoulders back by flexing your traps and pull your shoulders down by flexing your lats. try to contract your chest, as you can tell its damn near impossible, now slowly bring your fists closer together, keep your elbows locked and keep trying to contract your pecs. As you your fists get closer you will notice your pecs start to contract harder, they will be contracted the hardest right about at shoulder width. A wider grip doesn’t mean you’ll grow a wider chest. However a wider grip can be utilized as long as form is not compromised. Remember to squeeze your lats as you lower the bar, this helps to keep your elbows as close to your torso as possible. There is a potential benefit to a wider grip however most people really won’t notice a difference since its dependent on body structure. Widening your grip will roll the shoulder joint in a way that you could possibly get a harder stretch at the bottom position. It could also potentially help keep the traps contracted and the scapula tucked under the shoulder girdle.

ROM is the final key point in benching successfully. If proper form is being practice as stated above as you lower the weight the bar will end up somewhere between your sternum and navel. As you press upwards the bar can be pushed straight up or on an arch so that the bar travels from the abdomin to a position above the lifters head. How low the bar travels is key. The two major components of building muscle utilizing a bench press is muscle stretch and muscle contraction. The lower the bar travels in a controlled motion will continuously make the pecs stretch, thus you want to lower the bar into your torso as far as possible such that the bar slightly touches you in the lower position. This will stretch the pecs to their maximum potential for this lift. The other part is the muscle contraction which is accomplished by pressing the bar up to your maximum extension. It is up to you to decide if you wish to lock out your elbows or not. Contrary to mixed information which indicates this could be harsh on the elbow joint but yet it could spur new bone growth due to the shock endured by the skeleton, it’s a debate for another thread.

RECAP:
Body position is up the lifter, both positions will accomplish result but arguing which one is better is a huge waste of time.
Keep your traps contracted and your scapula tucked to protect your shoulders and provide a solid shoulder girdle foundation for the lift
If you flare your elbow you remove the shoulder joint out of its natural movement and make the shoulder move in a way it was not designed
If you flare your elbow the weaker the synergy of the compound movement because your arm will not be able to exert force through the hand as effectively
Flaring your elbows causes your shoulder joint to hinge more than rotate which directly puts stress on the rotator cuff which could lead to injury
Flaring your elbows puts more strain on your shoulders and triceps and isolates the pecs from the overall movement
Grip is up to the lifter and may or may not provide extra stretch stimulation
Do not left grip compromise form, do not flare your elbows
Use the fullest ROM as possible.
Do not compromise ROM because you are trying to move too much weight

[ashsalmun]

A long time ago it was how much you can lift over your head now it's the bench.i agree that people like it because it is easier than squatting or deadlifting or even shoulder presses and it allows you to throw some weight.I do think it is a natural movement though. to push something away from your body is natural,its more natural then pushing something over your head.

[Gary Smith]

The bench press is very popular. However, it is not the best chest developing exercise out there. The front delts tend to be involved a little too much, & the pec tendons are placed into a vulnerable position. Unless you are a powerlifter, I would suggest doing incline & decline bench presses, as opposed to flat bench presses.

[bigshug]

every monday seems to be national bench day. or at least at my gym. i gave up flat bench about 6 months ago. i've gotten better results from decline and incline. i still do moderate weight on flat flys though. when i was flat benching i'd never let my arms go past 90 degrees because i felt it took the focus off my chest. the bar would end up about 4 inches from my chest. people would always ask me about why i never went all the way down. i tell them to try it and they all seem to agree. i feel the deadlift is the ultimate power move.

[barnabassmith]

Bench presses body several beef groups with one exercise--shoulders, arms, chest, aback and abdominals. Bench presses body several beef groups with one exercise--shoulders, arms, chest, aback and abdominals. Bench presses advice you body both backbone and beef mass. Bench columnist allows you to lift a ample bulk of weight at one time and to advance all-around upper-body backbone in one exercise.

[Lifter]

Decline press, being more physiological sound, does more for the upper-body and chest than bench press. I know Dorian favored them, balanced with incline press, to develop his chest. I have never gotten the feel for benches, ideal body stats are those who are barrel-chested with short arms...Tom Platz and Franco Columbo are two such champs, who relied solely on benches.

[kimsmarkin]

Bench press is the most popular lift in the gym. And the upper body, allowing you to carry more weight. Bench Press is based on upper body strength than any other sport and therefore is part of Strong Lifts 5 × 5 program.

[Lifter]

Agreed, there is a world-wide obsession over BP, but it is way over-rated. Being an easy move, laying on your back, pushing up a bar, little wonder why it's become the ego move. Instead more should focus on building up their squat or deadlift, then we'd see a dramatic rise in muscle mass.