Going old school with my training over the next few months, bench, deads, squats. So where best to start? Every gym goers favourite past time. The BENCH press! If your gonna do it you might as well so it right. When your in the gym you have to do what works for you and not what works for others. When I first started training after a heavy bench session I would get very very sore front delts. To the point where my front delts where in more pain then my chest. So something wasnt right? So I jumped to dumbbell pressing. When I complete a rep with the Dumbbells I lower them to a point where my elbow just passes my torso, upper arms are parallel to the floor and my forearms point straight up creating a right angle in my elbow joint. My chest responded well with the Dumbbells. Then I though about transferring this technique and range of motion to the traditional bench press. My technique has developed to this, - Feet planted to the floor, chest up, shoulders back. - I never bounce the bar of my chest. - I lower the bar till its two inches above my chest, hold for a second then drive the weight back up pushing through the palms. - Upper arms are parallel to the floor and the elbows dont pass beyond my torso. I can hear it all ready and I was asked today, why do I not come all the way down? And why are your elbows out to the side? For the sake of two inches id rather not tear my pec I also have my elbows out to the side as Im targeting my pecs, elbows coming in towards the torso slightly will recruit the triceps into the lift. Bench pressing like this for me has provided several benefits, - Reduced front Delt recruitment. - Increased tension on my chest. - Totally reduced momentum in the lift as there is no bouncing off the weight! - Pressing power has increased from the static hold at the bottom of the lift. If your a tall lifter and you have long arms like me. Have a look around the gym and watch a shorter lifter bench press. With there shorter limbs Id be confident to say that when they lower the bar to just a over there chest there upper arms will be parallel to the floor. So as a taller lifter why should you lower the bar so far, to the point where its recruiting the front delts more then the chest! Thats right, your doing it because some one is telling you to! Do what your body tells you and if your front delts are growing faster then your chest, or have more doms then your chest then your not doing it right. You may need to reevaluate your technique, or maybe, you might not be suited to this exercise. Dont bench press just because you think you have too!!!
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:45:35 +0000
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