Bench Pressing Form Questions

[Landmonster]

Here is a training question regarding bench press form:

1) For bodybuilding purposes, do you have to actually touch the bar to your chest on bench press to receive optimal stimulation? Yes, no, maybe?


This has been a discussion among my training partners.

The possible reasons why are:
--The first point is... we know that scientifically, a muscle recruits more fibers when fully stretched. Therefore, going deeper on bench press (touching your chest), should theoretically recruit more fibers, and make your chest grow.
--The second point is... most pros seem to touch their chest when they do bench and incline presses. Therefore, simply going by their example, we should probably touch our chest too.

The possible counter points are:
-- You can use more weight if you don't touch, and stop a few inches short. More weight could possibly cause more growth.
-- Forcing the bar to touch your chest may be awkward and hurt some people's shoulders or elbows



Bonus question...

2) For bodybuilding purposes, should you keep your elbows flared out, or tuck them inward like a powerlifting style?

 

[willdethronephil]

do what targets your muscle and exhausts it most effectively and has the least negative impact on your joints. your arms are different lengths than mine, who am i to say you should bench XXXX way? plenty of massive pros have form that is weird as fuk because it's how they connect well with their muscle... personally i do just barely or maybe stop 1mm short of my chest very slow with elbows totally tucked, if i flare on a bar bench i mess my shoulders up... i do mostly dumbbell presses as they work best for me though these days.

 

[astral_essence]

There is more evidence today that suggests a direct correlation between barbell pressing movements and shoulder problems. One of the main observations is that the bottom of the bench press movement causes the greatest degree of rotation on the shoulder joint. It is this degree of stress on the shoulder capsule and its repetitive nature that leads to these permanent shoulder problems.

In fact just on this board alone, I have seen numerous posts from individuals that have been training for years that no longer do flat barbell pressing movements, not really by choice, but because of limiting pain in their shoulders.

A good rule of thumb when pressing is to bring your elbows just far down enough that a 90 degree angle is formed between your tricep and torso. Essentially your tricep would be parallel to the ground on a flat bench press similarly to having your hamstrings parallel to the ground if you were squatting.

That refrains from rotating your shoulder joint way out of it's capsule while still providing a sufficient stretch. If getting a deep stretch is something of specific focus, then there are plenty of fly movements, cable and machine that would allow for that without the heavy poundage's of a barbell press that have a much higher propensity for long term issues by bringing the bar too far down.

To address your bonus question, just from basic bio mechanics and lifting principles the closer in you bring your elbows, the more tricep recruitment you are going to have. However keeping a a very flared out open stance with your elbows can also leave your pecs a bit more vulnerable to tears. This is of course weight dependent and genetic dependent. Some people are able to get away with it and others not so much. Also, keeping a flared stance with 135 and 225 on the bar for reps is a bit different than 315 and 365 for reps. As the loads progressively get heavier so does the propensity for injury and even the smallest holes in biomechanics can be exponential in the result of injury.

A suggestion with barbell presses would be to find a happy medium between too wide and too narrow that still allows you to go deep enough with rotating your entire shoulder capsule by trying to go so deep that you are touching your chest.

Another suggestion would be to use dumbells instead of barbells. That way your shoulders, and your elbows are not locked in through the movement and you can adjust accordingly to where you feel your not leaving your pecs exposed by going too wide and yet not emphasizing triceps by going too narrow.


AE

 

[tenny]

lmao.....you guys are funny....

 

[Archer]

Don't touch and don't lock out....time under tension is what builds muscle...less weight and more reps if it hurts your shoulders....personally I like decline BB and incline DB...

 

[blackjack]

you lost me at "optimal stimulation"...

typically if your elbows are wide load will be heavier on pecs, if narrow, heavier on triceps

 

[rAJJIN]

I always do full reps. Very rarely partials. And its never partials on bench or squat. Now leg press or one of the hammer plate loaded machines maybe Ill concentrate more on keeping the tension on them. Flat bench press though I have always just done full reps and Give it all I have.

I wouldn't say "Locking out" at the top. But for sure all the way down.

 

[readyset]

About 80 to 90% up and 80 to 90% down always worked for me. Elbow position, contraction, and keeping shoulder blades back have had more of a profound affect I think though.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[j4ever]

i stop about 2-3 inches from touching chest, elbows closer in, grip a little more than shoulder width, press bar back towards rack, stop about 75-80% from lock out, and keep shoulder back and pulled towards feet.

 

[heroish]

First the flat bench is a bad exercise for growing the chest for most people.

Second it depends on how tall you and your limbs are. You should go down to where your elbows are parallel to the ground for all chest pressing movements (incline, flat etc) - any lower and way too much front delt. For some people (short) this is a full range of motion for others (tall) it is not.

Same for shoulder press you go down until your elbows are parallel to the ground. No lower.

 

[Sir Anabolic]

It's all individual. Do what you feel as best. I say as long as you're not arching your back, heaving up the weight.

 

[STEVO 47]

We're all different but after 42 years of barbell benching,(my favorite for putting on size) finally caught up and now suffer with three torn cuff tendons and severe tendonosis. Damaged tendons in the shoulder. Tendonosis is much worst then tendinitis. I think the bar does limit some motion in the shoulder area so changed to incline dumbbells. That seemed to give me more control to adjust. Coarse age plays a big roll too.

 

[ALLEX]

If your genetics for chest are half good, you can develop a great one without ever doing barbell presses. Choose dumbell presses or Gironda dips instead, finish with an isolation movement like crossover or dumbell flies.

 

[bieberhole69]

I don't do BB bench. Anytime I near 300lbs my shoulders begin to hurt hard and after witnessing several friends tearing pecs doing BB bench...yea--not for me.

I do incline BB that I lower more to my collarbone--I don't go down quite all the way but stop when the bar taps my chin (about 2" ? off chest). If I go down all the way, shoulders hurt. I've experimented with this over the years and it's always the case. The collarbone lowering seems to really make my chest explode and I like the way it feels too.

Moral of the story? Learn your body. I do heavy DB flyes for my stretch movement or if I'm DB pressing I go down further since my arms can track whatever way they want.

 

[Ironmanpits]

I bench for ego only these days, I've benched 500 for reps in the past, hit an easy single with 455 the other day just out of curiosity. I bench powerlifting style for safety and shoulder pain....benching is probably my least productive chest exercise in regards to developing my physique. IMO there are better exercises for pec development that are also safer..... But, elbows out and constant tension isn't safe but it's conducive to bodybuilding results.

Be safe in doing so

 

[No1]

What would.yo u say is better and safer for pec development?

 

[Marvin Martian]

lmao.....you guys are funny....

For bench press - I have a secret algorithm that I used to calculate the angular coefficient of the tangential curvature of the bi-lateral vortex.

I have noticed a 3.14159292 % decrease in shoulder stress - while amazingly seeing exactly the same 3.14159292% increase in muscle hypertrophy.

I was taught this by a pro that will remain unnamed - and I am not at liberty to share this secret.

 

[Dream_Big]

I have noticed a 3.14159292 % decrease in shoulder stress - while amazingly seeing exactly the same 3.14159292% increase in muscle hypertrophy.

Sounds easy as "pi" :headbang:

 

[jayl19]

Seems like everyone who tears there chest does it on flat bb, found out Aaron Clarke tore his pec clean off too when he was younger, I'm not risking it any more, my right pec always felt weak in the armpit area every time I go heavy on flat bench

 

[kingpeon]

I've found neck presses to be a godsend for still being able to bench with an iffy rotator cuff.

I can't use nearly as much weight but the stretch and feel of the movement is 100 times better than the traditional bench-to-the-sternum barbell bench press.

Not a fan of using dumbbells for bench press too often (gotta do it for variety tho) because it makes my chest grow like a weed and I'd rather have bigger shoulders and tris in relation to pecs.