Good read on "Extreme stretching"

[weight77]

I was reading a article by Glass the other day and he said that he has started to have his athletes use a motion that has them stop short 3 inches from the chest because of how it never lets the chest rest at the bottom half of the rep..I started doing it and it has really brought out the inside of my pecs..

 

[joshbarnett]

phil-i train with a pro strongman and other powerlifters. i am the only bodybuilder. they had me start tucking my elbows under the bar and like excel said use your lats to assist in raising the bar. but for me the big change was tucking the elbows and taking the stress of the AC joint and putting it where i want- on my chest and tris.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

This might work well also

Try keeping the shoulders downtowards the bench and down towards your feer. This has always saved my shoulders. I always seem to stop or forget to do it when going heavy.

 

[gravityfighter]

Since I quit doing flat bench(bb) & behind the neck press my shoulder problems have disappeared.Flat dumbells & front presses work just fine for me.

 

[mike man]

Man!

I haven't used a straight bar for flat, incline, or shoulder presses for years. Just have recurring problems with my left shoulder from Powerlifting meets in the past.
After this years shows, I may seriously consider getting it operated on.
Hate to do it, but the problem never goes away. I've been to PT's and Chiros and MD's with no luck.

 

[massive attack]

Nice subject.

When I first moved to a big city I saw one of the largest guys I had ever seen and in watching his training I noticed every single rep was almost like a partial rep. You were all talking about chest for example. This guy would bring the bar down to about 4 inches from his chest and would press it up about 8-10 inches maybe. Bar curls? He would come up only half way. He was curling 225 for like 15 reps like that. Everything he did was partial or half reps. this was in 1992-93 and at that time he was 23 years old and was weighing around 300 -305 at a height of maybe 6'. After getting to know him a little I asked about the rep ranges.

"Your muscles don't know whether it is doing a full rep or a partial rep. Your muscles do know how much stress is being put on them and when you only do partials or half reps you are able to use more weight meaning more stress to the muscle to make changes. YOu are keeping constant tension or stress on the muscles. Dont' worry what other people think."

From then on I tried his method and man that shit works!!!!! I grew like a friggin weed after that. I can't recall seeing him stretching much either. Maybe a little light stretching before doing legs and such, but nothing to rave about.

 

[weight77]

Re: Nice subject.

"Your muscles don't know whether it is doing a full rep or a partial rep. Your muscles do know how much stress is being put on them and when you only do partials or half reps you are able to use more weight meaning more stress to the muscle to make changes. YOu are keeping constant tension or stress on the muscles. Dont' worry what other people think." B]

I have to disagree with the point you made about the muscles not knowing one way or the other..you hit different fibers at different ranges..You will never develope full thick quads doing half reps..and I think that goes for everything..I am saying this in general..

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Angles?

Give me the theory on why we need more angles to hit different fibers. What fibers are different? Stress is stress, thats my thoughts. I have always grown well from partial reps. The body can stretch all the way on many movements, but is it beneficial or even safe to do? Good point massiveattack, I totally believe that until I see otherwise.

 

[muscle96ss]

Re: Xcel and Rajjin

I need your opinion on this. An orthapedic surgeon told me NEVER to bring the bar on bench press to my chest, but a fist (3-4 inches) away. I have tried it and it is supposed to save the shoulder joint. He also told me that the muscle will grow the same if not more. Do you do this? I have always gone for maximum stretch on the bench, even bringing it to my neck. I am having shoulder problems now so I am going to try it. How do you guys bench? Or do you?

The reason that bench press is so hard on the shoulders at the bottom of the motion, is that it puts the shoulder in extreme external rotation(same as the problem with behind the neck presses). Most people, especially bodybuilders, dont have the flexibility to tolerate this position and it ends up wreaking havoc on the shoulder. I am lucky in that I was a pitcher in my youth and therefore have a greater flexibility in external rotation than the average person.

Anyone that has shoulders problems, I would advise to stay away from bringing the bar to the chest if there is any discomfort or even if it just feels uncomfortable. Its not worth the risk of what can happen down the road.

 

[G.E.R.M]

...

bump for further discussion on the partials...

i find this quite interesting and am wondering how i should best go about testing it out..

 

[UMD73]

I'd def go w/ XCEL's way of benching, I had shoulder probelms when I was younger, and after surgery the pt guy said never to go down to my chest, but I actually found that benching w/ the elbows in etc as XCEL said hurts my shoulder less than the partial reps did.... as w/ everyone else, just my experience, no science to it