Bench: Lower the Bar or Row It Down?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

When benching what is the correct/safest way of bringing the bar to your chest…simply lowering it or pulling it down

2

WTF?

3

[quote]rambodian wrote:
WTF?

[/quote]

4

I don’t know why you guys are making this a joke… Lowering the bar on the bench should be mimicking a controlled row… This is obviously key when using gear and even when lifting raw it will help activate the lats for drive off the chest.

5

[quote]arramzy wrote:
I don’t know why you guys are making this a joke… Lowering the bar on the bench should be mimicking a controlled row… This is obviously key when using gear and even when lifting raw it will help activate the lats for drive off the chest.[/quote]
I loled at the wtf not the op. I agree with you.

6

Row it down. If you have a good setup, you NEED to keep that tightness, or else whats the point of your good set up? This is crucial when shirted benching, obviously. It’s something I’ve struggled with.

I’d lower the part perfectly until I was about to touch, and then ALWAYS I’d just let it drop , hoping for a touch, and resulting in a lot of missed benches. Anyway, I don’t know if this question if for a raw or a shirted bench, but I’d say not to rush the bar down, either way.

7

I row it down…I lower it slow and load up at the bottom, my lats are tight, and this gives me almost a rebound off the chest…not talking a bounce, more of like drawing a bow. Hope this makes some kind of sense.

8

if you are just lowering the bar you are just using your pecs. if you learn to use the lats you will have to row it down to get the bar to your chest.

it takes some practice but activating the lats during the bench will not only make you stronger but is a lot safter as well.

9

Control the weight down.

10

In regards to this, are there any cues (verbal or physical) that can be used to engage the lats once someone is in the process of unracking the bar and stabilizing it above them before the initial descent? I know focusing on pulling the bar out of the rack and not lifting it out helps to some extent, but anything else one should be aware of?