Bench Press Start Height: Too High or Too Low?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I recently bought some home gym equipment to keep working out during the quarantine. The bench press I have only really has two options for lifting the bar off the rack:

  1. I can set it high but I have almost shrug my shoulder forward and lose all tightness in my upper back to on get out of the rack.
  2. I can set it low and the bar rests about where my elbows would be if I extended my arms. It’s a bit awkward to rack and rerack and I almost hit the rack during each movement.

I know neither are optimal and I will invest in a better one once I get a bit stronger, but for now, which height should I set the bar?

2

Can u put something under the bench to elevate yourself a bit then use the higher rack setting?

1 Like
3

Maybe stick with incline bench for a while since this requires a higher starting position.

1 Like
4

Can I ask what you bench?

5

Dude, ask properly;

“What da ya bench, bro?”

2 Likes
6

No u ask properly:

“What da ya bench bro? I benched 405 in high school”

6 Likes
7

Start lower and use less weight. If you have someone in the house that can give you a lift off starting low is not a problem.

8

has anyone here tried adjusting the J-hooks one notch lower and found it actually made unracking smoother without messing with tight setup positions?

I’m experimenting with this now and noticing some differences, especially on heavier sets. Curious how others have handled this, especially if you’re training alone without a lift-off.

9

I had the same issue setting the right rack height and started using a digital ruler to measure from the bench pad to the bar’s bottom when racked. Now I can match the setup exactly every time and avoid awkward unrack angles. Measuring by eye kept giving me small but annoying differences between sessions, and this fixed it.