Ive been benching for a while and was always told to go directly 90 degrees down to my chest which is usually slightly higher then my nipple. I always been very strict with this form with no back arch and it has always been comfortable for me.
Someone recently tole me that it is better to go down more and to my nipple instead of above it. I have tried it and I do roughly the same weight but it feels a little different. I was just wondering what is the better way to do it and what the difference is between the 2 methods?
Well, your method is decent for chest hypertrophy, but your elbows are definitely way, way out there and that is going to be very hard on your elbows and shoulders. There is no way you’re going to get a big bench press if your practicing this form.
I reccomend bringing the bar to the very bottom of your sternum and at least try to keep your arms in at your torso through the full ROM.
Well when i first started lifting last year this method was giving me shoulder pains. Ive been doing it for a while now and have gotten my bench up from 100 to about 240 right now shoulder pain free. I only weigh 140 atm and got 2nd in a recent bench competition for my weight class.
No one has really ever commented on my form when i ask them before until recently. I am always very critical of form and would saccriface higher weight for better form. What makes bringing it lower better? just easier on teh shoulders? Are there any long term problems with the higher method?
[quote]cormac wrote:
Well, your method is decent for chest hypertrophy, but your elbows are definitely way, way out there and that is going to be very hard on your elbows and shoulders. There is no way you’re going to get a big bench press if your practicing this form.
I reccomend bringing the bar to the very bottom of your sternum and at least try to keep your arms in at your torso through the full ROM.[/quote]
This is just one big inaccurate and subjective statement.
theres two ways to bench, bodybuilder and powerlifter.
bodybuilder = wider elbows (not hands necissarily), bench to chest or higher (gironda) and minimal arch.
powerlifter = elbows tight, strong arch, bench to lower chest, you can use more weight and once you start going heavy duty it will save your shoulders.
the bodybuilder style is ideal for chest hypertrophy, serge nubret had an amazing chest and only did 6 sets of 12 on the flat bench but would sometimes have such a wide grip his hands touched the collars.
the powerlifter style is a more total upper body exercise as it hits the anterior deltoids and triceps much more, you can lift heavier poundages too. but your chest wont get maximal growth.
i prefer powerlifter style just because its easier on shoulders, and turns the bench into more of an “upper body squat” you also look wicked cool setting up your arch.
[quote]schultzie wrote:
theres two ways to bench, bodybuilder and powerlifter.
bodybuilder = wider elbows (not hands necissarily), bench to chest or higher (gironda) and minimal arch.
powerlifter = elbows tight, strong arch, bench to lower chest, you can use more weight and once you start going heavy duty it will save your shoulders.
the bodybuilder style is ideal for chest hypertrophy, serge nubret had an amazing chest and only did 6 sets of 12 on the flat bench but would sometimes have such a wide grip his hands touched the collars.
the powerlifter style is a more total upper body exercise as it hits the anterior deltoids and triceps much more, you can lift heavier poundages too. but your chest wont get maximal growth.
i prefer powerlifter style just because its easier on shoulders, and turns the bench into more of an “upper body squat” you also look wicked cool setting up your arch.[/quote]
This is massively simplified but still useful IMO. I use “power style” because tucking my elbows has saved my shoulders. That arch stuff isn’t all that important though.
[quote]Contrl wrote:
cormac wrote:
Well, your method is decent for chest hypertrophy, but your elbows are definitely way, way out there and that is going to be very hard on your elbows and shoulders. There is no way you’re going to get a big bench press if your practicing this form.
I reccomend bringing the bar to the very bottom of your sternum and at least try to keep your arms in at your torso through the full ROM.
This is just one big inaccurate and subjective statement.[/quote]
This is one massive bag of douche right here. Massive.
I mean if you’re bringing the bar to your nipples while at the same time imparting more work to your powerful triceps muscles than to your pecs, then you have some seriously saggy man boobs. Or extremely short arms.
[quote]JamFly wrote:
schultzie wrote:
serge nubret only did 6 sets of 12 on the flat bench
This is not true.[/quote]
And if you are interested in how Serge Nubret trained, then he has a thread going on a great web site called iron age, he may even answer your questions if you are lucky
[quote]beebuddy wrote:
schultzie wrote:
theres two ways to bench, bodybuilder and powerlifter.
bodybuilder = wider elbows (not hands necissarily), bench to chest or higher (gironda) and minimal arch.
powerlifter = elbows tight, strong arch, bench to lower chest, you can use more weight and once you start going heavy duty it will save your shoulders.
the bodybuilder style is ideal for chest hypertrophy, serge nubret had an amazing chest and only did 6 sets of 12 on the flat bench but would sometimes have such a wide grip his hands touched the collars.
the powerlifter style is a more total upper body exercise as it hits the anterior deltoids and triceps much more, you can lift heavier poundages too. but your chest wont get maximal growth.
i prefer powerlifter style just because its easier on shoulders, and turns the bench into more of an “upper body squat” you also look wicked cool setting up your arch.
This is massively simplified but still useful IMO. I use “power style” because tucking my elbows has saved my shoulders. That arch stuff isn’t all that important though.[/quote]
i find the arch helps me lift more, obviously making it more of a decline press but i do plenty of inclines anyways
Ahh thanks for all the quick replies guys, I sorta get the gist now. Neither is wrong and both are good. One seems to do some damage to the shoulders but promote more hypertrophy while the other is a little less emphasis on the chest but gives you greater poundage and more work in your upper body.
Seeing how both are not wrong and helpful in their own way ill start working both into my workouts for variation. Thanks for the replies.
[quote]Berg wrote:
Ahh thanks for all the quick replies guys, I sorta get the gist now. Neither is wrong and both are good. One seems to do some damage to the shoulders but promote more hypertrophy while the other is a little less emphasis on the chest but gives you greater poundage and more work in your upper body.
Seeing how both are not wrong and helpful in their own way ill start working both into my workouts for variation. Thanks for the replies.[/quote]
It’s not that simple though. Some people can’t do the bodybuilder style. Guys like Franco Columbu could. It has to do with shoulder physiology. You’ll know what works for you by trying both out. In the end, the only reason I can still bench is because I switched from BB to power style.
Well now that I think about it, I guess i do go down to nipple when i close grip bench with my arms tucked in, it just goes there naturaly but for my regular wide grip bench i think ill stick with bb style, since i am able to and it stays tight and comfortable throughout and i can touch my chest with the bar fine and still making consistent gains.
Coming back from the gym today and watching people bench i did realize that pple who do go down to nipple mostly have alot closer grips then I do and now that i think about it I do have a fairly wide grip when I bench since my arms are parallel to the bar and out at 90 degrees.
I also realized not to many people can bench that wide because they have trouble going all the way down to their chest when they wide bench. I always felt that the closer grip was more of an arm workout then chest. But im gona continue to do both.
[quote]cormac wrote:
Contrl wrote:
cormac wrote:
Well, your method is decent for chest hypertrophy, but your elbows are definitely way, way out there and that is going to be very hard on your elbows and shoulders. There is no way you’re going to get a big bench press if your practicing this form.
I reccomend bringing the bar to the very bottom of your sternum and at least try to keep your arms in at your torso through the full ROM.
This is just one big inaccurate and subjective statement.
This is one massive bag of douche right here. Massive.
I mean if you’re bringing the bar to your nipples while at the same time imparting more work to your powerful triceps muscles than to your pecs, then you have some seriously saggy man boobs. Or extremely short arms.[/quote]
You can do all the name-calling you want, kid. It doesn’t mean you’re not giving bad advice, and making no kinesiological sense.
I’d just like to clarify something. When you guys say that BB style bench is “hard” on the shoulders, do you mean harmful? or just incorporates more shoulder work into the press?
No, I certainly don’t mean harmful. For some people it can be harmful because of their build. Bench pressing in general - and typically more so with the “bb style” - can lead to shoulder imbalances, so that is something to watch out for.
I recommend incorporating a good amount of external rotations, overhead push/pulls like (pull ups, chin ups) matched with (push presses, military presses), horizontal push/pulls like matching bench press with seated rows or bent over barbell rows. This will strengthen your shoulder girdle along its various planes of movement and ensure good shoulder health.
i’ve always felt doing neck presses was very effective. but they’re not so popular…mainly because u must reduce the weight you’d use in a normal bench press in order to get the most out of them. and that’s apparently too much of an ego bruiser for the gym tough guys
