Is Benching Bar to Your Chest Bad?

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Have you guys ever wondered how these half-ROM wonders actually decide when the rep is done? Like, what is their guide to let them know “hey, I guess its finally time to press this weight up now”

I have always been curious.[/quote]

Yeah I wonder too. A buddy of mine has a lifting partner/friend who is very insecure, always looking for recognition… He brags that he can out-bench my friend with a rep or two. My friend benches full ROM and his idiot lifting partner is one of these “Virtual Board Pressers”.

[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
“Virtual Board Pressers”.[/quote]
VBPs. Good acronym.

Many personal trainers are taught that elbow joint below shoulder joint places undue stress on the shoulder joint and is “bad” for you. I.e. the PTs teach the ROM of a floor press (but on a bench).

Bad for “tendons in the chest” is probably the interwebz version of the above.

[quote]yammy53 wrote:
Recently I had a guy in the gym telling me to not bring the bar to the chest because it could possibly damage the tendons in your chest in the long- term.

I’ve always touched the bar to my chest because I’ve got the flexibility to do so even though I’ve got freakishly long arms.

Just wondered what peoples thoughts are on this?[/quote]

You should ask him if he even knows what a tendon does.

[quote]critietaeta wrote:

[quote]Brett295 wrote:
For future reference most people in commercial gyms are morons. You should bench to your chest unless your doing board presses. [/quote]

I’m so hardcore i bench to my chest even while doing board presses.[/quote]

Lol I like that. I’m gonna use that as like a Chuck Norris joke or something.

“Ed Coan touches the bar to his chest… on three board presses.”

[quote]punnyguy wrote:
Many personal trainers are taught that elbow joint below shoulder joint places undue stress on the shoulder joint and is “bad” for you. I.e. the PTs teach the ROM of a floor press (but on a bench).

Bad for “tendons in the chest” is probably the interwebz version of the above.[/quote]

lol, when I floor press the bar is about a 1 board height with my pinkies on the rings. I love this “long arm” thing… I prefer the term “short chest” for most peeps.

x2 on be a dick to the guy about it. Terrible bench press technique is bad for your chest and shoulders, not the exercise itself. It is like selcting a dentist to clean your teeth and the technique he uses involves a sledgehammer with a toothbrush tapped to the end of it. Getting your teeth cleaned at the dentist is not bad for you, getting hit in the face with a sledgehammer would not be great for you.

^ I love STB’s way of articulating his points! bravo sir, bravo. lol

What happens if these VBPs accidentally lowers the bar slightly more than they usually do? Do they break due to being so stiff from never using their full ROM? Wouldn’t surprise me.

How old was the guy?

I think the real question is: Why would any one of sane mind ask that question in the PL forum? Right?

Just like deadlifting is bad for your back…right. People’s ignorance never ceases to amaze me.

[quote]T11 wrote:
Just like deadlifting is bad for your back…right. People’s ignorance never ceases to amaze me. [/quote]

I hear squatting is bad for your knees?

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]T11 wrote:
Just like deadlifting is bad for your back…right. People’s ignorance never ceases to amaze me. [/quote]

I hear squatting is bad for your knees?[/quote]

I heard it was good for your knees.

Yammy, it sounds like you lift at planet fitness…remember not to military press or squat deep either, those are SUPER bad for your tendons!

[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I think the real question is: Why would any one of sane mind ask that question in the PL forum? Right?
[/quote]

I just wondered where this insane sort of logic came from.

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Have you guys ever wondered how these half-ROM wonders actually decide when the rep is done? Like, what is their guide to let them know “hey, I guess its finally time to press this weight up now”

I have always been curious.[/quote]

Had a guy work in on bench with me this past Sunday who lowered the bar progressively further each rep by about an inch until he was at failure just shy of touching his chest. He was talking on blue tooth the whole time so I didn’t ask what his deal was, but I don’t think he was doing it for any specific purpose. That’s just how he benches. Fuckin’ weird.

[quote]Matsa wrote:
What happens if these VBPs accidentally lowers the bar slightly more than they usually do? Do they break due to being so stiff from never using their full ROM? Wouldn’t surprise me.[/quote]

They wouldn’t be able to use as much weight or their reps would be less. Most VBP’s egos are too big to handle a “drop” in performance. It sure is true about the one I know.

I like this term VBP. I’m putting it in use at my gym.

Outside of squat-rack curlers, this is the most annoying behavior I see at my gym. Unlike SRC’s, who DO affect my training routine by taking up the only two squat racks at my gym, VBP’s shouldn’t affect me at all…

…and yet they do.

Almost daily, I see a covey of pencil-necked emo kids sidling up to the bench, loading up two plates to “warm up”, and then proceeding with some 13x15 set/rep scheme of virtual 6-board combination elbow bends/nut-high rack pulls (for the spotter), capping it off with a “gun show” for the mirrors that would make Ah-nold blush.

I know it’s not a big deal, and it’s none of my business. Still pisses me off to no end, though.

OP, touch your chest with the bar. If the ill-informed adviser is around, stare him in the eye throughout your set for extra cool points. If he says anything, bite him.