No Full ROM Benching?

I have been noticing in my gym lately (24 hr fitness) that the guys I see benching do not lower the bar to their chest. They stop 4-6 inches above the chest. I saw I few guys do it, and now it seems that they all do it. Even the guys with spotters. WTF is up with this? I am assuming it must have been a “cool tip” in Muscle in fitness or something for it to be such a trend.

They just wanna be able to put more weight on the bar.

I overheard 2 young dudes last week, one telling the other, “Don’t bring the bar way down to the chest, I quit doing that and my bench has zoomed up.”

Then he went over and struggled through 3 or 4 with 135. Getting up with a big grin,
he said “Now, you see what I mean?”

What’s worse, the guys who stop 4 - 6 inches from the chest, or those who bounce the bar off of their chest?

I stop 1 - 2 inches from my chest, unless I’m using DBs, then I go as far down as I can.

Powerlifters use this technique by placing a board (or boards) on their chest at a height around where their sticking point is. They do it to strengthen their bench in the sticking point region of the lift.

I doubt that the people at your gym are using that technique. They are probably stopping just before the sticking point, therefore using more weight than they could normally handle. It’s not going to help much other than boost their ego. Stick to full range, unless you have an injury which prevents it.

There is a school of thought that says that lowering the bar all the way to the chest will overstretch something in the shoulder and eventually lead to injury. A lot of sites on the web are pushing this thinking. Others says that using too heavy a weight and letting the weight drop too fast causes the problem.

I stop about 2-3 inches from my chest when I do incline. If I go all the way down it feels like my shoulders are ripping out of their sockets.

I don’t lower the bar at all when I bench, I just unrack and re-rack the bar for my sets.

=)

When the elbow goes below the shoulder, the stress on the shoulder joint is greatly increased and the risk of injury to the rotator cuff is very high when using heavy weights.

Depending on your bone lengths and rib cage depth, your elbow may or may not go significantly below your shoulder before the bar reaches your chest. If your elbow does go way below your shoulder in the full range of motion then long term you may be better off not using the full ROM, at least you would probably benefit from some sort of dedicated rotator cuff exercises along with lots of bent rows and pull ups to keep the antagonists muscles balanced.

[quote]dswithers wrote:
When the elbow goes below the shoulder, the stress on the shoulder joint is greatly increased and the risk of injury to the rotator cuff is very high when using heavy weights.

Depending on your bone lengths and rib cage depth, your elbow may or may not go significantly below your shoulder before the bar reaches your chest. If your elbow does go way below your shoulder in the full range of motion then long term you may be better off not using the full ROM, at least you would probably benefit from some sort of dedicated rotator cuff exercises along with lots of bent rows and pull ups to keep the antagonists muscles balanced. [/quote]

Wow. A reply using facts(aka-science).
I’m taken aback.

[quote]dswithers wrote:
When the elbow goes below the shoulder, the stress on the shoulder joint is greatly increased and the risk of injury to the rotator cuff is very high when using heavy weights.

Depending on your bone lengths and rib cage depth, your elbow may or may not go significantly below your shoulder before the bar reaches your chest. If your elbow does go way below your shoulder in the full range of motion then long term you may be better off not using the full ROM, at least you would probably benefit from some sort of dedicated rotator cuff exercises along with lots of bent rows and pull ups to keep the antagonists muscles balanced. [/quote]

Thats what I was told when going thru PT after multiple seprations of my shoulders(right 2 times left once). Once I switched over to approx 1-2" above my chest my problems have disapeared.

[quote]dswithers wrote:
When the elbow goes below the shoulder, the stress on the shoulder joint is greatly increased and the risk of injury to the rotator cuff is very high when using heavy weights.

Depending on your bone lengths and rib cage depth, your elbow may or may not go significantly below your shoulder before the bar reaches your chest. If your elbow does go way below your shoulder in the full range of motion then long term you may be better off not using the full ROM, at least you would probably benefit from some sort of dedicated rotator cuff exercises along with lots of bent rows and pull ups to keep the antagonists muscles balanced. [/quote]

I strongly agree with doing R-C prehab, but I don’t think you need to shorten your range of motion if you don’t have any pre-existing injuries. Otherwise you will only strengthen the muscle through a partial ROM, and be succeptible to injuries beyond that point.

I spotted some gut the other day and he said the same thing about the shoulder stress. I have short arms and a deep chest cavity. I aslo pinch up my shoulders when I bench, so my arms don’t go down that far. I did check out soem long armed guys and I could see how it could be a problem.

[quote]Modi wrote:
dswithers wrote:
When the elbow goes below the shoulder, the stress on the shoulder joint is greatly increased and the risk of injury to the rotator cuff is very high when using heavy weights.

Depending on your bone lengths and rib cage depth, your elbow may or may not go significantly below your shoulder before the bar reaches your chest. If your elbow does go way below your shoulder in the full range of motion then long term you may be better off not using the full ROM, at least you would probably benefit from some sort of dedicated rotator cuff exercises along with lots of bent rows and pull ups to keep the antagonists muscles balanced.

I strongly agree with doing R-C prehab, but I don’t think you need to shorten your range of motion if you don’t have any pre-existing injuries. Otherwise you will only strengthen the muscle through a partial ROM, and be succeptible to injuries beyond that point.

[/quote]

Good point. You don’t need to be doing partial reps on anything, unless you had a previous injury. It depends on the individual too. If someone has really tight shoulders/chest they really don’t have much business benching until they fix that with stretching and doing back exercises.

doing the lift corretly in the first place makes a big difference.
your elbows should point forward at more or less 45? (roughly) instead of flaring out to the sides. that in itself will decrease the shoulder stress…especaially for us long boned types.

I would hardly call it a bench if you dont touch your chest. i agree with the other posters that it is more of an ego boost because they can increase the weight, but watch lifters try and do the same weight when touching their chest, its like there trying to lift 1000 pounds more.

as far as injury is concerned maybe take some weight off and work something besides chest and biceps. get big shoulers, and lats and you will most likely the shoulder pain disapear.

Look,
If you can bench full ROM, and it doesn’t cause any pain, then do so. If you need to modify the range, do it in a power cage, and set the pins so you always lower to the same point, or roll up a towel and put it on your chest.

If you don’t have a firm end point (the reason for going all the way to the chest), you will likely increase your weights at the cost of decreasing your range. This will only cause existing imbalances to to grow.

Elbow angled in a little will reduce the stress on the shoulders, as will a slightly narrower grip. But if you don’t have a problem, you should be fine with the full bench.

Newbies shouldn’t train like advanced bodybuilders. It is often just that simple. I don’t bring the bar to my chest anymore. I did as a newbie. I believe you should as a newbie. Obviously, some guy with a chest over 52" knows how to work his chest. Some guy with a chest under 42" should probably not copy him exactly.

[quote]zedhed wrote:
doing the lift corretly in the first place makes a big difference.
your elbows should point forward at more or less 45? (roughly) instead of flaring out to the sides. that in itself will decrease the shoulder stress…especaially for us long boned types.[/quote]

Good point. Tuck the elbows in, come all the way down and touch your chest. Touching the chest is the natural ROM for people. If you don’t believe me try this. Stick your arm out in front of you, keep your elbow up high (shoulder height or higher) and bring your hand back so that your hand touches your front delt.

Now do the same thing but tuck your elbow in and bring your hand back to your chest, like you were throwing a punch. If that position (the second one) doesn’t cause any pain you should be able to bench full ROM.

Not touching your chest is not a bench press. I am not saying that it can’t be effective, but it is a different exercise. Just like I don’t 3 board press something and say I just benched it, you can’t not touch your chest and call it a bench press.

[quote]nptitim wrote:

Not touching your chest is not a bench press. I am not saying that it can’t be effective, but it is a different exercise. Just like I don’t 3 board press something and say I just benched it, you can’t not touch your chest and call it a bench press.[/quote]

Bullshit. Actually touching your chest is not a requirement for that movement just like a squat doesn’t HAVE to be done with your ass touching the ground to be considered a squat. Beginners and most intermediates should probably focus on a full range of motion.

To tell someone who has done that movement for a lifetime that they suddenly aren’t because they no longer touch their chest is retarded…especially if they got huge from doing it that way.

This is an activity where you do what works, not simply what someone tells you to do. There is a reason many much larger lifters no longer touch their chest. Some skinny kid shouldn’t be copying it.