I watched your videos on YouTube about the bench press and -6 Weeks to Superhero Bench Press-.
So I have some questions about the technique you suggest.
1.) In Powerlifting they tell us, that we should arch our lower back. On the video it seems that the athlete lays flat on the bench. Is that right? Should I arch my back or lay flat on the bench if I train without a shirt?
2.) Do you recommend to pull the shoulder blades back or is the shrugged position enough for shoulder safety?
Since I have been following CT’s technique on shrugging the shoulders and lifting the chest up I have had no shoulder issues whatsoever. I would guess that if you do not train with a shirt then pulling the shoulders back and down is not the best idea since the shirt is the reason they use that technique. I simply lay on the bench, grab the bar, and use it to pull my shoulder blades together and then shrug up creating tension in my upper back and traps.
This also seems to hit the pecs (esp. upper pecs) better on a flat bench. CT did mention some time ago that this cue wasn’t entirely accurate?
And do you do the same for incline/decline tilt?
Since I´m doing the bench press with the shrug technique my shoulders don´t hurt anymore.
For decline/inline I use the same technique shown in Thibs videos.
On the incline I stop the bar 2-3 inches before the chest to protect the shoulders.