I started doing these today, but am not sure if Im doing them right.
First, when doing these, you want your head supported by the ball right?
Also, you want your feet around shoulder width?
What else should I know about these to make them more effective?
I noticed that going slow is easy, but if you try to go a bit faster it really tests your balance.
It’s a circus trick. I see no point in doing them. Saying that it works your core is bunk.
I bench without stability or balance coming from my legs. Does it work my core? NO, it’s mostly paralyzed. However, I have learned a bit of circus trick to keep balance on the bench.
You’re using dumbells, right???
A barbell could be disaster… and kind of defeats the point.
Anyway, try pressing only one dumbell at a time - that’ll work your core. Regular ol’ BP is good too.
Bench press is not a core exercise. If you do any kind of weight benching on a non-stable surface, your chance for injury is really high. In short, how about skipping this and just doing regular bench press and some other form of core exercise?
Im not using this as a way to build a ton of strength. Im just using it to prep me for the heavier weeks of my program. I know a lot of athletes do these, so there must be something good about them.
A lot of people bench with their elbows high and wide. A lot of people have shoulder problems…
If you want to do this exercise, keep the weight very low. Keep the back & neck straight.
And if you’re prepping for heavier weeks in the program, I still say you’ll be better off doing something with better support. What will be your exercises in the heavy portion that you are preparing for? Why not just do pushups on the ball?
echoing what carnak said, a lot of people do exercises incorrectly, or do exercises that don’t make any sense. especially if you’re prepping for heavier work on (presumably) the flat bench, you should do your prep work with the flat bench. doing otherwise is akin to doing long distance running in order to prep for sprinting.
but we can only spoon-feed and try to convince you so much. if i were you, i would do more research on how useful stability-ball benching actually is, and then determine for yourself whether it will be beneficial. do a quick search, and you will find plenty of discussion on this topic.
I dont like the sound of this benching with a ball, and if you are I hope liek someone else mentioned are using DB’s, and not a barbel. I would rather do them on the floor with DB’s, for saftey reasons.
I might sound old school, but saftey first, what is going to happen if you get hurt? You wont be able to train and you lose your hard work.
Just my 1 cent ok well 3 cents worth. lol
Why is everyone so quick to jump on him? It’s a different exercise than a regular DB bench and sometimes you need DIFFERENT exercises in a program. Hell, Defranco does them.
To answer your question, the head should be on the ball, but your hips and glutes should be up, not sagging down. Just keep the glutes tight the entire movement.
if you want to work your core then lift over head and do unilateral work. if you want to work your bench then do bench press. I know you probably won’t take that advice becuase benching on a ball sounds fun and innovative, whereas overhead lifts and unilateral lifts are difficult and taxing, but thats why they work.
I’m not jumping on him I was just giving him MHO.
I agree with tveddy.