how far down do you go on DB bench?

bmur

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sorry if this has been posted, but today at the gym i was DB pressin and a guy came up to me and told me i wasnt goin down far enough. Now i usually go to about a 90 degree angle with my elbows..never touch my chest with the DB, which is what he told me i "need" to do.
question is..am i not preforming this exersize correctly or is it ok?

cheers
 
drivehard

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for sure I go low enough to touch my chest with the DB...actually I usually go lower, but am wide enough to not touch.
 
ITHURTZ

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Barbell touches chest, dumbells touch chest.
 

Dave0660

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Going down until you touch your chest is way too far for most people. From Paul Chek at the Chekinstitute-

THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUE

The bar is lowered until it touches the chest and then pressed back up to the start position. Everyone is expected to lower the bar to the chest; anything less is considered poor form, sub-standard, and even wimpy by fellow lifters. However, to perform the exercise under such guidelines requires a greater range of motion (ROM) than is found in the shoulder joint of most people - particularly male athletes. Why is it so important to work within the ROM of your shoulder joint? Some simple anatomy will help to explain this.

The movement-restricting factor during a bench press is not the muscles of the shoulder; it is the special connective tissue casing around the shoulder joint called the "joint capsule." This highly specialized structure is anatomically designed to not only allow just the right amount of motion to prevent joint damage, but also contains thousands of specialized nerve endings called "proprioceptors." Proprioceptors are special nerve endings that communicate with the brain to inform it of joint position and speed of movement, as well as pressure, tension and pain in and around the joint. Loading the shoulder and forcing it beyond the functional ROM limit will stretch the shoulder joint capsule. In most people this will occur by letting the bench-press bar travel until it touches the chest.

Additionally, because the bench press is performed on a flat weight lifting bench, normal movement of the shoulder blades (scapulae) is disrupted. This demands that more movement must occur in the shoulder joint itself. As the bar is loaded with heavier and heavier weights, the shoulder blades are pressed into the bench harder and harder, further disrupting the normal mechanics of the shoulder girdle joints and overloading the shoulder.
Also, when you go down that far, you lose tension and give the muscle a rest between reps. You would be much better served stopping when your upper arm is parallel to the floor.
 
haiz69

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Inclines don't go to my chest, but flat does.
 

Dave0660

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It would make more sense to go down to your chest on inclines, as your shoulder is capable of a greater range of motion at that angle.
 

bmur

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Inclines don't go to my chest, but flat does.
same here bro, i tend to go way further down on incline then flat..

but imma try touchin my chest from now on..gonna have to drop the weight..wich sucks..lol
 
msucurt

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same here bro, i tend to go way further down on incline then flat..

but imma try touchin my chest from now on..gonna have to drop the weight..wich sucks..lol
there is your answer. I try and touch the tips of the db to the edges of my chest, but without losing tension, if that makes sense. Also, try and squeeze your shoulder blades together, which in turn makes your chest utilized more and less work on your shoulders. Same applies to regular flat BB.

thanks
 
BIGG DOGG

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I NEVER touch my chest even on bench press. It is horrible for your shoulder joint. bad idea in my opinion, if you feel a good work out then sounds like your doing just fine.when you go beyond the 90 degrees you are recruiting othe rmuscle fibers to help push it back up....just my opinion
 

PumpingIron

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wow, some interesting responses in this thread, i have to say...

...think about it this way fellas. The DB allows for a better range of motion, recruiting stabilizer muscles and isolating your pectorals. imagine there being an imaginary bar connecting the two DB's, just as if you are using a barbell. Is that imaginary bar coming to your chest. if it is, then you are completing the exercise correctly, if it isn't then you are pretty much half-assing it.

furthermore, going beyond parallel with stretch the fascia even more and give your pecs a better workout. be careful doing this though because it can cause injury with excessive weights.

basically, does the db have to touch your chest? no...should the imaginary barbell? yes.
 

AE14

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Just be sure to warm up your shoulder joint. Going that low puts alot of stress on your labrium and Rotator Cuff. On inclines I go to 90 no lower.

As a baseball player I never touch my chest. I got 90 or maybe a little lower. With Dumbbells I usually always go just below 90

I agree as well. Especially if I go heavy for me, I do not go all the way, 90 here too
 
BIGG DOGG

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Bad Rotator... It Kills To Attempt To Go Beyond That...
 

Dave0660

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wow, some interesting responses in this thread, i have to say...

...think about it this way fellas. The DB allows for a better range of motion, recruiting stabilizer muscles and isolating your pectorals. imagine there being an imaginary bar connecting the two DB's, just as if you are using a barbell. Is that imaginary bar coming to your chest. if it is, then you are completing the exercise correctly, if it isn't then you are pretty much half-assing it.

furthermore, going beyond parallel with stretch the fascia even more and give your pecs a better workout. be careful doing this though because it can cause injury with excessive weights.

basically, does the db have to touch your chest? no...should the imaginary barbell? yes.
How does stretching fascia give you a better workout? What about the extra stress and shear force in the joint capsule?

Going to the point of stretch takes the muscle group out of its effective ROM and shifts the force to another muscle group, in this case the anterior delts.

Also, using a physical point rather than the ROM of the muscle you are working is illogical. What if you have really short arms? Or really long arms? It is the muscle you are training, so the movement should be based around what that muscle effectively does.
 

PumpingIron

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How does stretching fascia give you a better workout? What about the extra stress and shear force in the joint capsule?

Going to the point of stretch takes the muscle group out of its effective ROM and shifts the force to another muscle group, in this case the anterior delts.

Also, using a physical point rather than the ROM of the muscle you are working is illogical. What if you have really short arms? Or really long arms? It is the muscle you are training, so the movement should be based around what that muscle effectively does.
the physics of the motion don't matter on the length of your arms.

and stretching the fascia will lead to hypertrophy, which is the goal of training, correct?

also, i stated that going beyond that point you are risking injury.
 

Dave0660

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the physics of the motion don't matter on the length of your arms.

and stretching the fascia will lead to hypertrophy, which is the goal of training, correct?

also, i stated that going beyond that point you are risking injury.
If you do as you said, bring the bar (or imaginary bar) to your chest, if you have long arms you will have to bring the weights down further to get them to chest, most likely beyond what is safe for the joint. If you have T-rex arms, then you might not even get your elbows to 90 degrees before the bar touches your chest.

Overload causes tears in the myofibrils which causes hypertrophy. The stretching will shift the weight to another muscle group or the load will be taken by a skelatal structure, which decreases tension, less work = less overload.
 

PumpingIron

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your comments on the length of your arms is subjective to where you position the db's.
 
ITHURTZ

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You know if it does shiznit to another muscle good, because I want to grow all over.

Iv had shoulder problems before I even started lifting. Going to chest with barbell or dumbell has NEVER affected it. Iv gone all the way to 365 with the bar and nothing.

THe hammer strength shoulder plate thing, now thats when my shoulder feels it. Dumbells are fine to
 

PumpingIron

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stretching the fibers will not shift the tension to other muscles if you are completing the exercise with correct form.
 

Dave0660

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I will explain myself better when I have time to write and enough posts to link my sources. Rushing it has just made me sound confrontational and less than clear.
 
Movin_weight

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i agree that full range of motion is not always best... when your chest muscles become stronger than your rotator cuffs ability to support them, it's better to give up an inch or two on the negative than risk injury
 
MentalTwitch

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DB with low weight i go very very slightly past 90.
DB w higher 90 end of story.
BB touch chest 90% of time, with control. I never bounce. i gaurentee.

I tried goin pretty low with DB a while ago and i fukced up my shoulder pretty bad. as out for 3 days and still have to be careful as i can feel it sometimes.
To be honest throw a set of flys in and you have you "extra" stretch like PI is saying. thats my theory.
 

PumpingIron

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It has to do with genetics, it is extremely uncomfortable for to lower the bar to my chest, no matter where my arm positioning is. I use proper form when I bench.
I disagree. It has to do with how plyable your muscle/tendons are. I suspect you aren't stretching anywhere near as much as you should be.
 
ITHURTZ

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shoulders ugh, someone should just chop mine off. 4 restless nights and counting:frustrate
 
bLacKjAck.

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Say all the scientific unproven (all opinion) bs you want...but not lowering the bar to your chest is just another excuse for someone to load a couple more 10s on the bar and say they repped it. Same with squats and basically every other exercise. I believe in full ROM all all day err'day.
 

PumpingIron

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Say all the scientific unproven (all opinion) bs you want...but not lowering the bar to your chest is just another excuse for someone to load a couple more 10s on the bar and say they repped it. Same with squats and basically every other exercise. I believe in full ROM all all day err'day.
and this my friend is a snuggle worthy post.
 
ITHURTZ

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Ill do full range of motion until the doc says Im not allowed to anymore. Maybe soon haha
 
BeastMode

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full ROM, if you have shoulder problems do some rotator cuff exercises to strengthen and tighten that shoulder socket up, then go full ROM and maintain internal shoulder strength
 

PumpingIron

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30 seconds stretches between each set, multiple stretches, I stretch my shoulders all the time.
there ya go. you need to stretch for atleaast 5-10 minutes before you start working out and 5-10 minutes after. plus even on off days you're going to want atleast one good stretching session.

If you warm up well, you don't need to stretch in between sets. And don't limit it to the body parts you are lifiting that day, stretch out your full body.

Believe me, your joints/tendons will love you for this. I personally spend 10 minutes pre/post workout and really stretch everything, from my forarms to my neck to my calves and everything in between...

Beyond being a preventative to injuries it will also help in muscle growth.
 
Distilled Water

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I agree with most exercises. I'm a huge fan of full ROM, ass to heels on squats but........
Say all the scientific unproven (all opinion) bs you want...but not lowering the bar to your chest is just another excuse for someone to load a couple more 10s on the bar and say they repped it. Same with squats and basically every other exercise. I believe in full ROM all all day err'day.
I dont know about that. At one point I did touch my chest, did all the aformentioned stretching and what not and stil had shoulder problems with baseball. I dont know for the avg. joe but I know if i want to keep playing I can't touch my chest. Just too much overall stress on my shoulder joint, rotator cuff and other shoulder tendons.

So BlackJack you gonna cut me some slack or am I a sissy stil? :sad:
 
bLacKjAck.

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I agree with most exercises. I'm a huge fan of full ROM, ass to heels on squats but........

I dont know about that. At one point I did touch my chest, did all the aformentioned stretching and what not and stil had shoulder problems with baseball. I dont know for the avg. joe but I know if i want to keep playing I can't touch my chest. Just too much overall stress on my shoulder joint, rotator cuff and other shoulder tendons.

So BlackJack you gonna cut me some slack or am I a sissy stil? :sad:
So it was when you stopped going to your chest on bench press that all your shoulder problems dissapeared?
 
Distilled Water

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So it was when you stopped going to your chest on bench press that all your shoulder problems dissapeared?
Ok you got me. They didn't go away over nite but I could bench press pain free and could throw on less days rest. It was over the course of about 2 months.

It's along the same lines as Pitchers dont do shoulder presses unless they can use it for more than 20reps.
 
BIGG DOGG

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Ok you got me. They didn't go away over nite but I could bench press pain free and could throw on less days rest. It was over the course of about 2 months.

It's along the same lines as Pitchers dont do shoulder presses unless they can use it for more than 20reps.
baseball is definitly a common factor in shoulder issues... i cant even throw a ball anymore..everytime a get extreme pain... i dont even play mens league ball anymore...:frustrate
 
Nabisco

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PumpingIron what kind of stretching do you do? I try to stretch for 5-10 minutes before every workout, but lately I've been having back soreness/tightness every morning when I wake up and have to spend 5-10 minutes loosening it up before my morning cardio. So if you have a regular stretching routine think could post it, or shoot me a PM?
 
ITHURTZ

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Try not being able to play volleyball for a extended time frame. I coudnt throw a ball for to long back when I was 150lbs in hs:(

When I play with the dogs its usually a whip or underhand toss haha 23 and throwing like a 60yo. I still throw overhand though, few throws anyway!
 

PumpingIron

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PumpingIron what kind of stretching do you do? I try to stretch for 5-10 minutes before every workout, but lately I've been having back soreness/tightness every morning when I wake up and have to spend 5-10 minutes loosening it up before my morning cardio. So if you have a regular stretching routine think could post it, or shoot me a PM?
i am pretty board at work today...so it'll take me a few minutes to put something together...bare with me.

EDIT: http://anabolicminds.com/forum/exercise-science/77789-stretching.html
 
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jaydee

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I go as far down as i can without it becoming uncomfortable. Everyone is different with different flexibilities etc. For me the whole reason I do DB bench is to get more ROM so I love going way down. As long as you dont relax too much on the down also. You can find yourself really letting the drop a bit and that can be real bad for your shoulders. Its all about technique and not going too heavy.
 

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