bench advice for people with long arms

[ktw]

Anyone have any? I have sorta monkeyish arms and I can never seem to get leverages right. I usually press with a wide grip and index fingers just outside the rings. When pressing, should I tuck my elbows real hard and make an acute angle between my forearms and upper arms, or keep them perpendicular? I've always tried to keep them perp., but my friend claims I'll have better luck the other way. I've been watching lots of comp bench videos and noticed that people seem to do both ways. Also, on the eccentric, I seem to have trouble slowing the bar and not tiring out on a max attempt. Any suggestions for where to focus the effort on the eccentric? Thanks

 

[guyfromkop2]

tuck your elbows on the way down and flare them out as you go up. being perp will screw your shoulders in a heartbeat. and unless your index fingers are covering the rings, it's red light city in a meet.


and monkey arms are good for pullin

 

[GettingSwole]

learn how to arch and work on your flexability to cut down on the rom

 

[ktw]

Yah I have a good arch and I've been doing a lot of lower back stretches and stuff to help. So walking through the motion, on the way down I wanna tuck and go past perp, pause, then explode and flare up? I guess I must have just not been tucking enough. Any tips on controlling the eccentric so I still have a lot of energy on the concentric. Bench is by far my weakest lift, I'm trying to get it up to par with my deads and squats. Ey Guy, what are your weight, height and pr's and stuff?

 

[Poobah]

I'm not sure what you are or aren't doing already.. but a good bencher will keep his shoulder blades completely pulled back and pinched together. (easier said then done).... If you do it right you can literally take inches off your stroke...

As far controlling the motion... You will find, if you arch your back, plant your feet, plant your shoulders/neck, and bring your elbows in as you lower the weight from eye level to lower chest upper abdomin level.. Utilizing your lats, abs and well everything... control just happens..

Just get at it, and you'll get the feel for it..

 

[Jstrong20]

If you have trouble lowering the bar your lats are probably week. Either that or your not using them. You want to flare them while grinding your triceps into them to help lower the bar. Its hard to explain and it just takes some experimenting to get it right. The key is to choose exercises that work your sticking point. If you can't lock out you need to do lockouts and 3,4,5 board presses. If your stuck a couple inches of the chest do illegal wides, paused benches, and dumbell work. If the transition is week shoulder presses might help.

 

[powerlifter1800]

Work real hard on getting a big arch take the widest legal grip. Get a big belly and really work on retracting SP? (tightning) you shoulder blades. When you take the lift off really let the weight squeeze you together.

 

[guyfromkop2]

get a piece of 4" pvc pipe and start arching over it during your warmup and work sets

 

[mab904]

I'm not sure what you are or aren't doing already.. but a good bencher will keep his shoulder blades completely pulled back and pinched together. (easier said then done).... If you do it right you can literally take inches off your stroke...

Just before lowering the bar, let the weight of the bar help push the shoulder blades even closer together.