Benching to your Neck

JuveCalcio

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Hey guys I was reading a few articles a while back and saw them again today about bench press. They say that it can help boost big gains by bringing the bar to your neck. I used to do these and they seemed to help some but has anyone else had experience with doing these?
 
Bnatural

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Depends on shoulder flexibility. it can build your upper chest, but at the same time, you can;t use very much weight with these, and I prefer them on a smith machine.

I generally just keep my elbows out further on an incline bench to bring the bar closer to my neck, I enjoy that better and its less stress on my shoulders.
 
JuveCalcio

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I could definently feel a difference from the normal way of benching today. I could feel different muscles being used that I don't normally use.
 
phL8Tme

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Used very wide grips, narrow grips etc. throught all setting on the incline and flat bench. I think I'll give this a try when I hit the gym on chest day later this week. In theory it sounds good and would work some rather unused muscle. Will wait to post till a day after so I can judge by the stiffness/soreness. haha
 
SOUTHCAR27

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I will give it a try tomorrow and post what I feel. Sounds like a good idea though
 
CaponeCEO

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Sounds like it could cause an injury due to the angle of the arms. Looks like it would put alot of sideways pressure on the forearms.
 
phL8Tme

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Had to use some lighter weights-yeah the angle has a big effect. Also felt it more than usual in the tri's. As far as chest feels? Not much change but am a bit more sore than usual in upper chest-nice pump as well while lifting.

I plan on throwing a few reps in each chest day with some lighter weights while working my way up to that 85-90%.

I think it has some real possibilities due to attacking muscles from diff. angles, muscle confusion etc.

You could be on to something here.
 
John Smeton

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Vince Gironda brought them to the bodybuilding world.

I am using them right now. I use higher reps and do not push it too hard on this exercise due to I can see where an injury can occur. Wide grip hits the upper stretch best. I am doing a barbell but you can use both.
 
rxp1997

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Depending on your form, you can hit your tri's real good. in the powerlifting world they are known as JM presses.
 
Tansui

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It's sound logic but the movement does carry a higher risk of injury. Here's how it breaks down.

Depending on what your weight lifting goals are you should make adjustments to HOW you preform certain movements. With the bench press if your goal is to lift as much as possible then you'll lay on the bench feet on the ground as a base of power, lift and lower it to about your nipple and push it back up with a medium width grip to involve as many muscles as possible. That's how power lifters lift. The down side t o this technique is overdeveloped lower pecs


if your goal is to develop an ascetically pleasing physique then you may widen your grip as much as possible, raise your feet to the level of the bench, cross your legs @ the ankle (like some people preform chin/pull ups), lift and lower the bar to your collar bone, focusing on the less utilized upper pectoral. This variation should develop a fuller rounder chest.


All that being said, an "ascetically pleasing physique" is in the eye of the beholder and you could do both and be a beast like this (BTW remember "The Narcissist Lex Luger")
 
JuveCalcio

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So it seems like if your upper pecs are lacking this is something that could help hit em?
 

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You'll put major stress on the pec tendon...its a small thin, tendon to begin with...to the neck will open that delicate shoulder girdle waaaay up....Stay away from these...i just ruptured my second pec major and I used to do all these goofy "bro-science" lifts..Im sure they are part of the reason behind my injuries. You dont want a pec major repair....open shoulder surgery then 6 weeks of immobilazation in a sling then another 6-8 weeks of rehab...not fun.
 

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I tried them tonight and I didn't care for them. I feel them heavy on my tri-ceps, even with wide grip. One thing I did like, is that it popped some bones in back, felt good. not a fan of this one though.

I'd say do a smith machine and adjust body for this angle, not free weights like I tried.
 
testiesac

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I actually enjoy these and sometimes do negatives with them, i can definetly feel different muscles being used. I can see how these would be harmful if not too careful though...
 
John Smeton

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I actually enjoy these and sometimes do negatives with them, i can definetly feel different muscles being used. I can see how these would be harmful if not too careful though...
That is what i do on them a very slow negative and explode up. I think it may help carve a line in the upper hard to get area.
 
Jag

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You'll put major stress on the pec tendon...its a small thin, tendon to begin with...to the neck will open that delicate shoulder girdle waaaay up....Stay away from these...i just ruptured my second pec major and I used to do all these goofy "bro-science" lifts..Im sure they are part of the reason behind my injuries. You dont want a pec major repair....open shoulder surgery then 6 weeks of immobilazation in a sling then another 6-8 weeks of rehab...not fun.
Good advice.

I actually had my first shoulder injury ever after 15+ years of training because of Bench Press to the neck.

If you want upper pecs just experiment with different incline angles, rep ranges etc.
 
Tansui

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One thought: USC Running Back
that was a freak accident... sucks for him I don't think that guy was benching for physique... he's a performance athlete after all not a model. Even still its a great warning to use extra caution.
 
Pleonastic

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We used to call em guillitines they can be dangerous. They seem to maybe be good for bodybuilding but not if your goal is bench strength.
 
phL8Tme

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Captgarret-Yes the smith machine is the way to go. Thats just about all I use for benching, due to past shoulder injuries.

To the neck inclines made me burn earlier in the week. I liked it baby!
 

themusclestud

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Hey guys I was reading a few articles a while back and saw them again today about bench press. They say that it can help boost big gains by bringing the bar to your neck. I used to do these and they seemed to help some but has anyone else had experience with doing these?
This excercise is dangerous for your rotators, however is very useful for the tendon next to your delt/armpit. If you need a little extra pec width or the indent right there, the safest way is to make sure you do some rotator excersices prior to your pec training, do a full pec training, and do these to finish, 2 or 3 sets with light enough weight (I don't recommend more than 135lbs) and high reps (10-20).
Keep in mind its a shaping excercise as oppose to a building excercise, so you will see bodybuilders doing these once in a while, but its to tweak all that muscle they already have. Also I have trained many individuals who have a hard time to growing their pecs and this is always a great excercise for them.

There was a mention how this puts stress on the upperchest more than the lower, but doing incline bench close to the neck will hit your upperchest, you can go much heavier, and your rotators wont be in as much danger. However the form on that is confusing to most, if your a powerlifter you most likely want to smash the bar off your chest and get it all the way back up. If your just bodybuilding do a slightly closer grip than your normal bench, hold the bar directly verticle from your chin/neck not your chest,go straight down towards your neck and when everything feels tight stop (rear delts, chest, tris), for most people this is right below the chin, and then go directly verticle again (not forward even slightly) squeezing your upper chest over those colarbones, and shortly stopping before lockout (lockout will take the stress of the pec)

Hope this helps you a lot, and anyone else who was really inquiring about this.
 
FL3X MAGNUM

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Vince Gironda brought them to the bodybuilding world.

I am using them right now. I use higher reps and do not push it too hard on this exercise due to I can see where an injury can occur. Wide grip hits the upper stretch best. I am doing a barbell but you can use both.
Winklar does them a lot. The "dutch beast" is a freak.
 
John Smeton

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Winklar does them a lot. The "dutch beast" is a freak.
Stay the eff away from these if you have any kind of shoulder injury. Make sure your shoulders are in tip top shape and even try this exercise.
 
Jag

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Good advice.

I actually had my first shoulder injury ever after 15+ years of training because of Bench Press to the neck.

If you want upper pecs just experiment with different incline angles, rep ranges etc.
Please read this again. The risk just isn't worth it. My shoulder was so bad for a while everything i did for upper body hurt and legs was limited as well because i couldn't hold the bar on my back to do squats and lunges, my 2 favorites.
 
FL3X MAGNUM

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Stay the eff away from these if you have any kind of shoulder injury. Make sure your shoulders are in tip top shape and even try this exercise.
I have a bad shoulder that's been with me for months now. It flares up when I go really heavy and lasts a couple days before the cracking and discomfort subside. I tried to the neck press with 135 and thought my shoulder was going to explode like a grenade. These are no joke!
Definitely easier on the shoulders to use this tactic with an incline.
I feel it hits the upper stretch better too.
 
Movin_weight

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This is a disaster waiting to happen... Absolutely zero reason to perform this exercise, it's not going to help develop the the upper chest any better than an incline press... In fact it's prob less effective. Your putting the shoulder At a mechanical disadvantage, as well as placing unnecessary strain on the rotator cuff muscles.

Chest development is alot more reliant on genetics than what angle you perform your bench press at... The biggest limitation comes from using too much front delt
 
ZiR RED

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This is a disaster waiting to happen... Absolutely zero reason to perform this exercise, it's not going to help develop the the upper chest any better than an incline press... In fact it's prob less effective. Your putting the shoulder At a mechanical disadvantage, as well as placing unnecessary strain on the rotator cuff muscles.

Chest development is alot more reliant on genetics than what angle you perform your bench press at... The biggest limitation comes from using too much front delt

^^^^ Exactly

Br
 
schizm

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Any of you found flat Reverse Bench press (either with BB or DB's) to hit the upper chest better than Inclines...?
 
FL3X MAGNUM

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Any of you found flat Reverse Bench press (either with BB or DB's) to hit the upper chest better than Inclines...?
I never get a good feeling of what it works, it just stresses all my joints and frustrates me lol
 
FL3X MAGNUM

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You've tried with both BB and DB's? I don't get any joint pain from using DB's...
Haven't tried with DB's, good idea.
BRB trying now
 
Type O Hero

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I've done neck presses before and you can tell that the muscles in your upper chest are working harder than you're normally used to them feeling. Even when it comes to incline presses and flyes, in my experience anyway.

Really make sure to not use a lot of weight, especially at first! An exercise like this will make it very easy for you to put unnatural stress on your shoulder joints.

So start light, make adjustments in your form if need be, and go from there. Even if you get your form down perfect, I still wouldn't use a lot of weight on this exercise. Make it supplemental to your chest program but don't build your program around it. When I was doing these I usually used between 135-155lbs.

This gets me thinking... I've been doing a superset of incline flyes followed immediately by incline DB presses (works great, try it) but I may tinker with adding neck presses right after the incline DB presses.
 
Mikeyjd

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Dude your a twig. This exercise is for advanced lifters (even that's debatable). Play it safe and stick with the basics and you wont regret it. If you don't there's a good chance you will.
 
bomcgraw

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Neck presses scare the hell outta me. The reward is not worth the risk if you damage a shoulder. I hurt my shoulders tryin to speed up my gains a few years ago and it cost me months of training.
 
Torobestia

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These look like an injury waiting to happen. I'm with moving_weight on this one.

As an alternative, you could always just hit the incline bench, but use a wider grip and make sure to pinch your shoulder blades together as tightly as possible (like you're trying to pinch and hold a nickle there). I do this and I feel no front delt involvement whatsoever - in fact along with using negatives it can be pretty overwhelming for the upper pec muscles.
 

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just do 21s with incline barbell and deep deep dips with rest pause at top and bottom
 

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