Elbow Position - Bench Press

TipTopShape

TipTopShape

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A lot of opinions are out there regarding on how to perform the bench press that I just don't know what to follow.

Some say it should be lowered to a 45 degree angle, some say it should be parallel to the bench and not lower, and some go way lower than the bench so elbows are very low and bar touches chest.

I just took a bar and lay on a flat floor, when my elbows touched the floor you could probably crawl under the gap between the bar and my chest, so at a 45 degree angle you could get a bus under it.

Another confusion is whether the arms have to be straight out to the side or forward at some angle. If they go straight out to the side then surely the bar would land on your face if you made a mistake.

I don't know, I am tall and have long arms and it only looks right when small people do it.

Problem 3 is that it always seems like I am pushing forward rather than straight up. Does anyone know why this is and how I can stop it?
 

boomboy

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I remember reading Pavel Tsatsouline talking about how it's better to push slightly forward to save your shoulders. Seems to work actually. I have long arms too and with increasing weight on the bar, I find myself inching it further way from my chest. Surely though a 45 degree angle is only gonna recruit a minimum of muscle fiber and neglect the rest/hinder growth? I'm trying to incorporate more flys to compensate for my long arms.
 

SRS2000

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Touch your chest when you bench. Your upper arms should be angled ~45 degrees from your torso to prevent undue pressure on your shoulders. Also learn how to squeeze your shoulder blades together and get a bit of an arch when you set up. If you try to achieve some arbitrary elbow angle you will undoubtedly start fudging it when the weight gets heavy. If you touch your chest you know that every rep is the same assuming you set up the same way each time. I'm about your height and I have relatively long arms for my height and I manage to do fine touching my chest. Gaining some weight and thickness in the upper body will also reduce the length of your BP.
 

Pump3dup

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Look up Dave Tate's 6 week bench press cure on youtube he tells you and shows you exactly how to bench correctly.
Would post a link but I am a newbie here.
 

jamjoe

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Look up Dave Tate's 6 week bench press cure on youtube he tells you and shows you exactly how to bench correctly.
Would post a link but I am a newbie here.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh3t6T-nqP0"]YouTube- Dave Tate's Six-Week Bench Press Cure[/nomedia]
 
waynaferd

waynaferd

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I'm 6'3 and I just touch the bar about where my nips are, then push up so the bar is straight above me eyeballs.

I had to play with narrower/wider grips to find the right spot to not kill my shoulders.
 

SRS2000

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Great video. Are these the same techniques one would use to build a physique or are these techniques for power lifting only?
This can be used for physique building as well. I think it's much safer for the shoulders to BP this way. Keep in mind with some people this style of benching may not hit the pecs as hard as with the elbows flared. If this is the case for you, make sure to include some assistance work to target the pecs a little more specifically (flyes, pec dec, light DB BP, etc...). I've benched with this style for several years now and I still get soreness in the pecs after a hard session, so I'm still hitting the pecs just fine.
 
wearedbleedblue

wearedbleedblue

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Great video. Are these the same techniques one would use to build a physique or are these techniques for power lifting only?
Generally powerlifting. I'm not that knowledgeable about bodybuilding workouts or the theory behind them but Dave Tate benches for strength, not physique.
 

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