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Flat bench to the chest or couple inches above chest...

i got into a discussion about this the other day at the gym actually. i agree you shouldnt bounce but i go all the way down, when i do bench, but i usually do dumbells though.
 
futurepilot said:
I bench to the neck, it keeps you from having sloppy form, and it gives me a great stretch.
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Just be careful going heavy...that is a quick road to shoulder injury.
 
I was always taught the 90 degree rule. When your arms are parallel to the ground and the bend of ur elbow and bicep makes a 90 degree angle. This can me at ur chest, just above, or high above depedning on how big you are. Ive just always though anything past 90 degrees and ur hyperextending and getting more shoulder into it than chest.
 
Ahhh benching to the neck, gotta love it. This is one of the better forms of bench press. I think the credit goes to Vince Gironda or something like that. I did it for a couple years right before I stopped benching, years of benching and push presses took their toll.
 
i say you start a poll so it's not so hard to count the number of votes for each, first of all :lol: second, i vote for a few inches above the chest. this provides constant tension as opposed to setting the bar on your chest for a second. also(for me at least) if i go all the way to my chest, my arms are bent way too far down and that puts even more emphasis on my delts. IMHO BB bench is just an ego lift anyway. there are way better exercises for pecs. try switching it up to DB bench, i bet you'll like it :)
 
Why would anyone bench higher than the chest? I have seen peopel do this and as the weight gets hard the reps get shorter. If you want more chest recruitment do paused reps.
 
bassgod272 said:
i say you start a poll so it's not so hard to count the number of votes for each, first of all :lol: second, i vote for a few inches above the chest. this provides constant tension as opposed to setting the bar on your chest for a second. also(for me at least) if i go all the way to my chest, my arms are bent way too far down and that puts even more emphasis on my delts. IMHO BB bench is just an ego lift anyway. there are way better exercises for pecs. try switching it up to DB bench, i bet you'll like it :)
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Well, you can keep constant tension while touching your chest.
 
look when you touch you ur chest muscles stop contracting, do the bench 1-3 inches from your chest.
 
Botch said:
All the way to the chest! Why don't people train with a full range of motion anymore?
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I agree totally. When you put the range of motion equation into it, you will be surprised how much more work you are doing. For instance, your range of motion is 20 inches from start to finish. You subtract 2 inches off so now you are only doing 90% of what you could be. I say all the way down to a touch, pause and then explode up.
 
bbillcee said:
an article supporting a couple inches give or take above the chest

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I don't like that article. He's saying that going full range of motion with the bar is greater than full range of motion for the shoulders, thus an injury is likely. If you employ scapular retraction (pinch shoulder blades) and some degree of elbow tuck, the amount of shoulder rotation for a full range of motion press is significantly reduced.

So, instead of learning the right way to bench, he's saying don't go all the way down. I think that's silly. As an aside, he's also incorrect about developing strength wrt range of motion. Check out the old russian manuals and writings from Medvedyev, Verkhoshansky, and Zatsiorsky.

As a powerlifter, I train full range of motion, and partial range of motion via boards, rack lockouts, etc. We also mess around with the force curve with bands, chains, etc. IMO most of the time there is no substitute for full range of motion. I'm talking about for either muscle growth, or developing a raw bench. Shirted lifting is another story.

Bring it down to the chest most of the time. Learn proper form, i.e. scapular retraction and the tuck/flare method of pressing and you'll be fine.
 
Touch your chest! If you keep your shoulder blades pinched back and take most of your shoulder out of the movement and don't bounce it off your chest, wouldn't it be better to go all the way down? Full range of motion...this seems like a no brainer to me!!
 
all the way down...stop 3-4 inches before lockout keeping the stress on the pecs rather than the tri's. do the same for shoulders, but parallel on heavy days to avoid injury!
 
I stop 1 inch from my chest flex the chest and squeeze the chest to move the weight back up. Respond the best doing it like this.
 
FULL RANGE OF MOTION!

90 degrees? when will you guys realize everything we learned in high school gym was wrong lol!

you can keep tension on your chest:
without letting the weight rest on your chest
without bouncing

Reasons (from Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, Second Edition, pg 84-85):

"There is a school of thought that justifies the use of less than full range of motion by claiming that the pecs stop contributing to the movement when the humerus reaches a 90 degree angle with the forearm... The problem with this model is that full range of motion, multi-joint exercises are not supposed to isolate any once muscle. We use them precisely because they don't. We want them to work lots of muscles through a long range of motion."

He goes on to explain why full range of motion is important:

1. It allows you to quantify the amount of work you do. If you go the same distance every time, the amount of work stays the same. (Work=Force x distance)

2. "Full range of motion exercise ensures that strength is developed in every position the joint can work."

3. "The bench press, like the squat, benefits from a certain amount of rebound out of the bottom, using the stretch reflex phenomenon that is a feature of skeletal muscle. It takes practice and good timing to tighten up the bottom of the movement enough that a correct rebound can be done every rep, without actually bouncing the bar off your sternum... One way to stay tight off the chest is to just barely touch the chest You can't cheat it if you can't bounce it, and you can't bounce it if you just barely touch your chest. Think about touching just your shirt with the bar, not your chest."
 
defo touch the chest if you leave a gap you not getting a fulo ROM and you will notice the weakness in other exercises!!! i would not bounce as you have more chance of injury in my oppinion.
 
I would always go down and bareley touch my chest and that did nothing but hurt my shoulders and no growth in my chest. When I started stoping the bar 1 inch from my chest and using nothing but my chest to move the weight growth and strength came on quickley. I do 425lbs for 3 reps like this and my chest is 54 inches. Just my input.
 
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