benching for tall guys

[newman897]

hey guys im 6'6 and so benching is a little harder cause having such long arms i have to put it up another 3-6 inches at least compared to most people. so would it be better to go about half way with little short pumps or full extension all the way up ?

 

[Davidlee]

im 6'4'' and i push it all the way. My friend layton jones who will be starting T.E for ole miss rebels this fall is 6'7'' and throwin up 375. Hes a monster. He can explain tons of techniques to us. Thing is he used to be shorter then me all of our childhood and he has always been a sports elite and so he was strong as an ox before he sprouted.

 

[Resolve]

Always complete your reps with full range of motion. Being tall isn't an excuse for being a *****.

Only time not going all the way down is acceptable is when you are intentionally doing partials as either pre-/post-exhaustion or for supramaximal work.

Being tall, we have the capacity to load more meat on our frames than shorter guys, but the caveat is that we have to move it farther.

 

[Jayhawkk]

Full range of motion.

 

[lennoxchi]

i'm not as tall as some of you guys, but all the way down and just before lock out is what i do 1/2 the time to keep strain on the muscle. but that switches everytime i do chest. when i lock out i feel that there is a rest in there....

 

[JW32Hoops]

Subbed.... 6' 7" here. Glad to see there's a thread where us lanky bastards can learn from each other and b!tch about our ridiculous ranges of motion.

Any of you get the "bench press shoulder"? RC impingment I believe, but it happens to me quite a bit.

Also, regarding ROM, I typically bring the bar down to about 1-3" from my chest. Should I touch my chest or is the 1-3" gap considered "acceptable"?

What's your PR's? I hit 315x1 back in October '07 while on M-Drol. Hit 225x15 (or maybe 12, will have to look) last year...also while on M-Drol.

 

[JW32Hoops]

Full range of motion.

outta here shorty! :wall:

 

[jsheely]

Touching my chest pretty much feels like a front deltoid workout for me. I feel like a get a better chest workout stopping 3" above the chest. It keeps more tension on the pecs and less on the shoulders. Also guys, what angle is your arm at (elbow to forearm) when you touch your chest?

 

[tattoopierced1]

i go slightly above my chest on bench. Usually do 315x6 and max so far is 345x1... shooting for 405x1 by the end of the year

 

[Davidlee]

How about reverse grip curls? Feels awkward like i'm doing it improper ,but it's a great forearm workout.

 

[JW32Hoops]

davidlee - personally, I don't do reverse grip curls, so I've got no frame of reference there

tattooedpierced1 - you ever run gear or do you stay natty? still 242lbs?

 

[tattoopierced1]

davidlee - personally, I don't do reverse grip curls, so I've got no frame of reference there

tattooedpierced1 - you ever run gear or do you stay natty? still 242lbs?

i popped my cherry a while back.

 

[Resolve]

i go slightly above my chest on bench. Usually do 315x6 and max so far is 345x1... shooting for 405x1 by the end of the year

I'm pretty much in the same place; 315 for 4-6, 345 for 3, hoping to hit 400 by December.

Davidlee - what about reverse curls man? I do them frequently, they are a little different than bb curls, but not that much. If you feel like your elbows are flaring too much to the sides with an oly bar, try 'em on an EZ bar for a while then transition over.

 

[AnabolikMind]

i go slightly above my chest on bench. Usually do 315x6 and max so far is 345x1... shooting for 405x1 by the end of the year

you and me both brother. currently 6'4" 238

 

[pitt6691]

Im glad someone finally brought this up. I've been bitchin about how hard we have it for a long time. I still do a full range of motion but I found negatives and 5X5 workouts did wonders for my bench. 315X2 is still the best I can do tho so I still envy the midgets who can put up 400+...:laugh2:

 

[tattoopierced1]

Someone needs to start up a "Tall guys support group" on here lol...

 

[pitt6691]

Someone needs to start up a "Tall guys support group" on here lol...

Hi... my name is BLANK and I am tired of random people coming up to me and asking if I play basketball. LOL :crying:

 

[tattoopierced1]

Hi... my name is BLANK and I am tired of random people coming up to me and asking if I play basketball. LOL :crying:

you get that alot too huh? Sometimes I have fun with it and say I used to play in the NBA.. funny what random people will do when they overhear that.

 

[JW32Hoops]

So.....do/did you guys ever play basketball? :lol: seriously though...

Played some D2/D3 ball in college. Since I've been lifting and putting weight on (220 was my playing weight when I was younger) I've been getting more people asking me if I play football than basketball!

tattoopierced....I love telling random people that I'm in the NBA or some other wild story. Usually works well while on vacation. Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico....they'll buy what you're selling as long as they don't have Google in front of them.

 

[Jayhawkk]

Damn... Got kicked out!

/goes back to the shorty support forum.

 

[tattoopierced1]

I played along time ago when I was 5'6"ish back in high school.. didnt hit my growth spurt till late. My basketball skills became non-existant after I grew so fast. Coordination isnt my strong point anymore.

 

[JW32Hoops]

Damn bro...5' 6" in HS??? That's wild. I was 5' 6" in 5th grade I think...

You must have grown dramatically in a very short period of time, explaining your lack of coordination. This whole "being tall" stuff is relatively new to you.

 

[pitt6691]

Only in High School. I was really skinny back then. Freshman year I was 6'2 170 and Senior year I was 6'5 205... Didn't hit the weights hard till college. Wish I would have started earlier.

 

[Davidlee]

I played basketball in HS.. was dunkin in the 7th grade. was only like 5'11 but i got hops.

 

[JW32Hoops]

Damn, you dunked in 7th grade? That's pretty damn sick. I didn't put my first one down till 9th grade. Maybe the summer before. I'll have to go back and check. I've got this funny picture my mom took of me on the phone with this huge smile on my face. I ran inside the house to call my buddy and tell him "I DUNKED!!!!!!"

 

[JW32Hoops]

Damn, you dunked in 7th grade? That's pretty damn sick. I didn't put my first one down till 9th grade. Maybe the summer before. I'll have to go back and check. I've got this funny picture my mom took of me on the phone with this huge smile on my face. I ran inside the house to call my buddy and tell him "I DUNKED!!!!!!" :afro:

 

[roids1]

Damn, I'm not used to being the shortest guy in the room! I think when you go all the way down to your chest, you can hammer more weight. To me it seems like it would take some extra effort to stop the weightjust before it touches your chest.

BTW, that's pretty sick to be dunking in the 7th grade. I think I stunted my growth by starting to SFW at age 14. I was 6'2 when I was 14, but only grew another roughly 1.5" after that! I went to HS with this fukker who was 6'4 in the 8th grade, 6'10 by graduation, then grew another 1" after that. Yet, since he was 6'11 and 200lbs, the other ballers knocked him all around on the court. He basically sucked when he played college ball.

 

[JW32Hoops]

So tough to put weight on at a young age when you're tall. In HS I got up to 211 lbs and my max in college was 230. It wasn't until I got a bit older (and sat at a desk for 8+ hours a day) that I was able to put on some lbs.

 

[rammy222]

Full range of motion amigo!

575lbs full range. Dont start b!tching :]

 

[roids1]

Full range of motion amigo!

575lbs full range. Dont start b!tching :]

Post a vid or I'm calling BS.

 

[pitt6691]

:bsflag::drillsergeant:

Full range of motion amigo!

575lbs full range. Dont start b!tching :]

 

[brk_nemesis]

Full ROM!
Also ... Incline works better for me than flat, for strength/mass. I ditched flat BB bench a while back, but still do flat DB presses and flys. But thats just me.

 

[Boss_K]

Full ROM. 6'5" here with my record best of 275lbs lean. 365x1 on bench 495x4 on deads. I know, I know....small legs.

 

[newman897]

Hi... my name is BLANK and I am tired of random people coming up to me and asking if I play basketball. LOL :crying:

ha i love telling people im in a training camp for some team and then i tell them i cant tell them what team and starting ****ing with them. sometimes they will ask for a autograph haha **** is funny. thanks guys for all the replies

 

[BoyFromAus]

damn it.. I wish i was tall.. could totally kick some ass in life

 

[JW32Hoops]

I'm definitely way stronger in my pulling lifts than anything else...deads, rows, etc. I always just figured I had a strong back, never thought it had anything to do with height. Interesting... :33:

 

[jsheely]

Yup, that's my theory anyways. Longer-limbs are a distinct advantage in terms of leverage for pulling.

I'm willing to bet that most guys who posted in this thread are strongest in back movements (rows, chins, and deadlifts).

I'd be curious to hear if I'm out in left field on this one...

My back is far superior to the rest of my body.

 

[Davidlee]

Im not very good at pull ups for some reason. Im strong in everything but them. I can only do like 3 sets of 8 Unweighted......

 

[JW32Hoops]

Pullups are tough on tall folks. Its a lotta weight (for some of us) to pull a longer distance.

 

[Rhys26]

So definitely touch the chest then?