posted Fri, 05/04/2012 - 19:41
1951
beeeeench press
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So i been watching videos of benching. i got started when i was having shoulder problems. long story short, elbows flared bar an inch or 2 above nipple line i seemed to be able to bench much more. now i have shortened my hand spacing on the bar and brought the bar to nipple line or even to my sternum i have been not made significant gains in at least 6 months if any at Ll. i noticed about half of these guys lifting heavy weight, 400+ dont have the real big arch and elbows in to stomach, its mors of the old school form. also even arnold was repping 225+ and seemed to have it about an inch or 2 above nipple line as well with elbows out.
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tread-mThe reason you pull elbows in for some of the bench work is for variation and hitting different direction in the chest emphasis. This will create more strength in alternating from time to time. It is tougher to keep elbows in which pushes you harder and the change ups htiing the muscle from all different direction keeps you growing strength. The brain can't find comfort zones in your workouts....simple cunfusion. Work delts and lats, trraps all equally hard as you thickness plays a big role in chest strength. The wider you get the more you bench and width comes from delts. I never really got wider until I realized delts were the whole thing and took my focus off of the two muscle groups young guys tend to focus on and overtrain, chest and arms. Work that width and thickness and the bench increases as does your entire look. I recently did a post "get big now" in the general which talked about "the look". Its more than a look, its foundation that everythig else hangs under. Sometimes we look so close at what we want we can't focus on how to get there because you are not seeing the truth. The truth is, build the "hanger" that everything hangs from which are your delts and traps and focus there and lats as much as everything else and you get thicker and wider and bench goes up...drmatically. as to where on the nipple, mix it up there to is my thinking, keep the body/brain from finding easy ways to do anything and you push to new limits because your thinking was the real limit.
Cool man i appreciate it a lot.
tread-mSure....work those side lateralls with delt brother and rear delts etc to widen your body then hitting very heavy lats and chest to thicken...don't forget the traps, it all begins up top.
Oh ya Im past the whole work the same muscle 5 times a week lol. i did get older and realize though little bit of the wrong movements causes injuries so Im just now getting back to hitting it heavy. just don't want to get hurt again in the process. ya know
I work with a pl coach, one of the best equipped benchers in the country.. a power bench with arch whether equipped or not works so many different muscle groups. The main ones besides chest are lats, delts , and of course triceps. So you are not really isolating the chest when you power bench, and yes, the bar comes down about 2 inches below the nipples for an effective press in powerlifting. Closer grip was what I started with, but i have better luck using a wider grip, and the elbows are supposed to be out a little, not tucked in tight to your sides, just don't let them flare out too much or you lose your power.
What about for a body building bench press
You've really gotta work at it to build up the power bench style where your bringing it low. It's almost a whole body lift using lats and chest at the beginning, then fireing the shoulders and tris to lock out. Takes alot of time to develop this but it's how the most weight it moved.
Higher bar position and forearms running vertical at the down position is better for chest development since your trying to take out all the auxiliary muscles... notice Arnold's chest was huge, his tri's he always stated were a weak point. And also keep in mind he started as a Powerlifter and transitioned to BB which is much easier.
I go back and forth from BB to PL, and the bench is always my worst lift because I've never created that smooth neuromuscular transition where all 3 phases of the bench are firing at the right times. it take ALOT of specific training, especially if you've trained your chest for years to do the majority of the work. Partial reps at 3 positions, lock outs, static holds, board presses, and bands. big commitment, 6 months is a good start but unless you got T-rex arms you may be looking at a year of very intentional bench program.
hope thats helpful.
Honestly i have been wondering if i have short arms or not. sometimes bringing the bar.to my nipple line made my shoulder hurt worse lol. idk man but we are in the same boat. bench use to be my favorite but.now.is my least due to these.problems. loving the squats.and deadlifts. maybe, like you said, go back to do what i used to do and see what happens. I was like 135 lbs and benched 225. 4 years later, 45 lbs more, Im still at 225...on a good day! embarrassing
Yea ultimately you gotta decide if you want to bench huge or have a big chest. Can't focus on both at the same time IMO. I'm sure there is plenty of guys who might disagree and say training for heavy bench will make your chest grow, thats just not been my experience. if you wanna break the 300-325 mark you'll have to build your whole week around the bench.
I wouldn't necessarily say benching heavy powerlifter style is going to do a whole lot for your chest. However, training for brute strength as a whole is going to build overall large, dense muscles. For me, bench press is a full body exercise, I feel it all over my entire body the following day.
I feel you guys and thank you both for replies as i agree with what you both said. idk what Im going to do
Watch a video series by Dave Tate "So you think you can bench?". Although it caters more to the powerlifters, there's a few pieces of information there that might be useful to you.
Ok thanks. Im familiar with him but idk if I've seen exactly that one yet. checking it out now