Question about bench press

[DVad3r]

Originally posted by: eigen

Originally posted by: DVad3r
The bar is never supposed to come down and touch your chest...especially when doing incline. Reasons:

1. Your not getting as effective workout if you touch because the weight is resting and your muscles arent holding it up.

2. You can dis-proportion your body posture if you go all the way down.

Thats one retarded post.

Regarding 1. You do not let the weigh rest on your chest just touch it.
Regarding 2.If this occurs this mean you have weak lats and a weak upper back.Work on these then come back to the bench.

Actually not really, but you would know better since your a pro.

Touching your chest means taking off pressure from the weight you are holding, thus you are not getting as good of a workout as lets say bringing the bar a fingers thick between the bar and your chest. The original question the OP asked is what's better, and better is not touching the bar to your chest.

You have no arguement to justify why touching the chest is better then not...so until you, I suggest you stfu and not make retarded responses.

ps. If you knew anything about working out, you would know that your supposed to feel the weight at all times, going up, going down. Touching the chest and letting it rest there is not feeling the weight my friend. Sounds like someone needs to reduce that weight on BP and start doing proper form.

 

[Landroval]

Originally posted by: DVad3r

Originally posted by: eigen

Originally posted by: DVad3r
The bar is never supposed to come down and touch your chest...especially when doing incline. Reasons:

1. Your not getting as effective workout if you touch because the weight is resting and your muscles arent holding it up.

2. You can dis-proportion your body posture if you go all the way down.

Thats one retarded post.

Regarding 1. You do not let the weigh rest on your chest just touch it.
Regarding 2.If this occurs this mean you have weak lats and a weak upper back.Work on these then come back to the bench.

Actually not really, but you would know better since your a pro.

Touching your chest means taking off pressure from the weight you are holding, thus you are not getting as good of a workout as lets say bringing the bar a fingers thick between the bar and your chest. The original question the OP asked is what's better, and better is not touching the bar to your chest.

You have no arguement to justify why touching the chest is better then not...so until you, I suggest you stfu and not make retarded responses.

ps. If you knew anything about working out, you would know that your supposed to feel the weight at all times, going up, going down. Touching the chest and letting it rest there is not feeling the weight my friend. Sounds like someone needs to reduce that weight on BP and start doing proper form.

If eigen is the same guy that posted his pecs pics a few weeks ago I sure would not argue with him about how to max development!!!!!! You do take it to the chest but touch it only gently (if you have proper control and form this is not hard). If you want max chest development you bring it down slow and pause at the chest.

 

[DVad3r]

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/eigen/manboobs.jpeg

If that's his chest...then sorry...I cannot argue against that sort of spectacular size/definition...by all means...touch the chest...while your at it...throw on 400 pounds...have a 2 friends help you do a rep...it's awesome for the joints.

 

[Subterranean Homesick Alien]

Proper Form for Barbell Bench Press

 

[Landroval]

Originally posted by: DVad3r
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/eigen/manboobs.jpeg

If that's his chest...then sorry...I cannot argue against that sort of spectacular size/definition...by all means...touch the chest...while your at it...throw on 400 pounds...have a 2 friends help you do a rep...it's awesome for the joints.

What does definition have to do with muscle development or strength? You can clearly see he has well-developed pecs. Even if he did not, what he said is correct. Do you need some pro sources to convince you?

 

[DVad3r]

Do I need pro sources to convince me? Hmmm I dunno, let me think on that for a while. Perhaps I should go to a gym...and start figuring out the world of working out all by myself, without asking/reading credible sources that have been doing it for a long, long time. Hey I'm getting size...I'm good, who needs "IMPROVEMENT".

Better yet, next time you go buy a car, just buy one that works. I mean, CLEARLY, you can see they all are able to power themselves forward.

Ughh I'm done talking with both of you peons...I thought I was actually speaking to an intelligent source there for a while.

 

[LordMaul]

I thought I was actually speaking to an intelligent source there for a while.

What made you think that? God, you must be an ATOT n00b.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b
WOW more morons talking about what they do not know

A bench press MUST touch your chest...in powerlifting you actually bounce it off (in compititions etc), but when training you slightly touch your chest...and then back up

only going half way down is a towel benchpress...designed just to work your dead zone, the point of failure for most when lifting your max reps


jeez of course you touch your chest....the ones that are not are n00blars doing it wrong because they want to more weight and look big

your a hipocrit you know that right? You do realize that bouncing it off your chest is HORRIBLE for your chest... (especially where it comes together)

 

[Landroval]

Originally posted by: DVad3r
Do I need pro sources to convince me? Hmmm I dunno, let me think on that for a while. Perhaps I should go to a gym...and start figuring out the world of working out all by myself, without asking/reading credible sources that have been doing it for a long, long time. Hey I'm getting size...I'm good, who needs "IMPROVEMENT".

Better yet, next time you go buy a car, just buy one that works. I mean, CLEARLY, you can see they all are able to power themselves forward.

Ughh I'm done talking with both of you peons...I thought I was actually speaking to an intelligent source there for a while.

That's funny. You are the one with novel and unsupported ideas. So please do go back to Family Fitness and do your isolation curls in the squat cage

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b
WOW more morons talking about what they do not know

A bench press MUST touch your chest... - blathering idiocy snipped -

OK, moron back for more abuse here...

I heard a story of a well-known body builder (you'd probably recognize his name, but I forget who it was... us morons do that), who died because he couldn't get the bar off his neck. So, remember to always have a spotter around.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b

Originally posted by: sadguy
What about someone with an indented chestbone? Will bringing the bar all the way down to the chest still be considered "safe"?

yeah...you are not slamming it down


PSA geeks who have never worked out and make excuses why not too....lifting heavy weight does not injur you when donne correctly

you have to do a lot to screw yourself up...you do not suddenly develop elbow problems

Oh, but you can suddenly develop elbow problems and they will not necessarily just disappear. Be careful with your joints.

 

[Analog]

Most effective?

Bring it down slowly and in control. Pause on second while LIGHTLY touching chest. Then press up. This will nuke 1/2 of the 300 club easy.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
Actually a competition bench press must have a visible pause at the chest. Bouncing is cheating.

Guys going halfway down on the bench are just fooling themselves, much like the people in the gym barely breaking 45 deg on their squats :laugh:

I've seen many of the top body builders doing partials - sets of exercises where they have very limited range of motion compared to what is possible. Generally I've heard no explanation of their rationale. For one thing, bouncing off your chest is (as formerly noted) a sort of cheating. You are cheating yourself out of the negative, the work you have to do to reverse direction of the weight, which is part of the benefit lost when you bounce. On top of that, you could hurt yourself bouncing off your chestbone with heavy weight. Like I said, my therapist said I shouldn't go down that low. Well, I'd just had arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder.

I think that partials are often done to limit the possibility of damaging your joints. For example, with a bicep curl you are going to risk undue stress on your elbow if you straighten out your arm completely.

By the way, there are some specialty newsgroups where you can investigate these and similar issues, reading existing threads or creating new ones:

Newsgroups: alt.sport.bodybuilding,alt.sport.weightlifting,uk.rec.bodybuilding

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: g33k
I use a machine because many times I cant get a spotter. Do you think free weights are better for benching? Or does it matter?

No question. Use freeweights and drop the weight down.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: jinduy
looks like ima have to start touching my chest... right now i just lower the bar actually about an inch or two above my chest

You're probably better off doing the way you're doing it now, IMO.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Just to throw my voice into an already convoluted thread...

You bring it down until it TOUCHES your chest, then back up. You should not actually rest any weight on your chest when you do it, and you definitely shouldn't bounce it. At best, it's bad form. At worst, you could injure yourself.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
Everyone here is arguing about proper form for a bench press to get maximum result and I would agree with the majority that you do need to touch your chest (although I would not recommend the bouncing like some people do).

Without getting too technical, you are going to cover more muscle area in any exercise for the most part, by merely going through a larger range of motion.

If you want to experiment with seeing more muscle, faster, try what is called Eccentric muscle contractions. With the bench press in particular, using your max weight or thereabouts and a spotter (a spotter is a must), start the bar at the top and slowly let it down until it almost touches your chest. Have your spotter help you bring it back up and then do it again...give 3 or 4 times a try per set.

Most people do concentric workouts at the gym. Concentric means the shortening of a muscle fiber, as in a bicep curl. Eccentric is the opposite.

I've always called them "negatives". They were a great way to change up your routine when you flatlined in gains. Throw in some negatives for two weeks and you'll seen some improvement when you switch back over.