Bench Press

[Cfour]

Originally posted by: jorken
I just started going back to the gym recently and noticed a lot of people who were bench pressing were only coming down 1/2 way instead of coming all the way down the the chest and back up again. Wondering if there is any advantage to doing it this way instead of a full press?

A surprising amount of people in the gyms don't do their exercises properly. Make sure you go down all the way on your exercises and do them slowly, that way you'll gain the most from them. I've heard you gain more out of the "down" part of the workout. You'll be lifting more than those people who cheat in no time.

Tony

 

[Booter]

Originally posted by: Staley8
I'm 6'1", range between 185-190 pounds of body weight. I bench ~195 at 10 reps and max out at probably ~230-240 right now, I've been bad and lazy during the winter hibernation.

Thats really good!

 

[Sid59]

Id recommend starting out light and doing full range and control. Don't get sloopy, especially if you are doing heavier weights. Work on your technique and you will get stronger faster than just doing fast out of control reps. Try it out with pushups. Do 10 pushups as fast as you can. Then do 10 doing them in control and full range. Much harder.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

If you go all the way down, don't bounce the bar off your chest

 

[SnapIT]

Originally posted by: jorken
I just started going back to the gym recently and noticed a lot of people who were bench pressing were only coming down 1/2 way instead of coming all the way down the the chest and back up again. Wondering if there is any advantage to doing it this way instead of a full press?

Yes, there is, the strain will be on the inner part of the pec, as you want it to be... this is well known...

To develop from the start, instead of creating a strain of muscle attatchments... do what you should, deeeeeeep dumbell presses, oh, no result, do incline dumbnuts.......

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Argo
The theory is that if you come down half way it isolates chest muscles, allowing you to bench more. I myself do it the old fashioned way - the bar touches the chest.

*buzzer sound* try again

Your chest is only directly involved in the first few inches of the motion coming off your chest. From about 3" up to lockout, your triceps play the most important role.

Edit: damn, too late

 

[SnapIT]

Originally posted by: yellowfiero

Originally posted by: jorken
I just started going back to the gym recently and noticed a lot of people who were bench pressing were only coming down 1/2 way instead of coming all the way down the the chest and back up again. Wondering if there is any advantage to doing it this way instead of a full press?

that's called a partial press. If you plan on getting to very heavy weights, a partial is a good idea for weights you cannot do all the way down. We used to do them when we reached a plateau and couldn't get to the next level.

I would sooo very muuuuch like you to explain why the top of any "locked out" excercise is a great idea instead of the first part.. go ahead...

 

[SnapIT]

Originally posted by: Elemental007

Originally posted by: Argo
The theory is that if you come down half way it isolates chest muscles, allowing you to bench more. I myself do it the old fashioned way - the bar touches the chest.

*buzzer sound* try again

Your chest is only directly involved in the first few inches of the motion coming off your chest. From about 3" up to lockout, your triceps play the most important role.

Edit: damn, too late

No, the chest is indeed involved in the entire range of motion, that is, if you do it right, keep your shoulders back...

Moreso in the middle few inches...

 

[SnapIT]

Bench presses: (you may use this)

It involves the front deltoids and pectoralis major first, forget the rest...

This is a pec excersise, work that weight, do 3-6 reps, if you cannot force it up, cheat it up, do negatives...

Go as deep as you feel comfortable in doing, going beyond 90 degrees CAN be ok, but it will not build much...

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: SnapIT

Originally posted by: yellowfiero

Originally posted by: jorken
I just started going back to the gym recently and noticed a lot of people who were bench pressing were only coming down 1/2 way instead of coming all the way down the the chest and back up again. Wondering if there is any advantage to doing it this way instead of a full press?

that's called a partial press. If you plan on getting to very heavy weights, a partial is a good idea for weights you cannot do all the way down. We used to do them when we reached a plateau and couldn't get to the next level.

I would sooo very muuuuch like you to explain why the top of any "locked out" excercise is a great idea instead of the first part.. go ahead...

SnapIt. Do you have any clue what you're talking about? I've done lockouts all the time, just like I do walkouts when I do my squats. If you're benching more than 300, yet at a body wieght of no more than 180, you rely on a lot of technique and specialized training to be able to perform the lift. The same is true with the guys that weigh 170 and can do below-parallel squats of more than 500. Sometimes, the hardest part is the walk-out, or the lock-out, as the case may be. If I am in a competition, and I bench, and I get the bar unracked but take 10 seconds to get it under control (and thus the lift command), I've just lost a whole bunch of strength that I needed to complete the lift.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: SnapIT

Originally posted by: Elemental007

Originally posted by: Argo
The theory is that if you come down half way it isolates chest muscles, allowing you to bench more. I myself do it the old fashioned way - the bar touches the chest.

*buzzer sound* try again

Your chest is only directly involved in the first few inches of the motion coming off your chest. From about 3" up to lockout, your triceps play the most important role.

Edit: damn, too late

No, the chest is indeed involved in the entire range of motion, that is, if you do it right, keep your shoulders back...

Moreso in the middle few inches...

The triceps are involved far more heavily than the pectoral muscles. Delts and Pecs are relatively minor components to a bench press. I dare say lats are just as important, if not more important. Pecs are important for getting the bar off your chest, and that's about it. Whe I wear my bench shirt, I don't even need to worry about that, as the tension in the shirt gets the wieght off my chest just fine. it's a matter of triceps, for the farther up you go, the more of a component they play.

 

[TheNinja]

So nobody else gets sore shoulder joints and elbow joints (mainly on my left side).....improper form? And if I only come half way down I can in fact do more weight, even if you have to stop it half way. Coming down to your chest works the entire chest/tri/delt/lat (in that order for me anyways).

Also, it doesn't always have to be a slow up and down exercise. If you want to make gains try coming down normal speed and in control. Then instead of doing what you've always heard (nice, slow, and concentrated on the way up taking 1-2 seconds), try exploding up as fast as you can push the weight (don't bounce off your chest though). The wait for a second and repeat. The key is to think of an explosion on the way up

 

[machintos]

The whole point of doing bench press is to work your chest and not your shoulders.
When you go halfway down (until your elbows make 90 degrees angle), that's the maximum point where this excercise works your chest.
If you go lower than that, your shoulders do the work and it makes you prone to shoulders injury.

And if you do this exercise correctly (no bouncing off the chest, no use of momentum), you can see and feel the results in a short amount of time. Me, I hold it for two seconds when it reaches the top, and two seconds when it's lowered. This way, I can't cheat.