Do you lock your elbows at the top of your bench pressing?

[puqdew]

I always hear people saying I benched (x)lb for (x) amount of reps but I dont know if they lock their elbows or not at the top.

I never lock my elbows and it is significantly harder for endurance.

What about you?

 

[Pantlegz]

I don't lock my elbows but I fully extend my arms and I know quite a few guys at my gym do 1/2 bench presses for considerably more weight but it really doesn't do them as much good as they think it does.

 

[darkxshade]

Guilty as charged... I usually lock only on those last rep(s) that I'm struggling with though. Otherwise I usually bench up and down(no pauses) with a fluid motion. I also tend to lower the barbell till it touches my chest which I know I shouldn't be doing either but I don't bounce the bar off of it like others do. It's more of a habit of benching my full range of motion.

 

[brikis98]

The full bench press motion is from the elbows locked out (locked, not hyperextended) at the top to the bar touching the chest (touching, not bouncing) at the bottom. Since most people bench press to develop strength and not isometric/static endurance (for which there are better exercises anyway), there is no benefit to not locking out the weight at the top. If anything, it will slow down your strength gains and is more dangerous when doing limit sets - as you approach the point of failure, if your elbows are unlocked, the weight may suddenly come crashing down on you. So finish every rep by locking it out, just like you should with the deadlift, squat, overhead press, etc.

 

[Eric62]

Depends on your motives.
Benching for competition always lock the weight out for at least a split second for multi rep sets, and for a full second for single reps.
For maximum pec development I think stopping short a 1/2 inch from lock out is preferred as it causes constant tension to remain on the working muscles.

Personally I lock the weight out every rep (touch and go off the chest), and pause it on my chest for max effort single reps...

 

[presidentender]

My elbows hyperextend about 10 degrees with minimal effort. I straighten my arms (maybe 5 degrees bend), but I don't know if that counts as "locked out" for your purposes.

 

[Whisper]

Guilty as charged... I usually lock only on those last rep(s) that I'm struggling with though. Otherwise I usually bench up and down(no pauses) with a fluid motion. I also tend to lower the barbell till it touches my chest which I know I shouldn't be doing either but I don't bounce the bar off of it like others do. It's more of a habit of benching my full range of motion.

In general, AFAIK, touching your chest with the bar is the proper and preferred form for bench pressing (unless you're doing a board bench press or something similar). It's also required in pretty much any competition, again AFAIK.

As for locking the elbows, as another poster above mentioned, I lock but don't hyper-extend. The only times I don't always fully extend my arms when benching are during warm-ups and burn-outs. But that's just me.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Yeah, I lock my elbows at the top of my bench. Like brikis said, you gotta be sure to not hyperextend. That's not locking it out.

Also, I hope none of you guys actually bounce the weight off your chest. You don't know how many guys I've seen in the gym (10-15+ in the past 3-4 weeks) doing it. In my exercise physiology class, my professor showed the result of that - punctured lungs, cracked sternums, and more. It's not that hard to pop a rib into your lung with the forces generated by dropping 150+ (often more) pounds on your chest.

 

[Whisper]

Yeah, I lock my elbows at the top of my bench. Like brikis said, you gotta be sure to not hyperextend. That's not locking it out.

Also, I hope none of you guys actually bounce the weight off your chest. You don't know how many guys I've seen in the gym (10-15+ in the past 3-4 weeks) doing it. In my exercise physiology class, my professor showed the result of that - punctured lungs, cracked sternums, and more. It's not that hard to pop a rib into your lung with the forces generated by dropping 150+ (often more) pounds on your chest.

I've seen quite a few people who bounce violently off their chest over the years as well. It's painful to watch...much more so than the guys who bench with all of a 4" range of motion. If you can't control the weight by bringing it slowly down to your chest, you're lifting too much. Would be better served lowering the weight and improving the form.

Edit: Forgot to mention that in my experience, for whatever reason, it actually is more often the guys who've been working out for a while who do the bouncing than it is the people who've just started lifting. It just can't be good for you to be doing that week in, week out, for years.

 

[Koing]

I lock out

Koing

 

[MrMatt]

The full bench press motion is from the elbows locked out (locked, not hyperextended) at the top to the bar touching the chest (touching, not bouncing) at the bottom. Since most people bench press to develop strength and not isometric/static endurance (for which there are better exercises anyway), there is no benefit to not locking out the weight at the top. If anything, it will slow down your strength gains and is more dangerous when doing limit sets - as you approach the point of failure, if your elbows are unlocked, the weight may suddenly come crashing down on you. So finish every rep by locking it out, just like you should with the deadlift, squat, overhead press, etc.

Yeah pretty much; the effect you get by not locking out is better achieved through other exercises.