Benchpress - do you go all the way down to chest?

[rooney111]

Okay, I'm pretty much a beginner at weights and maybe talking crap so pls excuse and drop in some advice...

alright i heard benching the maximum weights i could do 2 reps is better to get the muscles (tear) bigger, and just have to go halfway or your forearms and biceps are in 90 degree to each other..

And doing a full proper benchpress of comfortable maximum weights of 8 reps is for toning....

[startinfromscratch]

hey mate, not long ago there has been two threads about benching, one started by be and another by someone else called 'benching without a spotter' . these two should help you out alot, my q was basically the same. il bump the threads to the top for you. read them, then if you need to you can post up any more q's... :grin:

[GHOSTN]

one opinion is to always go to the bottom as the bottom few inches are the hardest to press, and to not go to full extension at the top as to keep the tension on the pecs..

8-12 hypertrophy 1-6 more strength training thats how i see it..

[nate225]

Half bench for half pecs! :pfft:

To the chest unless you're doing specific weak point work / board press etc.

[Optimass]

Half bench for half pecs! :pfft:

To the chest unless you're doing specific weak point work / board press etc.

:nod:

[rooney111]

i've been doing full bench at 60kg and half bench at 80 and 90kg....

[GHOSTN]

i've been doing full bench at 60kg and half bench at 80 and 90kg....

wasting your time in my opinion, use good form, see so many people doing it as you do tho.. think they are just pressing for their ego not for progress

[lazyeye]

the only time i would prescribe less than bar LIGHTLY touching the chest is for dodgy shoulders

when the elbows pass behind the mid line of the body, it really increases the force in the anterior capsule....which is fine in healthy shoulders..ie 19 years old

[rooney111]

i've got a dodgy shoulder joint...

and im 19!!

ive been told i need to strenthen my rotators

well it all happened that bad day at gym where i was doing incline dumbell shoulder press i somehow managed to twist my shoulder backwards and since then its never the same...i did get physio help which helped ease the pain but it still hurts/ feels insecure when doing heavy weights or wide grip pull ups

[orange]

What are you doing to strengthen your rotators?

[rooney111]

ahh when i said i've been told, it was just last night so im waiting to see him again and ask what exactly i cuold do to strenghten the rotoators..

in the meantime im still doing the soft exercises the physio asked me to do a month ago like grab a bar and push/pull on it holding it up/down etc etc

[InZane]

I only do 3/4 movements on the bench due to a bad rotator. I did it in about 3 months ago and by avoiding certain exercises and focusing on strengthening it, it's now starting to come right. I think it would be another 3 months before I can do inclines/shoulder presses again.

It will of course depend on your type of injury but I found cable laterals (only 3/4 movements) and front dumbbell raises worked best. Also, focusing on decline bench helps (still with heavy weight). I can't do dumbbell bench (flat or incline) due to having to get the weight up (using the shoulders).

Most importantly is the benching technique. I buggered mine due to 'elbows out' (which by the way was never a problem in my 20's) with heavy presses. Now I employ 'elbows in' which puts less strain on the deltoids (a bit more on the triceps, but they are not in a weak position at that point unlike the shoulders).

I think the moral here is, if you are using heavy weights (relative to you) and employ 'elbows out' and full ROM (bar touching chest) you open yourself to a shoulder injury. Perhaps not when you are younger but it certainly becomes an issue with age.

Individual results may vary...

=iZ.

[SamWelly]

Yeah I have to admit my cuffs are completely fucked now. Noticed last night the left one was popping when I move my hand in a circular motion. :shock:

Those behind neck standing presses are killing me but I cant stop doin em. :doh:

[BodySculpt]

yeah ive been thru cuff therapy for years, but theyre all good now, i always make a habit of pre strengthening them before an upper body workout.

the external/internal rotators are predominantly slow twitch muscle fibres as theyre always firing at a low level to keep the humerus sucked into the shallow ball and socket joint. so to strengthen them you must do high rep sets around 30 reps (TO FAIULURE). I do internal/external/internal/external 30 reps each time, do the exercises on as many angles as possible, get creative. I use the double pulley at the end of the cable fly machine (havent got time to do one arm then the other) get ur posture right then do the movement) then its onto upper body. i will always do this from now on.

then there's knee therapy, as you get older the therapy starts to take longer! :-(

[fudoc5]

i've got a dodgy shoulder joint...

and im 19!!

ive been told i need to strenthen my rotators

well it all happened that bad day at gym where i was doing incline dumbell shoulder press i somehow managed to twist my shoulder backwards and since then its never the same...i did get physio help which helped ease the pain but it still hurts/ feels insecure when doing heavy weights or wide grip pull ups

do you use the university phisio? if so,i wouldnt recomend it as all theyll do is give u a nice masage and a little ultra sound thing which does jack. ive had the same problem as you last yr when i was doing decline benches,used uniphysio once/week for 3mths,useless. then went to another in town,in which they found that i had ripped a tendon and all that masaging from the physio was making it worse. did light weights and higher reps most of last yr,and now my shoulders are almost back to full strength and was able to hit a few heavy db presses the other day.

[rooney111]

yes!!!!

massage and ultra sound thing sounds sooo familiar!! haha!!

looks like i might have to go check out some other physio....

[rooney111]

Yeah I have to admit my cuffs are completely fucked now. Noticed last night the left one was popping when I move my hand in a circular motion. :shock:

Those behind neck standing presses are killing me but I cant stop doin em. :doh:

that sounds soo like me

low weights higher reps = tone

heavy weights lower reps = gets u bigger

is what i been told - sounds so basic but is that true?

and what i want is get bigger, hence im risking doing heavy benchpress etc...if lighter weights and doing higher reps will give the same results, heck i'll just do that and be on the safe side at the same time without fukcing up my joints anymore...

[fudoc5]

yeah stick to lower weights/higher reps until you recover better.no point going heavy now and f#$king up your entire shoulder,not to mention your upper neck,spine and nerves, which may lead to a much more serious case than it already is. so yeah,dont risk it.just give time to heal...as per quote below

[lazyeye]

double post

[lazyeye]

what uni do you go to?

its a pretty easy assessment to look at pec major/minor, lats and shoulder internal/external rotation ROM for the shoulder to get an idea of whats going wrong

then look at strength imbalances in the rotator cuff (bilaterally and various planes like bodysculpt said)

anyway

goto ericcressy.com and look at his articles

shouldersavers 1,2,3,4 should be read, and then read the rest

if your in the waikato, your in luck

[rooney111]

i go to canterbury

ahh in christchurch

[Monopoly Man]

Yeah I have to admit my cuffs are completely fucked now. Noticed last night the left one was popping when I move my hand in a circular motion. :shock:

Those behind neck standing presses are killing me but I cant stop doin em. :doh:

Sure it wasn't from benching 200kg reps bro :pfft:

[nicksmith3]

Hit me up for a train brah..

I'll sort you out. :pfft:

[rooney111]

shot nick

will contact soon

[AlBundy]

Tone is the level of contraction in a relaxed muscle. What you mean by increase tone I take it is increasing definition. Which means making your muscles grow and loosing bodyfat.