Full range of motion on the bench press

[Portillo]

At the gym i always see ppl doing the bench press by just moving up and down a few inches. I however always use full range of motion by going down to my chest, and up to just before lockout.

Am i risking injury by using this form? One the main injuries from the bench press is the tear that can happen between your chest and delt. So im wondering if i might hear a pop sound by doing this?

 

[KStoner6tb]

I usually stop about 1-2 inches above my chest or when my tris are parallel to the floor. Reason being to prevent any delt abuse like you said. I usually hold for a second or so at the bottom and then slowly raise to just before lockout.

 

[Amebix]

No, there absolutely no danger from going through the full rom of motion. Bodybuilders sometimes stop short to keep tension on the pecs, but more likely the people your seeing are just cheating to but up bigger numbers. Muscle tears happen when the force on the muscle exceeds what it can temporarily overcome, not from anything inherent in the exercise. If you want to stay safe on the bench press make sure your as stable as possible, with shoulder blades retracted, a nice arch in your lower back, and your feet placed evenly on the floor so that the shin is near verticle, and that the bar goes in a straight line up and down, with no side to side movement.

 

[Portillo]

^ Yeah ill probably just do that, go down just above my chest and get a good stretch.

 

[Jabberwocky]

going all the way down puts your chest muscles at a bigger lever to your arms and thus can exert more systemic tearing (which is good of course)

the upper portion of the lift is almost entirely triceps

its not a rep imo unless it touches your chest

 

[Shlumpeet]

I also arch my back a little bit to activate my pecs better, anyone else do this? I don't think it hurts as long as I'm not using a ton of weight...

 

[Jabberwocky]

I arch my back because without doing so cannot set my shoulders up hard and squared underneath the weight

arching your back provides a much stronger foundation

as long as your butt doesn't come off the bench you're good to go (although some people will experiment with getting their butt off the bench cause you can really drive with legs and often bench ~10-20 more pounds than your normal max).

the key with benching is to constantly be adding small increments of weight to the bar every new session.

 

[Rabbi]

Arching your back helps your bench press by reducing the moment arm between the bar and your shoulder. This is due to the fact that when you move your elbows down to lower than 90 degrees our from your shoulders (which you should do, because straight results in massive shoulder impingement) it moves the bar further down your chest.

Stand to the side of someone bench pressing slowly and watch the bar path with the back flat and then raised. You should notice a much straighter path and also that the landing point of the bar is directly above the shoulder. As with any lift, reducing moment arms is key to lifting efficiency.

Not using a full range of motion is silly bodybuilder garbage. Lifting your butt of the bench is also a no lift in any power lifting competition.

 

[Jabberwocky]

not everybody is a powerlifter though...especially with nagging injuries reduced range of motion can be a useful way to promote hypertrophy while keeping you in lifting shape injurywise

 

[KStoner6tb]

What about incline bench? Y'all still bring the bar down to your chest? Does that bother your delts at all?

 

[eon_blue]

What about the width of your hands on the bar?

Seems the closer your grip, the more you utilize the triceps. As opposed to a wider grip, which seems to require more of the actual chest.

I have a bad habit of trying to pump out my reps fast when on the bench, which as caused me a few painful muscle injuries in the past.

I ALWAYS touch the chest though. When I see people only going up/down a few inches and arching their backs like crazy, I shake my head in judgemental pity

 

[Portillo]

Your hands should be postioned so that when your in the stretch position, your forearms are parallel to the floor and upper arms horizontal.

 

[KStoner6tb]

I ALWAYS touch the chest though. When I see people only going up/down a few inches and arching their backs like crazy, I shake my head in judgemental pity

In my experience, better gains are achieved by stopping an inch above the chest while using a slow, controlled movement; focusing on stretching/flexing your pecs throughout the exercise. Just bouncing the bar off your chest is asking for an injury plus if you can't do that weigth slow and controlled, take a plate or two off.

 

[Jabberwocky]

yeah bounce is no good

using the stretch reflex is a way to lift more, but I think pausing a second and blasting off develops the most strength (same reason I do box squats instead of regular squats)

 

[KStoner6tb]

using the stretch reflex is a way to lift more, but I think pausing a second and blasting off develops the most strength (same reason I do box squats instead of regular squats)

Yah, I just added box squats on leg day, and I really like them. By stretching/flexing, I'm trying to explain how I I try to focus, in my head on using as much chest as I can, with the least amount of help from triceps and deltoids. Also get crazy pumps. Then you can take it even further when you have a spotter, and do very heavy negatives; where you lower the bar as slowly as possible. I've responded very well to those.