Bouncing weight on benchpress

FeFiDoh

FeFiDoh

FeFiDoh

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After looking at that vid it reminded me of something I read a while ago (either that or i dreamt it). But bouncing the weight off your chest when benching is not good is it :confused:

Lad I "train" with does this all the time and puts weights up and benches slightly more than me but he bounces every rep of his chest where as I dont....
 
Bouncing is cheating plain and simple!

The hardest part of the rep is at the bottom, your chest is at full stretch, shoulders are in a weak position and your triceps have to dig deep. Bouncing gets you past all these sticking points and the usual technique is to arch the back on the way up as well, bringing in the lats.

Ask your "friend" to bench the same as you but get him to pause about an inch above his chest then press it back up smoothly, with his back flat on the bench. A tenner says he can't!! :D

If he manages that, double or quits that he can't flair his elbows out, down, pause (just above chest) and up ;)
 
As I understand things it isn't good because it isn't fully under control and won't work your muscles as effectively because of the poor technique. Full control of the positive and negative segment of the reps will benefit you most plus it leaves you less likely to injure yourself. :)
 
Yeah thats what I figured you arent taking the weight really but I try so hard to get through to this lad certain things I like to be 110% sure that what I am saying is correct so he cant shrug it off.

His idea of training is chest and arms.... thats it :rolleyes:

Does make me feel better tho knowing that even tho I do try and set him on the straight and narrow that I am doing it right :)
 
The bar shouldn't even touch the chest if you ask me, never mind bounce off it! I stop about an inch off my chest, not really sure haven't measured it :p

I just try not to let my shoulders go below parallel as this hurts and can be very bad for the shoulder joint, especially when benching heavy.
 
MTA99 said:
Bouncing is cheating plain and simple!

The hardest part of the rep is at the bottom, your chest is at full stretch, shoulders are in a weak position and your triceps have to dig deep. Bouncing gets you past all these sticking points and the usual technique is to arch the back on the way up as well, bringing in the lats.
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Agreed, no point cheating yourself with benchpress. I believe all the goodness of the exercise is in the bottom of the movement, the triceps come into play more at the top part. I also stop just shy of lockout as i don't want to take ANY stress away from the pecs.
 
I agree with Chong. I won't touch the bar to my chest. If you touch the bar to your chest, then you should NEVER bounce the weight. It's innefective, pointless and just not hardcore ;)
 
Styles said:
I agree with Chong. I won't touch the bar to my chest. If you touch the bar to your chest, then you should NEVER bounce the weight. It's innefective, pointless and just not hardcore ;)
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Nah, its cheating mate :p
 
Jeffstar said:
Agreed, no point cheating yourself with benchpress. I believe all the goodness of the exercise is in the bottom of the movement, the triceps come into play more at the top part. I also stop just shy of lockout as i don't want to take ANY stress away from the pecs.
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Good point, I never pause at the top and don't quite lock out my arms, so it's a fluid continual movement. I do pause at the bottom just for a split second, not too long but enough to stop any transferring of momentum. It's a dead weight every time I press it back up. Also stopping the weight dead just an inch off the chest really helps me keep the focus on my pecs the whole time.

If you've never tried it, then give it a go next time you train ;)
Jeffstar said:
Nah, its cheating mate :p
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:p
 
Chong Warrior said:
The bar shouldn't even touch the chest if you ask me, never mind bounce off it! I stop about an inch off my chest, not really sure haven't measured it :p

I just try not to let my shoulders go below parallel as this hurts and can be very bad for the shoulder joint, especially when benching heavy.
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I am sure I have read before somewhere, that it is best to drop it to about 2 hands thickness (hand flat on chest, other hand flat on top) distance from the chest, then press back up.

personally i am the same as you, im not interested in overworking or over stretching my shoulders while benching. im there to work the chest and that doesnt mean over extending the shoulder.
 
Morba said:
I am sure I have read before somewhere, that it is best to drop it to about 2 hands thickness (hand flat on chest, other hand flat on top) distance from the chest, then press back up.

personally i am the same as you, im not interested in overworking or over stretching my shoulders while benching. im there to work the chest and that doesnt mean over extending the shoulder.
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I drop to about 1.5 inches off the chest personally, but amen to what you've said.
 
Jeffstar said:
Watch this guys form, thats how benchpress should be performed. Benchpress Vid. No cheating there :cool:

He sure has a wierd belly button though.
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I don't understand where you've reached the conclusion I cheat during benching or have I missed something?

My bench is EXACTLY as is supposed to be performed but I stop a little way off my chest as otherwise it puts too much pressure on my shoulders. Benching depth depends on many things not only technique but among others, depth of your rib cage and pressure placed on the shoulders. You should only ever do it so that it doesn't hurt.
 
Jeffstar said:
Watch this guys form, thats how benchpress should be performed. Benchpress Vid. No cheating there :cool:

He sure has a wierd belly button though.
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no. that is one way to bench press, there are plenty of other perfectly valid ways to bench press (for reps).
 
Jeffstar said:
Watch this guys form, thats how benchpress should be performed. Benchpress Vid. No cheating there :cool:

He sure has a wierd belly button though.
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http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=26

Have a read of that and see if you still think stopping 1" above chest is cheating ;) Though quite what difference you think that inch makes confuses me, apart from maybe putting an extra 50% more stress on your shoulder joint?

EDIT - lol at replies :D
 
Styles said:
I don't understand where you've reached the conclusion I cheat during benching or have I missed something?

My bench is EXACTLY as is supposed to be performed but I stop a little way off my chest as otherwise it puts too much pressure on my shoulders. Benching depth depends on many things not only technique but among others, depth of your rib cage and pressure placed on the shoulders. You should only ever do it so that it doesn't hurt.
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If benching to your chest causes you problems then try using dumbells ;)
 
BBfig3.gif


a side on fist is about 2 flat hands for me! what i read must have been a different interpretation of Paul Chek's work :]
 
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