Benching: how far is too far?

[ryu007]

For years I've adhered to the same protocol as everyone else when it came to benching: bring the bar to your chest. However, in February  I hurt my right shoulder, and every time I benched it would cause me significant discomfort. So much that I gave up any benching or shoulder exercising for 3 whole weeks. I went and saw a physical therapist and the pain gradually got better. Then while speaking with a personal trainer, he said that the cause for some of the pain was that I was going too low when I benched (touching my chest) he suggested that I stop short of touching (about 2 to 3 inches) to help ease my pain. The surprising part? It worked! I've been benching now this way for a while now. But it got me wondering, is going all the way down better, or am I cheating? Bear in mind that my weight hasn't gone up significantly (5, 10 lbs) Or is there a significant advantage to going all the way down? My shoulder feels like it can finally handle going all the way down now (though the weight I use would probably suffer). What do you guys think?

[2big4u]

going all the way down gives you a little more stretch,but stopping short a couple inches(which most people do)will let you use an extra 20-30 lbs so i think its a push,I dont think your missing out on much.Since you injured your shoulder why risk doing it again.I injured my shoulder a while back and dropped the weight by 50 percent and decided to concentrate on form and my pecs have gotten a lot better.hope that helps,good luck.

[Mike]

For years I've adhered to the same protocol as everyone else when it came to benching: bring the bar to your chest. However, in February  I hurt my right shoulder, and every time I benched it would cause me significant discomfort. So much that I gave up any benching or shoulder exercising for 3 whole weeks. I went and saw a physical therapist and the pain gradually got better. Then while speaking with a personal trainer, he said that the cause for some of the pain was that I was going too low when I benched (touching my chest) he suggested that I stop short of touching (about 2 to 3 inches) to help ease my pain. The surprising part? It worked! I've been benching now this way for a while now. But it got me wondering, is going all the way down better, or am I cheating? Bear in mind that my weight hasn't gone up significantly (5, 10 lbs) Or is there a significant advantage to going all the way down? My shoulder feels like it can finally handle going all the way down now (though the weight I use would probably suffer). What do you guys think?

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=134558.0

Why would that be cheating?  Your chest is just an arbitrary end point.  Do you sit down on the ground every time you squat? 

[thewickedtruth]

Everybody is built differently so if you bench flat backed and don't set yourself up for a proper bench, sure you can touch your chest no problem. Some people can do it easily, I can't do it at all. When properly setup with my shoulders back and scapula withdrawn to suppoer my spine and expand my chest, my body stops itself at 3" or so off my chest. It won't go past that point no matter what. It's how I was told to properly bench have been shown this method and trained in it for quite some time injury free and have made great gains in it. Now like I said, everyone is different. FIRST learn proper benching form and mechanics with lighter weight. Your body will tell you where it's supposed to stop. Don't listen to the whole mindset that everyone is the same and it should all be done a certain way. Bench the way YOU bench and the way your body allows and you'll be fine. There are guidelines but this isn't the ten commandments. Nothing is set in stone. It's just there to give you a starting point. Now I don't know about the whole 20-30lbs more if you don't touch your chest but, if you're one of those people that only go to 90* to where your upper arms and elbow only go til they're parallel to the ground sure that's feasable but, I wouldn't recommend benching this way unless you've had a past injury or experience pain going beyond that. If you just bench that way to bench and holler out big gains, you're cheating yourself.

[timm3r]

i've read from a lot of sources that stretching and doing proper warm up sets before doing your work sets prevent shoulder injuries.  i think you should be fine doing whatever is comfortable, as long as your not 8 inches away from your chest, i wouldn't say you were cheating yourself. 

btw lately i've also been feeling discomfort in my shoulder while benching too, the weird thing is i don't bench much, maybe 5 sets max a week.  what did you do to make your shoulder better?  i've been reading up a lot lately on shoulder injuries and i just sure hope i didn't tear anything.

[thewickedtruth]

i've read from a lot of sources that stretching and doing proper warm up sets before doing your work sets prevent shoulder injuries.  i think you should be fine doing whatever is comfortable, as long as your not 8 inches away from your chest, i wouldn't say you were cheating yourself. 

btw lately i've also been feeling discomfort in my shoulder while benching too, the weird thing is i don't bench much, maybe 5 sets max a week.  what did you do to make your shoulder better?  i've been reading up a lot lately on shoulder injuries and i just sure hope i didn't tear anything.

Try doing alot of towel and band stretching two and three times a day. That took away all my shoulder pain last time. Also, check your grip width. I see WAY too many people benching with the wrong grip. IF you're having shoulder pain, try going a little wider on the grip width and see how that feels? After my injury, I have had ZERO shoulder issues with my new grip and proper stretching both before and after benching and I'm pushing in the low 400's now. Experiement. If it starts to get REALLY bad, take some time off and then come back to it. You don't want to fuck your shit up and have to start all over. Trust me.

[pumpster]

i've read from a lot of sources that stretching and doing proper warm up sets before doing your work sets prevent shoulder injuries. 

Very important to take the time to warm up well, even though it seems boring at the time. I don't think it's gonna totally prevent shoulder probs though, some just inherently will have problems with certain exercises like barbell bench. In which case use dumbbells or avoid presses and do other things for chest. Barbell benches are not essential and can be tough on joints.

On stopping short of chest: whatever works, whatever doesn't hurt. That's all that matters there are no rules about having to do full reps in fact sometimes 1/2-3/4 ROMs are better for size and easier on the joints, such as with box squats & preacher curls stopping short of the bottom.

[The Squadfather]

Very important to take the time to warm up well, even though it seems boring at the time. I don't think it's gonna totally prevent shoulder probs though, some just inherently will have problems with certain exercises like barbell bench. In which case use dumbbells or avoid presses and do other things for chest. Barbell benches are not essential and can be tough on joints.

On stopping short of chest: whatever works, whatever doesn't hurt. That's all that matters there are no rules about having to do full reps in fact sometimes 1/2-3/4 ROMs are better for size and easier on the joints, such as with box squats & preacher curls stopping short of the bottom.

great advice by Pumpster, there are no set rules to lifting, if stopping short works for you do it and db's work very well.

[thewickedtruth]

Very important to take the time to warm up well, even though it seems boring at the time. I don't think it's gonna totally prevent shoulder probs though, some just inherently will have problems with certain exercises like barbell bench. In which case use dumbbells or avoid presses and do other things for chest. Barbell benches are not essential and can be tough on joints.

On stopping short of chest: whatever works, whatever doesn't hurt. That's all that matters there are no rules about having to do full reps in fact sometimes 1/2-3/4 ROMs are better for size and easier on the joints, such as with box squats & preacher curls stopping short of the bottom.

Awesome advice as usual pump....



Here's something that might be worth a read. It's a little article I wrote myself and it also has some great info I found from westside and a few other sites qouted into it as well. Might give you some help in answering some of your questions on benching and such.

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=137671.0

[timm3r]

i see some people at my gym going down only a few inches, like 5 inches down.  they're still probably a whole foot away from their chest.  are you guys saying that theres nothing wrong with that?

[thewickedtruth]

i see some people at my gym going down only a few inches, like 5 inches down.  they're still probably a whole foot away from their chest.  are you guys saying that theres nothing wrong with that?

Be a trend setter and bench properly unlike everyone else in your gym!

[ryu007]

All good advice. Appreciate it. I definitely don't stop at 90 degrees or anything like that. I stop just short of touching my chest, at best you could probably fit your fist in between the bar and my chest. Now even with really light weight, when I go to touch my chest, I feel like my shoulder is being extended too far. My chest still gets an awesome burn from benching, so I think I'll continue to bench this way for a while. What you said earlier Wicked reminded me of something that I've always wondered about: the width. I grip the bar rings with my index, while I see a WHOLE lot of guys doing it at their pinkies, if not closer even. What's your take?

[thewickedtruth]

All good advice. Appreciate it. I definitely don't stop at 90 degrees or anything like that. I stop just short of touching my chest, at best you could probably fit your fist in between the bar and my chest. Now even with really light weight, when I go to touch my chest, I feel like my shoulder is being extended too far. My chest still gets an awesome burn from benching, so I think I'll continue to bench this way for a while. What you said earlier Wicked reminded me of something that I've always wondered about: the width. I grip the bar rings with my index, while I see a WHOLE lot of guys doing it at their pinkies, if not closer even. What's your take?

Sounds like a good grip width bro. My wrip spans the entire bar but I've got ape hangers for arms. And you're doing it right by only going as deep as is comfortable. If you feel it hyperextending your shoulders, it's because it is.

[Mike]

i see some people at my gym going down only a few inches, like 5 inches down.  they're still probably a whole foot away from their chest.  are you guys saying that theres nothing wrong with that?

Most likely they are lifting too much weight but there may also be a legitimate reason for it.