DB Bench Press

2»

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    so I'm confused: do my shoulder joints hurt because i'm lowering the bar too far down? or does it hurt because i'm not tucking in my shoulders?

    because I thought you're supposed to lower the bar down till it touches your chest

    Safer advice would be to lower the bar until your elbows are at bench level, not below, because that can cause rotator cuff problems for some guys. The problem with the "bar to the chest" advice is that someone with a relatively small chest and long arms will have a longer range of motion and their elbows will go below bench level. Makes sense?
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    Don't let your shoulders roll forward at the top of the movement. Keep the scapula back. Keep the scapula back at the top of the movement, keep them back at the bottom of the movement, keep them back for dumbbell bench, keep them back on barbell bench, keep them back on the hammer strength press machine... keep them back.

    If you don't mind some adult language, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ5iCcKzg2Q
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    Don't let your shoulders roll forward at the top of the movement. Keep the scapula back. Keep the scapula back at the top of the movement, keep them back at the bottom of the movement, keep them back for dumbbell bench, keep them back on barbell bench, keep them back on the hammer strength press machine... keep them back.

    If you don't mind some adult language, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ5iCcKzg2Q

    My trainer told me this too. But to achieve this, you must not allow your elbows to lock out at the top, doing so will relieve some of the tension in your traps / scapula... etc.

    I am correct, yes?
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    Don't let your shoulders roll forward at the top of the movement. Keep the scapula back. Keep the scapula back at the top of the movement, keep them back at the bottom of the movement, keep them back for dumbbell bench, keep them back on barbell bench, keep them back on the hammer strength press machine... keep them back.

    If you don't mind some adult language, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ5iCcKzg2Q

    My trainer told me this too. But to achieve this, you must not allow your elbows to lock out at the top, doing so will relieve some of the tension in your traps / scapula... etc.

    I am correct, yes?

    Go as high as you can go without letting your shoulders shrug forward
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    Just watched a great video summing up a lot of what's been said on this thread so far:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg99By4PHm0

    When having elbows splayed out, you are focusing more on pecs, BUT make sure not to go below parallel or even parallel. Stop when you start to feel tension on your shoulder joints. Can bench with a flat back.

    Tucking in elbows leads to more tricep activation, and allows you to bring the weight a bit down further. Still watch out for shoulder joint tension though...
    This is more of a powerlifting form, and thus, you should arch through your thorasic extension while doing this.

    Lastly, for both of these "forms", shoulders should ALWAYS be pulled back and downwards. Don't bring dumbbells together at the top of the lift as this releases tension and transfers it onto your wrist, elbows, and shoulder joints. Therefore, only go as far up as you can while maintaining tension on your traps.
  • phatguerilla
    phatguerilla Posts: 188 Member
    You shouldn't necessarily have to concentrate on squeezing your pecs at the top it should happen automatically, at least in time. You should also be able to keep your shoulders back and have your pecs contract, again it should happen automatically if you have maintained tension in the muscle throughout the lift. If you can do both of these things the contraction at the top of the movement will be better than if you bring the dbs together.

    Decline db bench might be an easier way to learn how to do this as the shoulders are not as engaged in the lift, but as others have said you can practice it even while sitting down.

    Personally I find elbows in or out to be an description that doesn't help. I prefer to think about it as using your upper arm to maintain a 45 degree angle with your shoulder.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    You shouldn't necessarily have to concentrate on squeezing your pecs at the top it should happen automatically, at least in time. You should also be able to keep your shoulders back and have your pecs contract, again it should happen automatically if you have maintained tension in the muscle throughout the lift. If you can do both of these things the contraction at the top of the movement will be better than if you bring the dbs together.

    Decline db bench might be an easier way to learn how to do this as the shoulders are not as engaged in the lift, but as others have said you can practice it even while sitting down.

    Personally I find elbows in or out to be an description that doesn't help. I prefer to think about it as using your upper arm to maintain a 45 degree angle with your shoulder.

    My trainer has a really good cue as well. He tells me to imagine squeezing a watermelon against the side of my body throughout the entire motion (because your elbows should be tucked in both during the descending and ascending part).
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    Practiced today. Pinched shoulders back and down, meaning that I couldn't go up very much as I wanted to keep my shoulders pinched against the bench. Traps need to be tight.

    I only brought the dumbbells as far down as "above parallel." This ensured that there was no pressure on my shoulder joints (was not tucking in elbows as to focus more on pecs).

    As you can probably imagine, I had an extremely small range of motion. It felt almost like I wasn't doing much? Hardest part of the lift was probably trying to keep my entire upper body tense the entire time. Didn't have to focus much on thorasic extenstion and legs, because I haven't learned to arch properly yet. I practiced with 10s, 20s, 25s, and went up as high as 6 reps with 30s on my last set.

    I tried to squeeze my pecs at the top of the lift WITHOUT bringing the dumbbells higher. Struggled to do this. Maybe gotta practice this part with lighter dumbbells?
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNEMcJ7ixBY&list=UUfp6G6JnSdF0XYP6MCVgOQA&index=1
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    edited October 2014
    Ok guys, so i posted a vid of myself doing DB bench press. I have my shoulders tucked back and down, allowing me to arch through my thoracic extension a bit. I also bring the DBs towards my lower chest, not upper. The only concern i have is that I'm feeling a lot of stress on the biceps/arms area (shoulder joints). I feel like I am lowering the DBs a bit too much.
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs

Categories