DB Bench Press

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2

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  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Hah, no.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    Last question:

    So if it's not really necessary to squeeze pecs at the top of DB bench press, then i'm assuming it's better to keep your traps tight the entire time?

    This means that I won't be getting the most range of motion though because having straight arms at the top of the lift causes your traps to loosen up.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    Ok, so if you want to focus more on your chest, you let your elbows flare?

    Turn your palms in 45 degrees, like the guy in the second video. This reduces involvement of the anterior deltoids (front shoulders). So does setting the bench at a slight decline.
    when im at the top of the lift i just keep trying to push forward, even when arms are fully straight (if that makes any sense at all). this keeps the pecs tight throughout the whole motion. i tend to loosen up my traps a bit at the top of the lift so i can get a further range of motion

    Don't worry about squeezing at the top - there's no resistance from the weights at the top of the movement, so use it as a momentary rest, so you can put a strong effort on the next rep. If your pecs don't get a break, they can't lift as much. That's what i don't like about the 2nd video - he doesn't straighten out.

    He doesn't straighten out probably because he's trying to keep his traps tight throughout. I'm wondering if this is a good thing? Or should you always be straightening your arms, no matter whether your focusing on triceps or pecs more?
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    And do you guys squeeze your pecs at the top?

    Yup.

    I imagine it as if I want to poke the bar with my nipples, then I squeeze that ish until it happens.

    Omg contradicting info!!! I don't even know how to contract my pecs anywayss, but who is right? To squeeze or to not?

    And if I want to focus on my chest, do I have flared out elbows with palms facing outwards or is doing this ALWAYS wrong?

    You're overthinking it, young grasshopper.

    Do you need to contract and get an iso in the pecs? Naw. You can if you want.

    What's the difference? Likely none, we're talking about an act that in and of itself is on the margins. Over years of doing it one way or the other there might be a discernible difference in two identical people doing an indentical regimen with only this as a differentiating factor.

    As was said above, elbows closer in and you focus on your tris, further out (I do perpendicular to my body) and you're working pec/chest.

    Lest you freak out and eat someone... go try a set of each, you'll feel it. Then you'll be able to have a better understanding of what's being said due to increased focus context.

    tl;dr, bro, go lift both ways. Squeeze, or not, your call.

    I know what you mean: my trainer has told me to bench like the guy in the second vid, elbows tucked, palms facing each other, and keeping traps tight so don't go for full range of motion. I have to admit, doing this doesn't really make me sore. I wish I could say this made my tris sore or something.

    I'm wondering, if I did bench with elbows tucked and palms facing each other, and I went for the full range of motion by loosening traps at the top, would it be better?

    Anyways, yesterday, I wanted to experiment. So I did some sets with palms facing straight forward, but trying to tuck in elbows at the same time, and some sets with same palm position but with flared out elbows. I did about 70 reps total, all with a full range of motion, and now today, my chest is sore.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    Hey guys, I've been benching lately, and what I've noticed is that I'll feel it in my biceps area more than anything. I'm scared that I'm putting stress on my shoulder joints as well. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe benching too heavy?
  • rogerOb1
    rogerOb1 Posts: 318 Member
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    Video two.Tuck your elbows to protect your shoulders.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    but I thought this was only if you wanted to focus on your tris?

    what if you wanted to focus more on your pecs? do you just let your elbows flare out and risk injury?
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    OK guys, so after more research, I've come to the conclusion that EVERYONE should bench with tucked in elbows. Flared out elbows just makes you more susceptible to shoulder injury.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Hey guys, I've been benching lately, and what I've noticed is that I'll feel it in my biceps area more than anything.

    You're probably feeling your anterior deltoid, which we talked about earlier. It connects down near your biceps. Again, a slight decline on the bench reduces involvement of the deltoids.

    If your shoulder joint hurts, you might be lowering the bar too far down.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
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    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
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNEMcJ7ixBY&list=UUfp6G6JnSdF0XYP6MCVgOQA&index=1
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    edited October 2014
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    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.

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