Bench Press form

richardpkennedy1
richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Looking for some feedback on my bench press form. I've never been assessed by a trainer so anything I learned was from YouTube or from my friends. The video is over a year old. I'm using 90 lbs (41 kg) for 10 reps and 3 sets here.

https://youtu.be/h8400aGupPI

Replies

  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    lock your shoulders down and back and get tight. Once they are locked back, its gonna make your chest lift up a bit so you can touch just slightly lower on your chest, And when you press, your shoulders stay down and tightly pinned behind you. That's clearly not a lot of weight for you, next video put some weight on it because thats when form issues are more visible. this is a full body lift, as you add weight you will have to focus on your leg drive and getting your whole body tight.
  • bigbuffbarry
    bigbuffbarry Posts: 38 Member
    SonyaCele knows. Quick tip, put your body up further. I like to line up the bar at about my neck for unracking/ reracking. You are putting a lot of stress on your shoulders. That space above your head is there for a reason. Might not be an issue now. With heavy weight it will be
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    i line it up under my eyes.
  • xlgman
    xlgman Posts: 33 Member
    Definitely slide your whole body up quite a bit like barry said.
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  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    Thanks for this everyone
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    Also like Sonya stated. Start practicing with completely tightening your body. And start practicing your leg drive before the weight starts getting heavy. It's a saving grace when you want to get acouple extra pounds on the bar
  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    jessef593 wrote: »
    Also like Sonya stated. Start practicing with completely tightening your body. And start practicing your leg drive before the weight starts getting heavy. It's a saving grace when you want to get acouple extra pounds on the bar

    Been working on my leg drive a bit. My goal is to bench press my body weight of 144 lbs within 2 months.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs[/yt]
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
    edited July 2016
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs[/yt]

    I don't like this one because his head keeps coming up and he's on his toes. Many people bench on their toes but it impacts leg drive.

    Like someone else mentioned, bench is a full body lift. When I bring the bar down, I think of it like drawing the string on a bow; you're creating increased tension. Pressing the bar is firing an arrow. That may not work for everyone but it's a mental image that helps me. After I bench, I feel it in my upper back, lower back and quads. Much of the work is in the set up. It's not a matter of lying on a bench and unracking the bar. Shoulders are back and tight, you're up on your traps, butt is on the bench and your sternum is as high as you can get it. Set up is such an important part that I have a limited number of times that I can set up properly in any given training session.


    Check this one out. It's very comprehensive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34XRmd3a8_0
  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs[/yt]

    I don't like this one because his head keeps coming up and he's on his toes. Many people bench on their toes but it impacts leg drive.

    Like someone else mentioned, bench is a full body lift. When I bring the bar down, I think of it like drawing the string on a bow; you're creating increased tension. Pressing the bar is firing an arrow. That may not work for everyone but it's a mental image that helps me. After I bench, I feel it in my upper back, lower back and quads. Much of the work is in the set up. It's not a matter of lying on a bench and unracking the bar. Shoulders are back and tight, you're up on your traps, butt is on the bench and your sternum is as high as you can get it. Set up is such an important part that I have a limited number of times that I can set up properly in any given training session.


    Check this one out. It's very comprehensive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34XRmd3a8_0

    Thanks for this!
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Set up higher under bar.

    Retract and the depress shoulders and keep them there. You're literally lifting your shoulders off the bench. This results in losing your tightness and ability to transfer force efficiently.

    Work on leg drive. You should be pressing with your heels trying to slide your head down the bench. You might need to put a yoga mat or a band on the comercial bench to keep you from sliding.

    The bar should be traveling backwards like your last rep on the accent.

    Here is a vid of my bench. Notice how the shoulders stay in place after I retract and depress on my set up. You can see how I utilize leg drive. Because I lost some tightness on the unrack, the leg drive is more visible.

    https://instagram.com/p/Bp-y4qhAlb1/embed/


    Not a bad bench you have there. You might find a wider grip useful on different days as a varient of this more close grip (arm) style.



  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    Set up higher under bar.

    Retract and the depress shoulders and keep them there. You're literally lifting your shoulders off the bench. This results in losing your tightness and ability to transfer force efficiently.

    Work on leg drive. You should be pressing with your heels trying to slide your head down the bench. You might need to put a yoga mat or a band on the comercial bench to keep you from sliding.

    The bar should be traveling backwards like your last rep on the accent.

    Here is a vid of my bench. Notice how the shoulders stay in place after I retract and depress on my set up. You can see how I utilize leg drive. Because I lost some tightness on the unrack, the leg drive is more visible.

    https://instagram.com/p/Bp-y4qhAlb1/embed/


    Not a bad bench you have there. You might find a wider grip useful on different days as a varient of this more close grip (arm) style.



    Thanks so much for this! If I can bench even half what you are doing I'd be very happy indeed

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