Myths about bench pressing

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201105/how-increase-your-bench-press

Everyone wants a big bench press. It's the ultimate sign of machismo and a true test for wannabe NFL players at the Combine. But it seems the more often you bench, the worse you feel. You get discouraged and either stop benching altogether or just try to bench more, which eventually leads to an injury. Not good.


But many common problems with the bench press can be fixed with just a few simple changes in your workout. In fact, to get better at benching, sometimes it is better not to bench at all, at least for a short time. Give yourself a break and start over. Take a few steps back and work on the basics. If you know some of the major myths about how you approach your bench press training workouts, you'll be stronger, healthier and remain injury-free for a long time.

Myth: The bench press is just a chest exercise

Most lifters don't realize the bench press is a full body lift: You need a tight grip on the bar, a braced core and hips that drive the feet downward. Also, the strength of your triceps, lats and shoulders plays a big role in your ability to press more weights. Another big technique flaw lies in the elbows. If someone looked straight down on you while you're bench pressing and sees your elbows flared out, you are putting too much stress on your shoulders. This can cause some serious shoulder issues. The elbows should track about 45 degrees out from your torso during the lift.

Myth: The bench press is built on the bench

Once people start bench pressing in the gym, they forget about doing push-ups. Unlike bench pressing with a rigid barbell and your back fixed on the bench, push-ups are a more natural movement. Push-ups also promote strength and mobility of the upper back and the shoulder blades. They also are an amazing core exercise, as when you are doing push-ups, you are in a plank position. If you do push-ups properly, you'll be amazed at how your posture changes and how your bench press increases. Don't forget push-ups can be overloaded with a partner providing manual resistance or holding an Olympic plate on your upper back.

Myth: Bench press starts when you grab the bar

When most lifters come into the gym after a long day at the office, their idea of a warm-up is a few sets benching an empty bar. Sorry. A thorough warm-up is essential, and your entire upper-body should be used in the process. I know what you’re saying: "I don't have enough time!" But warming up isn't an option; it's mandatory. And a good warm-up can take as little as 10-15 minutes, if you move progressively through each exercise.

The best part about busting these myths is that you can watch your buddies struggle to lift the bar, show them how it's done, and then shrug as you grin and say, "That's weird. I never do bench press."

-- Jim Smith is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who has written for publications such as "Men's Health," "Muscle & Fitness" and "Oxygen." Visit his website at DieselSC.com.

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what other myths should be given to the fam and what good warm ups should be done before lifting weights ?

 

You should also say that SIZE does not equal strength.

 

Is that you Ymra? My, that guy is very handsome.​

 

Very good article, and thorough as well. Whenever someone asks me about improving their bench I always ask them what they do improve their triceps and lats and shoulders. I believe in heavy triceps work, weighted dips, close grips, press-downs. I like to do push-ups at the end of my chest work out. They got to easy though so now I'm adding resistance with weight plates placed on my back.

I also agree that size is no determinant of strength. If you look at records you can see how the middle weights and light heavies fare in lifts against heavier guys. Also, don't forget the Swartz formula. I tell guys that I'm not impressed when a guy weighing 250 benches 400 lbs. Let him do what the smaller guys do and perform a 2 X or 2 1/2 weight bench press, then I'm impressed.

 

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww thank you Open Heart!

 

I learned a lot when I started lifting, One thing I found that hard way was size and strength. I was lift against guys that looked freaky HUGANTIC. Same weight (180) but shorter and far more stocky. And it shocked me. I would go to the bench and put 270lbs as my first lift and these guys would come right behind me and have the same starting lift, and I kept thinking "HUH? thinking these cats were going to left the bar....

Or I'd see a woman 120lbs, bench 210 plus.

I also thought "Hey all I have to do is lift and it should take me too long to break 300 (shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit) ha! Not that easy.

Since I got sick and shot up to 235lbs....upon losing the weight my goal was to win one more championship and to fight in one last fight.

I did both (I'll tell you about the fight one day)....now my goal is to simply play as much xbox as is humanly allowed.

ha!

 

Is that offer from the other day, still open?:smt026 Hehehe.

 

commere baby.....let me walk around the hotel with you...we will be joined at the waist.

 

Funny how that happens, lol. Yes, I know that a lot of non-lifters think that as well. I remember a buddy of mine, a non-lifter saying that he could bench 300 lbs. My reply was to say, I bet you can't bench 200 lbs. We went to the gym, we put 200 lbs on the bar and I lifted it off to him. Let's just say that the bar dropped to his chest even faster than his ego.

I'm glad to hear that you doing so well, and not sick now. As they say, continue to fight the good fight my friend. I'm sure that you will reach your goals. Good luck!!

 

LOL...you are a mess. I bet you have 1,000 girlfriends at your disposal.

 

This message is hidden because OpenHeart is on your ignore list.

 

When I moved here I did DATE MY ASS OFF....

...I think I needed to get it out of my system. Now I'm just enjoying being me.

HA! Not even a little bit. To be honest I'm a very shy person (no one believes me) I simply hide it well. But women do see men nude pics from my youtube show.

got my lapstop
my xbox
my skype so I can talk to my children
some choice porn
and my lil motorcyle.....life is great.

....I've hangin' out with one lady but she and I don't want the same things.

 

As long as you are happy, that's what matters. Hopefully, you and that special lady will find common ground for a stronger more lasting relationship. Sometimes life is sweeter when you have a special someone. But if you're an introvert like myself, it can go good either way. I don't depend on any one person for my happiness and you appear to be the same way.

 

Trust me...I'm NOT looking at all. Not even a little bit.

Just enjoying and trying to figure out what comes next....but I'm not trying too hard...

 

Good article. Pretty basic information. Once the basics are covered, ask a power lifter how to develop a big bench. Their ability to compete depends on it.

 

Is there a difference in how much reps/sets for strength versus for cosmetics

 

If I understand your question correctly, you want to know if you should train differently for strength, as opposed to size?

The short answer is yes. In general, strength is about trying to "recruiting the greatest amount of muscle fiber to achieve maximum effort". This means that you want to go heavy in training and not exhaust the muscles through lots of repetitions. You want to save your energy to allow you to lift the heaviest weight that you can, for a few reps, typically no set with more than 8 reps after you warm up.

Power lifters often cycle the number of repetitions as well. You might start out doing 4 sets of 8 reps to build a base of strength for perhaps 3 -4 weeks. Then you move to 5 sets of 6 reps, for a similar time, then 5 sets of 5 reps for 3 weeks, then 4 sets of 3 reps for 2 - 3 weeks, then you can try a maximum lift in the following week. Again, this is a general routine for strength and it can vary a bit. Other routines are based on percentages, meaning that you determine the weight you will use each week based on a percentage. For example, your first week of week of 8 reps is based on 65% of the most weight you lift for one rep. The next week, you may do 75%, then 85% and then 90% and finally 95%. You do your "new" max attempt the next week.

The point of all the routines is that you are always trying to lift the most weight you can at each session. You should be able to do all of the reps on your own, but it should be challenging to finish each set. You add weight each week as you feel stronger. The amount depends on the person, anywhere from 2 1/2 to 5 lbs.

These routines are for the base muscle group you are working. Bench presses, Squats and dead lifts. You still have to do auxiliary exercises like the ones explained above for the bench. You have to do other exercises to develop core and back strength for the dead lifts and the same for legs.

The difference with bodybuilding is that you generally do more reps, from 8 reps to as many as 15 reps, depending on how you feel, and whether you cycle in a similar way that you do in strength training. You focus more on volume, which means more reps and more sets for a specific body part in general.

Well, that's a quick overview of my thoughts. It's hard to be much more specific without knowing more about your goals. My intent was to give you a sense of the concepts of lifting. Feel free to ask more questions and good luck to you.

 

I think I see what you are saying. Im just lifting for cosmetics (looks).call me shallow.LOL. you know to look good in your clothes and on the beach sorta speak. Im sure you will gain some strength and some endurance.

so what I have been doing --
flys 3/8
Bench press 3 sets of 5
arms 3/8
legs 3/8

I have about a total of 12-14 exercises. where there are about 2 or three for each part excpet back. I need to do that.
so on and so forth so you can pretty much see that Im just cosmetics ( at least I think I am).

 

No worries Bro, there's no such thing as shallow as far as I'm concerned, at least based on what're saying. Everyone wants to be the best they can be.

In any case, I would recommend that you do more reps for all of your exercises, if you working on "look" only. Of course you will gain some strength as well.

Even as a person new to lifting I think that you should do more reps, 10-13, rather than 8 reps. It's important to build a good base to avoid injury and doing extra sets and reps will help you to gain more muscle and "look" better.

So, I would modify your routine as follows:

Chest

flys 3/10-12
Bench press 3 sets of 10-12
push ups 3 sets of 10-15


Back

Cable rows 3 sets of 10-12
Bent over one arm rows 3 sets of 10-12
Chin ups 3 sets of 10-12
If chin ups are too challenging, then do lat pull downs 3 sets of 10-12

Legs

Squats 3 sets of 10-12
Seated leg curls or lying leg curls 3 sets of 10-12
Lunges, either stationary or walking 3 sets of 10-12

Arms

Bicep curls with dumb bells 3 sets of 10-12
dips 3 sets of 10-12, or as many as you can up to these reps

I purposely omitted shoulders, but it seems like you are just starting out so I would add a couple of exercises later for shoulders.

 

yeah, for shoulders I do the arm lifts toward the front and sides.(forgot the name)

shoulder shrugs and the one with pull the dumbells/long bars up to your chest (uprows).