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How To Bench Correctly


smitty

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Very good instructional video. Several points about pulling the bar as you go down with your lats to help tighten the back is something I've not given much thought on before.

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Another terrific vid Smitty,I am sure this will help ALOT of people out.Great job Bro.

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The bit about the L shape and irritation is/was spot on for me and basically ended my benching days. I'm definitely going to have to go try it with the elbow correction and report back. Great vid! :rock

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Great video Smitty. On a related note about a year ago I had aome phantom shoulder problem. As in the king were I could not press a 20 lb. db overhead without intense pain. I had no idea how it happened but I started to use a lot of your re-hab and pre-hab protocols and in no tuime at all they were feeling great. Never had a problem since and this is a big plus seeing as I have a very labor intensive job. Thanks.

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Thanks for the great feedback.

Jad - I look forward to your progress.

Smitty, question, I work out at home, alone, in a power rack. Is it safe with no spotter? I'm not going for any sort of 1RM, in fact I haven't benched in a while, but I'm just wondering. in fact it's good I haven't benched in a while, because my old football coach taught us the L Shape was correct, just one more point that he has no idea what he's talking about. Right up there with not teaching us snatch, not teaching us back arch on bench, among a few others. Now that I know how to do it right after BBB I look forward to training this, thanks a lot Smitty.

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Great video, can't wait to heal and go for 330, I am going to try to do it at 145lbs or less, awesome video, I learned more from that video that I have from years of self training. :D

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Thanks for the great feedback.

Jad - I look forward to your progress.

Smitty, question, I work out at home, alone, in a power rack. Is it safe with no spotter? I'm not going for any sort of 1RM, in fact I haven't benched in a while, but I'm just wondering. in fact it's good I haven't benched in a while, because my old football coach taught us the L Shape was correct, just one more point that he has no idea what he's talking about. Right up there with not teaching us snatch, not teaching us back arch on bench, among a few others. Now that I know how to do it right after BBB I look forward to training this, thanks a lot Smitty.

No problem using the rack, just make sure when you pull the bar off the rack that you don't lose your setup. If you do, reset before starting the movement.

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Thanks for the great feedback.

Jad - I look forward to your progress.

Smitty, question, I work out at home, alone, in a power rack. Is it safe with no spotter? I'm not going for any sort of 1RM, in fact I haven't benched in a while, but I'm just wondering. in fact it's good I haven't benched in a while, because my old football coach taught us the L Shape was correct, just one more point that he has no idea what he's talking about. Right up there with not teaching us snatch, not teaching us back arch on bench, among a few others. Now that I know how to do it right after BBB I look forward to training this, thanks a lot Smitty.

Make sure you have a some safety system in place so you can put the bar on the pins in case you can't get a rep. It doesn't matter if you think you are going light, you probably already have this set up but just in case!

With no liftoff make sure you are very precise in setting up and pulling the bar off the j-hooks. You should be in the exactly the same spot on the bench every time and pull the bar off the j-hooks perfectly to keep your setup. You don't want to be bumping into the hooks or having to reach to get the bar. Modify or replace your j-hooks if you are not able to pull it off perfectly, I know some have huge lips on them making you pul around them and you can build up with wood if there is a problem on the height.

Nice vid smitty! I do tend to take and hold that breath from the liftoff, I notice taking another breath that tightness can go away real quick especially using boards. I think we can agree its most important that you do not properly exhale once you have the bar in your hands, exhaling will cause a loss of tightness. Taking that second quick inhale may be good for a lot of lifters.

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Thanks for the great feedback.

Jad - I look forward to your progress.

Smitty, question, I work out at home, alone, in a power rack. Is it safe with no spotter? I'm not going for any sort of 1RM, in fact I haven't benched in a while, but I'm just wondering. in fact it's good I haven't benched in a while, because my old football coach taught us the L Shape was correct, just one more point that he has no idea what he's talking about. Right up there with not teaching us snatch, not teaching us back arch on bench, among a few others. Now that I know how to do it right after BBB I look forward to training this, thanks a lot Smitty.

Make sure you have a some safety system in place so you can put the bar on the pins in case you can't get a rep. It doesn't matter if you think you are going light, you probably already have this set up but just in case!

With no liftoff make sure you are very precise in setting up and pulling the bar off the j-hooks. You should be in the exactly the same spot on the bench every time and pull the bar off the j-hooks perfectly to keep your setup. You don't want to be bumping into the hooks or having to reach to get the bar. Modify or replace your j-hooks if you are not able to pull it off perfectly, I know some have huge lips on them making you pul around them and you can build up with wood if there is a problem on the height.

Nice vid smitty! I do tend to take and hold that breath from the liftoff, I notice taking another breath that tightness can go away real quick especially using boards. I think we can agree its most important that you do not properly exhale once you have the bar in your hands, exhaling will cause a loss of tightness. Taking that second quick inhale may be good for a lot of lifters.

As mention above by Jad. The bad L shaped form with was how I benched when I was in highschool. That was also the last time I benched because I separated my AC joint and had to have 5 shoulders surgeries between both shoulders. I will have to give this a shot again with very light weight of course.

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Nice vid smitty! I do tend to take and hold that breath from the liftoff, I notice taking another breath that tightness can go away real quick especially using boards. I think we can agree its most important that you do not properly exhale once you have the bar in your hands, exhaling will cause a loss of tightness. Taking that second quick inhale may be good for a lot of lifters.

Yes, the way I teach it to my athletes is to take an initial breath to unrack and rebreath prior to the eccentric of the first rep. That second breath can actually make the setup tighter if you do it correctly.

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Is the elbow correction what PLs are talking about when they say throw the bar down to your crotch and then it should come back over your head on the up phase?

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Is the elbow correction what PLs are talking about when they say throw the bar down to your crotch and then it should come back over your head on the up phase?

Yes, but not as severe. This video is geared toward raw lifters

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Tried out the technique last night and was very pleased! The elbow adjustment part is the best part for me; WOW what a difference! I need to play with position on the bench and bar path though. I keep jamming the bar back into the J-hooks. Then when I have to alter the bar path to a more vertical path, to avoid the hooks, that's when the shoulder irritation pops back up. Overall though I was very happy. I worked up to a triple with 295 with a nice pause on each rep on bottom because the technique isn't just automatic for me and I have to think about it before I start back up.

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A few months ago I found that my shoulders was killing me espically after my bench but they didnt hurt if i did over head presses. Then I found if I rotate my elbows in and get away from the 90 degrees that my shoulders felt much better and my lift got bigger. Great instruction!!!!!!!!!!1

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Excllent video Smitty the elbow correction is what I was trying to explain to Teddy in his thread.You have done it perfectly here.Nice work my friend!!! :mosher:mosher:mosher

Brendan

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Tried out the technique last night and was very pleased! The elbow adjustment part is the best part for me; WOW what a difference! I need to play with position on the bench and bar path though. I keep jamming the bar back into the J-hooks. Then when I have to alter the bar path to a more vertical path, to avoid the hooks, that's when the shoulder irritation pops back up. Overall though I was very happy. I worked up to a triple with 295 with a nice pause on each rep on bottom because the technique isn't just automatic for me and I have to think about it before I start back up.

Last workout I tried the elbow correction too, but lost it during the press phase and ended up resorting to the L shape. :erm I need some practice at this. I keep good form on the down phase but "forget" and flare out my elbows when I start to struggle. This is all with a flat back. My immediate goal is 405, so I think I'll need to master the tight upper-back, arch, foot placement and elbow adjustment, before I get there or I will have problems later on at higher weights.

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Josh, next MI comp I can put on a clinic for you!

http://media.putfile.com/620short

Very good Smitty. Only addition would be to say how to keep setup without a liftoff. Shallow hooks are a must like AP wrote. It is also more important to get way underneath the bar when you lift off. You should be sliding and pulling the bar to the right spot with as little pushing up as possible.

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Josh, next MI comp I can put on a clinic for you!

http://media.putfile.com/620short

Very good Smitty. Only addition would be to say how to keep setup without a liftoff. Shallow hooks are a must like AP wrote. It is also more important to get way underneath the bar when you lift off. You should be sliding and pulling the bar to the right spot with as little pushing up as possible.

SWEET! Even with the technique Smitty described it still kills my AC joint but there's no way I'm passing up the opportunity; that's what ibuprofen is for :D

Edited by jad
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