My position on this is covered in great detail in the 3rd edition. Since a beginning powerlifter is also probably a novice trainee, this would apply to you. But I'm not going to post the 5-page explanation here.
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Bench- bar path in powerlifting
Sir, ive got question regarding bar path in bench press, what kind of technique you would suggest for begginer powerlifter when benching in competition ? J curve or mayby basic, straight line ? Which is safer for the shoulders in your opinion ?
thank you for your time
aspiring powerlifter.
p.s
i currently tried it both ways, and...both work! but i would gladly choose the one that is safer for the shoulders in long run.
TMPHBITEU
My position on this is covered in great detail in the 3rd edition. Since a beginning powerlifter is also probably a novice trainee, this would apply to you. But I'm not going to post the 5-page explanation here.
Member
thank you coach. it's great that 3rd edition touches about that topic.
Member
1. Bring bar out to just under your nipples.Originally Posted by taedoju
2. Bring bar straight down.
3. Press bar straight up.
Bar travels straight up and down. This is the shortest path. Shortest path is more efficient and translates into more weight on the bar.
TMPHBITEU
What does the nipple anatomy have to do with bench press mechanics?
Member
Nothing. He probably has a nipple fetish.
Member
You can't bench press in a complete straight line unless you do the so-called neck press by Vince Gironda. And most people's shoulders will complain. The bar path is usually straight up and then with a small curve towards the rack.
Ed Coan talking about that in this video
TMPHBITEU
Elbows
An understanding of elbow position is essential for lifting efficiency and, once again, safety. The elbow joint is the distal end of the humerus, as it articulates with the radius and the ulna. The bony knob on the end of the ulna that most people think of as “the elbow” is the olecranon process, to which the triceps tendon is attached. The pecs and delts attach to the anterior side of the humerus up by the shoulder. Essentially, all the force being generated by the muscles involved in the bench press moves the elbow down and up, and the forearm stays vertical to the elbow to keep the bar directly above it so that no moment force develops between the bar and the elbow. The action around the shoulder joint contributes to the movement of the elbow, but the shoulder doesn’t – or at least shouldn’t – change its position against the bench while the humerus is moving. Think of it as if the elbows move and the shoulders do not (even though this is not literally true).
The forearms will always be vertical. Since gravity operates in straight lines perpendicular to the floor, gravity must be overcome in exactly the opposite direction. The forearms must stay vertical, or some of the load will begin to exert a rotational force, or torque, against the elbows. And the vertical forearm position with the bar on the chest ensures the longest range of motion around the shoulder joints, and thus the most work for the muscles (Figure 3-17).
The position of the humerus while it moves the bar is crucial to the success of the movement. This position is determined by the angle the humerus makes with the torso as it proceeds from the lockout position down to the chest and back, as seen from above. The bar starts at the lockout position directly over the shoulder joint. In this position, there is no moment arm between bar and pivot point – the bar is in balance, with no effort being expended to keep it there other than keeping the upper arms and the forearms locked in a straight column of support. At the bottom – on the chest – a humerus angle of 90 degrees to the torso, a position of complete “abduction,” would have the upper arms at right angles to the bench, parallel to the bar, with the bar directly over the shoulder joints. If mechanical considerations were our only concern, this would be the ideal bottom position because it would produce a mechanically ideal bar path, with zero moment between bar and joint through the whole range of motion, and zero force to apply on any leverage between bar and shoulder.
Figure 3-aa. The bar is in balance when it is vertically aligned with the glenohumeral joints. Any horizontal distance between the bar and the balance point represents a moment arm that must be worked against. The distance between the rack and the start position is a significant moment arm at heavy weights, and the spotter’s job is to help the lifter deal with this bad mechanical position. ((DRAW – PROFILE))) (((GRAPHIC – SIDE VIEW, LOCKOUT, BAR IN BALANCE OVER GLENOID, OUT OF BALANCE POSITIONS DOWN AND UP IMPOSED OVER)))
But mechanical considerations are not our only concern. We need to be able to train the bench press without injuring our shoulders. Shoulder surgery is a GREAT BIG DEAL, I assure you. This makes anatomical considerations very important in an analysis of bench press mechanics.
The press is never a problem for shoulder health because when you are standing, the scapulas are free to rotate up and in toward the spine as you drive the bar up. This allows the scapular position to accommodate the humerus locked in line with the forearm, so that there is no impingement between the bony knobs on the lateral scapula – the acromion and coracoid processes – and the rotator cuff and bicep tendons. The scapula gets out of the way of the humerus because it can “float” into a position that doesn’t hurt anything (Figure 5-Y). In fact, the scapula is pulled out of the way by the trapezius muscle as the bar is shrugged into lockout.
In contrast, the bench press position traps the scapulas under the ribcage into a solid platform against the bench as the chest is shoved up and the back is arched. The scapulas are adducted – pinched together or retracted. They do not move if the position is assumed correctly, because they are functioning as the interface between the body and the bench. Therefore, they cannot accommodate the humerus if it approaches the bony processes. Since the scapula cannot adjust to accommodate the humerus, the humerus must accommodate the scapula by staying out of the way of the bony processes so that they don’t saw a hole through the rotator cuff tendons.
The lifter keeps the scapulas out of the way by lowering the elbows, and thus the humerus, from 90 degrees of abduction to about 75 degrees. This shift allows the humerus to travel from lockout down to a position that permits the bar to touch the chest – the longest range of motion that can be made with a straight bar – and back to lockout without approaching a position that would impinge the shoulder. But as mentioned earlier, there are mechanical considerations.
The most mechanically efficient bar path would be one in which the bar traveled vertically down and up directly over the shoulder joints, with the elbows at 90 degrees of abduction. But since this would impinge the shoulders, we must tolerate some inefficiency in the form of a non-vertical bar path produced by the distance the bar travels down the chest as the elbows are lowered from 90 degrees of abduction. This non-vertical bar path creates a moment arm between the bar and the shoulder joints at the bottom of the movement; this moment arm is equivalent to the distance along the sagittal plane between the bar and the shoulder joints. The farther the elbows are allowed to drop out of abduction – i.e., the lower the bar is along the chest – the longer the moment arm is against the shoulder joints. The bar follows the elbows: if they rotate away from the ribs, the bar goes up the chest toward the throat, and if the elbows move toward the ribcage, the bar moves down toward the belly (Figure 3-18).
Figure 3-15. (((REDRAW))) The major muscles involved in the bench press.
Figure 3-16. The bench press has the potential to cause shoulder impingement. At 90 degrees of abduction, the humeral head can mash the rotator cuff tendon up against the acromioclavicular joint (A). To avoid this problem, place your elbows down below parallel, with the glenohumeral joints at about 75 degrees of abduction (B).
Figure 3-17. The forearm must be vertical from all angles to ensure optimum force transmission to the bar and to ensure that no rotational force is generated. (((REDRAW)))
Figure 3-18. The upper arm angle determines the point where the bar will touch the chest. The lower the elbows, the lower the bar, and high elbows put the bar close to the throat. The moment arm is the distance between the bar and the shoulder joints, and it varies with the elbow position. (((REDRAW TOP 2 FIGURES, ADD LINES ABOVE FIGURES INDICATING M.A. LENGTH)))
Your elbow position is therefore related to the bar position and to your individual anthropometry. For example, an experienced, proficient lifter with good upper back flexibility can arch his chest up high, thus allowing the bar a shorter trip down and up. This technique will have the bar touching lower on the chest, toward the bottom of the sternum, as the ribcage rotates up. For a person with less flexibility in the upper spine, this bar position on the chest would require the elbows to be at an angle of perhaps 45 degrees to the torso, about halfway between touching the ribcage and in line with the shoulders. But since our experienced, flexible lifter has his chest up higher, his shoulders are closer vertically to the bottom of his sternum, when viewed from the side. This effect is due to the steeper angle that his flexibility allows his upper back, and thus his chest, to attain. This steep chest angle allows his elbows to stay more in line with his shoulders than they would for a less flexible trainee.
More important, as the chest rotates up, the shoulder joint rotates into a position more in line with the bar on the chest when the humerus is in the preferred 75 degrees of abduction. This rotation returns some verticality to the bar path and some mechanical efficiency to the movement by reducing the distance – and thus the moment arm – between the bar and the shoulder joint (Figure 3-19).
Figure 3-19. After lowering the bar down to the chest, you can recover the mechanical efficiency of a short moment arm by squeezing the chest up and rotating the shoulder joints back up under the bar. Doing this makes the bar path more vertical and shorter at the same time. (((GRAPHIC - NEW FIGURE 3-19. PHOTOS, EFFECT OF ROTATION INTO CHEST-UP ON THE MOMENT ARM LENGTH AND BAR PATH)))
The correct humeral angle can actually vary quite a bit among individual lifters, from 75 to perhaps 45 degrees depending on the flexibility of the upper back and the ability to produce a high arch. Some lifters use an elbow position where the humerus is essentially parallel to the torso, placing the bar quite a distance down the chest from the shoulders. This position produces an obviously very long moment arm between the bar and the shoulder, as well as a humeral angle that eliminates most of the pecs' function from the movement, reducing the muscle mass involved and the efficiency of the lift as an exercise for the whole upper body. This technique works well for powerlifters wearing a bench press shirt that does much of the work off the chest for the lifter, but for general strength training purposes, it is not useful.
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thank you coach! still gotta buy that 3rd edition
Member
Coach,
Do you think you could expand on this answer a bit to make it more clear?
Ok, bad joke.
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