wrong bench technique ??

[exter]

Hey
My computer wont read my memory card so i cant upload form checks currently.
I know what correct bench technique is but I think I have some problems staying tight , it's pretty hard to describe , but I feel like i am not really shrruging my shoulder blades together as I should be.

I can do 8 one arm push ups and I can only bench about 0.9bodyweight.... is that normal ?

[MattJ.D.]

Doesn't the book teach to retract your scapula..or squeeze your shoulder blades? unless that you mean by shrug them

[exter]

yes thats what I meant , sorry english is my third language.
I just pull them back together as if i was squeezing something in the middle of my back.

[MattJ.D.]

Well are you getting a lift off or unrackin it yourself? Ive noticed Im always a lot looser when I dont get a lift off

[Les Hahn]

There is more to the technique than just the scapular retraction though. How do your arms look when you are pressing, do you flare your elbows out? How tight are your legs... are you getting any drive out of them?

Like Matt said too, if you aren't getting a lift-off that would help a lot as well.

[exter]

I don't flare my elbows out , and I started getting a lift off recently , I don't really pay attention to my legs though.
But the problem is that trying to lift as shown in the book didn't add a single pound to my bench (I had protracted scapula , didnt squeeze the bar ....) , so I was wondering if I really got it right.

Also , I think I weigh about 70KG (the scale says 74 but I think its wrong) , and last time I tried one arm push ups I was 4kilos fatter and I got 8. My estimated 1RM on bench is a pathetic 68KG , isnt that weird ?

[MattJ.D.]

Idk I'm confounded.....Do push ups and bench presses actually have a correlation? I know guys from my gym class that could bang out 60 some push ups to my 40 some, but I'm benching a good amount of weight more than them, and of course weigh more...Also being better at dips weighing more and adding more weight than them
Squeeze shoulder blades, Hand Wrist forearm should be in line, drive feet into ground to get leg drive, my elbows aren't tucked like a powerlifter but they're aren't flared to 90 degrees...should be like a happy medium between the two

[Les Hahn]

Yeah, that is weird. Pushups don't use your full BW of course... but you are doing them 1 handed.

I would look at changing your form up. The form in SS is not the best way to lift the most weight, it is instead intended to grow the most muscle. You could look at some of the Dave Tate benching vids on youtube for some ideas. I think he has a 4 or 5 part series called, "So you think you can bench" or something like that. I would play around with your grip width too, since you have good pushup strength, maybe grabbing the bar differently will use more of those muscles to help you out.

[mrflibble]

I bet you're not doing your 1 arm push ups with the same form and ROM as you would bench.

No offense exter, but you do seem to start a lot of inane threads. You don't have program ADD do you?

[williamlexcrawford]

I'm going to put it up front that my bench is the hardest thing for me to raise with my long monkey arms, so I just refer people to Dave Tate's so you think you can bench article and Mike Robertson just did an article on the bench with some pointers. Their styles go farther into a more serious powerlifting set up than SS, but it could be helpful.

http://articles.elitefts.com/article...e-series-here/
http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/...ess/#more-1178

Probably the biggest thing that I learned through EliteFTS but just recently bothered to do in regards to upper back tightness is setting my traps up on the bench with my legs on the bench and arching. Then I just try to maintain that pressure on my upper back as I put my feet back on the floor. Again, it's a little more hardcore than the setup taught in SS, but it's still the setup you're going to see for a big bench regardless or raw or equipped.