Bench Form

[DariusM]

How does the form look on my bench press?

[Les Hahn]

Not too bad! There are a lot of good things going on there, so I will just give you a couple of tips/things to work on.

1. Try to set up a on a more solid base. I see your legs moving around a lot, they should be tight. I bench with my legs back as well, but when I start lifting, everything gets as tight as possible. Sometimes my legs cramp up because my leg muscles get really tight.

2. Watch the elbow flare. As things get heavy, it is easy to start to flare out ( I do too). Just keep an eye on that, especially when doing lighter weight/higher reps. Since you are not using SS form, you could try tucking your elbows more/touching lower on the chest. You could also try out different grips as well. Eventually you will find the form that helps you move the most weight possible.

3. Get a spotter! If you have someone do the lift-off, you will expend less energy starting the bench, and you can stay tighter. Moving the weight out of the rack yourself can unset your back, and for some people, it can cause shoulder issues. Since you are at a normal gym, it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

Best of luck!

[DariusM]

Not too bad! There are a lot of good things going on there, so I will just give you a couple of tips/things to work on.

1. Try to set up a on a more solid base. I see your legs moving around a lot, they should be tight. I bench with my legs back as well, but when I start lifting, everything gets as tight as possible. Sometimes my legs cramp up because my leg muscles get really tight.

2. Watch the elbow flare. As things get heavy, it is easy to start to flare out ( I do too). Just keep an eye on that, especially when doing lighter weight/higher reps. Since you are not using SS form, you could try tucking your elbows more/touching lower on the chest. You could also try out different grips as well. Eventually you will find the form that helps you move the most weight possible.

3. Get a spotter! If you have someone do the lift-off, you will expend less energy starting the bench, and you can stay tighter. Moving the weight out of the rack yourself can unset your back, and for some people, it can cause shoulder issues. Since you are at a normal gym, it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

Best of luck!

Thank you very much, I noticed when I try to tuck my elbows in to the side, they want to flare out a lot doing heavy weight because I probably haven't built the strength up enough using that form. The reason I didn't get a spotter this time, first there was only 2 other people in the gym. And everyyyyytime I tell the guy just watch I will tell you when I need help, they start helping when I got it and that pisses me off a lot. Also is this a good weight for my age and body weight, 16 and 168lbs. I wanna get into competition.

[Les Hahn]

Thank you very much, I noticed when I try to tuck my elbows in to the side, they want to flare out a lot doing heavy weight because I probably haven't built the strength up enough using that form. The reason I didn't get a spotter this time, first there was only 2 other people in the gym. And everyyyyytime I tell the guy just watch I will tell you when I need help, they start helping when I got it and that pisses me off a lot. Also is this a good weight for my age and body weight, 16 and 168lbs. I wanna get into competition.

Not a problem! Use a form that works well for you. If you want to see a guy that really tucks raw, check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9Uj...1&feature=plcp There are lots of guys that don't tuck this much, but just be careful about really flaring your elbows out too far. It almost becomes a BB type bench then, and it can be harder on the shoulders.

It can be hard to find good spotters. Sometimes they just like to grab the bar. I am ok with that (someone shadowing the bar), if I am using my usual spotters. They won't pull anything unless I need it, and they are honest with me when they do it. Grinding reps a lot can be hard on you. If I have a hard set where my spotter keeps it going by taking 5-10lbs off the bar, that is ok with me. It is better than rally grinding it out and burning out in the weeks to come. Again, this is just my opinion, but a lot of people train like this. I'm not advocating this for every set, but if you go for an overload with boards, there is nothing wrong with it.

I think 225 for reps is good. How long have you been training, and what did you start with on the bench. If you want to compete, try to work in paused reps every once and a while. I do all my low rep board work for a really short pause. It is hard to get a good TNG off the boards, so I just pause them. Working on a pause for regular reps helps too. It isn't something you have to do all the time, but just work it in every once and a while.

I hope this helps!

[DariusM]

Not a problem! Use a form that works well for you. If you want to see a guy that really tucks raw, check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9Uj...1&feature=plcp There are lots of guys that don't tuck this much, but just be careful about really flaring your elbows out too far. It almost becomes a BB type bench then, and it can be harder on the shoulders.

It can be hard to find good spotters. Sometimes they just like to grab the bar. I am ok with that (someone shadowing the bar), if I am using my usual spotters. They won't pull anything unless I need it, and they are honest with me when they do it. Grinding reps a lot can be hard on you. If I have a hard set where my spotter keeps it going by taking 5-10lbs off the bar, that is ok with me. It is better than rally grinding it out and burning out in the weeks to come. Again, this is just my opinion, but a lot of people train like this. I'm not advocating this for every set, but if you go for an overload with boards, there is nothing wrong with it.

I think 225 for reps is good. How long have you been training, and what did you start with on the bench. If you want to compete, try to work in paused reps every once and a while. I do all my low rep board work for a really short pause. It is hard to get a good TNG off the boards, so I just pause them. Working on a pause for regular reps helps too. It isn't something you have to do all the time, but just work it in every once and a while.

I hope this helps!

Yeah even his elbows flare out a tad from tucking in so tight. And if I were to add pauses in my starting strength routine how much should I lower the weight, because you obviously cant do as much weight compared to touch and go. I have been training for 6-7months now. Learnt everything by myself living in a small community kinda does that. And I started off with being able to bench my bw, which was around 140-150. Now im thinking I could hit 260-270, for a one rep max. I noticed though military presses have helped my bench in so many ways.

[DariusM]

So how would I go about adding pause reps, since you got to use lighter weight?

[Les Hahn]

So how would I go about adding pause reps, since you got to use lighter weight?

If you are still doing SS, I would just stick with that for now. Once you transition to the intermediate level, you can add some pause reps on either intensity or volume day.

[Man_in_the_Box22]

I'm new to this so if I'm wrong feel free to correct me. I understand that the feet should be planted on the ground and it serves as a foundation to tighten up the entire body. In the vid you have the feet too far back, which would limit your potential significantly. That's what I've gathered from Rip's videos.

[DariusM]

I'm new to this so if I'm wrong feel free to correct me. I understand that the feet should be planted on the ground and it serves as a foundation to tighten up the entire body. In the vid you have the feet too far back, which would limit your potential significantly. That's what I've gathered from Rip's videos.

Thats how I get my tightness in the back though, I think I need to find a happy medium, I maxed out at 260 though so pumped about that.

[Les Hahn]

Thats how I get my tightness in the back though, I think I need to find a happy medium, I maxed out at 260 though so pumped about that.

I am the same way. I can keep my back/legs tighter by pulling my legs back to bench.

Man_in_the_box, it isn't like the legs just dangle there, you still drive your heels into the floor (or attempt to). Since you are doing SS, I would just stick with that form for now. Once you get a better idea on what you want to do with your bench (compete, etc), then you can decide if you want to mess with your form. But for the TS, since he is happy with his current setup, I wouldn't change it. Why fix it if it isn't broke?