bench form check

[hostile]

i haven't done this lift in forever, its barely higher than my military press. how do they look?

do any of you guys have experience with really pushing yourself in this lift without a spotter? I don't have a workout buddy or anything but im tired of ignoring this lift. How consistently can a person safely fail heavy benches without a spotter? I'm guessing you dump it off you by working it down your belly until you can sit up and extract yourself from under the weight.


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[Adam Franklin]

I'm guessing you dump it off you by working it down your belly until you can sit up and extract yourself from under the weight.

This is dangerous at heavy weights. IF you MUST bench without safeties or a spotter, don't use clips on the bar. In fact, just make it a habit not to EVER put clips on the bench.

On to your form:

The first thing you need to do is PIN YOUR SHOULDER BLADES TOGETHER. When you lay on the bench to press, it is not a passive action. You need to actively pull your shoulders blades TOGETHER and DOWN toward your back pockets. Try to lift your chest up as high as you can while laying on the bench.

Next, you are touching too low on your chest/upper belly. For now, touch just below your nipples.

Lastly, when you press up and lock out, KEEP THE SHOULDERS BACK. Think about pushing the back into the bench more than pressing the bar. The "so what" is that the shoulder blades should not come up off of the bench; in fact, the shouldn't move at all once you pin them back and down.

Try this and see how that works for you.