Coach Thib Bench Set Up

Have anybody tried it for raw bench pressing? Thibadeu suggest that it’s better for raw lifter , any experience with that? ive recently started pressing that way and although it feels little weird right now, its easier for me .Opinions ?

I’ve started switching to it last week. Previously my setup was almost the same, but I didn’t have my heels on the ground which caused some “butt lifting” on top sets. Now that I’m not lifting my butt by bench is about 2.5kg lower (haven’t really pushed it all the way yet, but judging by how high I got and how it felt), which was to be expected.

Which part of it feels weird? For me it’s the “sort of push press but not”, still getting used to it.

well, shrugging part feels weird. “push pressing my bench” actually made the difference and i did more reps with (last all out set) this technique than normal…(tested few days apart) yet sometimes during benchin i lose my shrug.

I always benched like this before he came out with the video because it felt more natural to me. I personally don’t think the style of benching in Dave Tate’s video does much for a raw lifter.

Always benched this way myself. It provides a more stable platform to press from IMO and it definitely saves the shoulders. It also allows for the maximum space in the shoulder joint (which the way Tate teaches doesn’t actually do). The key is to maintain retraction as well as serratus tone throughout the lift. Shrugging helps this, retraction makes this harder.

Thibs also makes an important point about not tucking as much as a shirted bencher would. The way I like to think about it is you want to actually push your shoulders about as wide as they will go while still taking advantage of lat drive at the bottom. This will not be very wide and will not look BBerish if you do it right.