Bench Press Start Height: Too High or Too Low?

I recently bought some home gym equipment to keep working out during the quarantine. The bench press I have only really has two options for lifting the bar off the rack:

  1. I can set it high but I have almost shrug my shoulder forward and lose all tightness in my upper back to on get out of the rack.
  2. I can set it low and the bar rests about where my elbows would be if I extended my arms. It’s a bit awkward to rack and rerack and I almost hit the rack during each movement.

I know neither are optimal and I will invest in a better one once I get a bit stronger, but for now, which height should I set the bar?

Can u put something under the bench to elevate yourself a bit then use the higher rack setting?

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Maybe stick with incline bench for a while since this requires a higher starting position.

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Can I ask what you bench?

Dude, ask properly;

“What da ya bench, bro?”

2 Likes

No u ask properly:

“What da ya bench bro? I benched 405 in high school”

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Start lower and use less weight. If you have someone in the house that can give you a lift off starting low is not a problem.