Hi CT,
I’m struggling with the technique you described in your bench pressing video. I have always been advised by others to bench press with the back arched and the shoulders pulled back, nobody has ever mentioned shrugging the shoulders while benching. Anyway I tried it yesterday and it just feels uncomfortable. It seems as if I’m wasting too much energy just maintaining the shrugged position throughout the lift and I actually feel unstable during the lift. Also I’m not able to move the bar up and down as fast as I normally would and have to therefore use less weight - Am I supposed to only shrug at the top of the lift or throughout the whole lift?
I think u are supposed to shrug the shoulders before u unrack the bar, and also i think it would if u can keep ur back flexed throughout the movement.
actually and honesty to me it feels better to use the shrugged position…even if I had no problem at all with the conventional powerlifting setting and it always worked well for me compared to “normal” gym setting
I used it mostly on incline and decline…the 2 benches that I do, as I do not do now the flat one…but maybe it would come even better with the flat… I ll know when I know
When I try this I shrug as if the weight is making me shrug, like I arch my back and the force of the bar pushes my shoulders into a shrug. I also dont know if your supposed to be shrugging 100% to your ears or just keeping them “shrugged”. Best advice I heard so far is just do what it takes to get the weight up. Im open to learning more.