I’m thinking i’m touchin too low since I can barely stabilize the weight @ such a steep angle. I was 1-2 inches away from my belly button, but I could not press well. Seems like if i move 3 inches up the ROM is still the same and easier to hold.
Is that raw or in a shirt?
this is for training raw
Some fed require you to touch no lower than your xiphoid process so you should base it on your fed.
No plans of competing in the near future; just training the lifts.
Why do you touch so low?
An inch or two above your belly button raw?! How? Why?? This is a joke, right?
Just the other day it was suggested that I try touching a little higher on my raw bench and I’m only touching at the bottom of my sternum.
The only time I’ve seen anyone bench that low is when they lost the groove in their shirt and dumped the bar.
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
An inch or two above your belly button raw?! How? Why?? This is a joke, right?
Just the other day it was suggested that I try touching a little higher on my raw bench and I’m only touching at the bottom of my sternum.
The only time I’ve seen anyone bench that low is when they lost the groove in their shirt and dumped the bar.
[/quote]
Maybe he’s a pixie with a 4 inch torso?
Or his belly button isn’t where it should be…
Between my chin and my xiphoid process I would guess.
Oops guess I took it too far. On videos it seems like they bring it way low, so I tried to copy; bad angles though. Figures why warm up weight felt so ridiculously hard.
[quote]kickureface wrote:
Oops guess I took it too far. On videos it seems like they bring it way low, so I tried to copy; bad angles though. Figures why warm up weight felt so ridiculously hard.[/quote]
That’s because you’re watching guys in multiply bench shirts who have 300+lb of support which increases the lower they go!!
Another reason why the internet is a disaster when you don’t have an experienced hand around.
Look at vids of guys like Kennelly, Hoornstra and Ceili benching raw, they don’t even tuck their elbows that much, never mind touch their belly button!
Coincidentally I saw a woman in the gym yesterday with an unusual bench pressing style, that likewise put the bar near the belly button.
The resulting motion had the elbows completely in, with seemingly no pectoral involvement required at all. On the other hand, it looked like an interesting front delt exercise, as the overall motion of the upper arm was really just like a front raise, except lying down and so therefore with a different force curve.
She was using a fixed 20 lb bar, by the way.
I actually may try it as a delt exercise sometime. Don’t know if doing it this way has a name or not, or has ever been done by anyone of note as a delt exercise.
Nipple level is a good starting point and then adjust up or down 1-2" max and see how it feels. It is usually considered cheating to touch the bar below your sternum and on your belly, and it is extra hard (and rough on the shoulders) to bring the bar too high and close to your clavicle (on a flat bench).
Generally it goes like this:
Decline - Xiphoid process (bottom of sternum)
Flat Bench - Nipple level
Incline Bench - Just below the clavicle on the upper chest.
However you do it if it is raw the warm-ups should feel easy and natural.
I noticed yesterday that my shoulders feel better and I can press more weight w/o shoulder irritation if I bring the bar down about an inch above my nipples.
Your elbows must flare out in order to go above the nipples no?
@hanley
I’ll look those guys up.
@Roberts
Analysis pretty much right, tons of triceps/shoulder, little pec.
On the incline though I try to go to my clavicles, just feels like a triceps exclusive exercise almost.
I’ll save you the trouble:
Every rep touches right at the bottom of the chest. Elbows are slightly tucked. Grip width is ring finger on the hashes.
i touch right around my nipple and it works great for me
[quote]Hanley wrote:
kickureface wrote:
Oops guess I took it too far. On videos it seems like they bring it way low, so I tried to copy; bad angles though. Figures why warm up weight felt so ridiculously hard.
That’s because you’re watching guys in multiply bench shirts who have 300+lb of support which increases the lower they go!!
Another reason why the internet is a disaster when you don’t have an experienced hand around.
Look at vids of guys like Kennelly, Hoornstra and Ceili benching raw, they don’t even tuck their elbows that much, never mind touch their belly button![/quote]
Great post one of my training partners tore his right pec trying to belly bench 150kg raw