Bench STICKING point. [Archive] - John Stone Fitness Forums

HevyMetal

Sun, June 7th, 2009, 02:15 PM

The first thing you want to determine is:- whether you are built for benching successfully or not.

If you have wide shoulders, long muscle belly lengths, Pec muscle that is generous right up to the clavicle, and you don't have a "pigeon"chest,
and your wrist and elbow/shoulder bone shoulder joints are not small for your size...then maybe you fit into the 'natural" bencher category.

On the other hand.......if you have long arms,narrow shoulders, no "V" taper to the torso to speak of,short muscle belly lengths, small bone joints for your size and a minimum of Pec muscle......you have your work cut out for you.....to avoid being injured somewhere down the road, and also to get maximum results from "The Bench".

If you are genetically built to bench....you are miles ahead of those that aren't.

And there are lots that aren't...but are spurred on by pictures in magazines etc. of guys benching superhuman weights.

The bench in recent years has become the yardstick of bodybuilding moves. Everybody wants to know how much you can bench.

Even though technically it isn't that great a move for power, because when you are standing up there is not much power functionally in that move.

Most MMA'ers focus on pulling moves and do not concentrate much on the Bench because it doesn't have much practical value really.

It has been touted as a "Mass-building" move. But it's only a good mass move if you are skeletally and genetically built for it. If you aren't, it isn't.

If you fit the second description above ( not so well put-together-for bench)...by all means use partial reps. The idea being to find that area of the rep that gives you maximum stimulation and most power thereby enabling you to perform contractions with a decent amount of power.

The day of the Full-range-of motion rep is over. That is a bodybuilding myth perpetuated from wayback. You can trim off inches off a rep and find the zone where you just know it's right.

You can do low-end partials,mid-range partials, high-end partials.

If you have long arms/narrow shoulders.....do not do "widegrip" benches. This is very hard on the rotator cuffs and shoulder joints for someone built this way.

Do you reps with the arms just about shoulder width with your fore-arms sticking straight up from the body at 90 degrees.

If long arms/narrow shoulders.....do not do 'closegrip' bench...where the hands are very close together. Everyone thinks this develops the inner Pecs...but it doesn't.

Trying to do powerlifter moves (Colossal multi-bodyweight bench) without the suitable genetics is like trying to set the record for the 100 yard dash when you happen to have legs that are 1 foot long with size 25 feet.

In the bodybuilding world...you do not adapt to the exercise....the exercise adapts to your needs.

Do not bench just for the sake of benching. Examine yourself carefully and see whether the bench is going to be a move that gives you results
based on your skeletal/muscle leverage ability and the criteria mentioned above.

Everyone has s sticking point on the bench if they go full-range-of- motion. Because that's the nature of a full range ex. Somewhere in that ex there's going to be a weak point based on the leverage angle, genetic make-up,and existing musculature.

For most people it's at the bottom of the lift on a bench..."the hole" as it's known. Because, leverage -wise, that's the weakest part of the lift.

Powerlifters will use "board presses" to train. Just another fancy term for a "partial" though, because that's what a board press is, no matter what 'spin' they put on it.

The longer your arms and the narrower your upper torso, the more trouble you will have with the "hole" sticking point.
In this case to get the best development...you may be forced to do partials of different varieties if you want to see any muscular improvement.

And if you fit this description I would not rely solely on The Bench by any means to develop an impressive upper body.

Find the "sweet spots" in your partials and rep out rhythmically...never mind negatives or superslows etc.etc.

IROC-Z

Sun, June 7th, 2009, 08:48 PM

Hey
can anyone advise on whats the best method to overcome a weak point in the barbell bench ... i find i can stick at the bottom portion of the movement
with heavier weights?...is it just a matter of practicing or shall i start incorporating partial rep movements?
thanks

If you're having problems with the initial drive of the bar off your chest, the absolute best movement you can do to remedy that is the Behind-the-neck-press. Lots of people are probably going to tell you that doing the BN press will ruin your shoulders and you should avoid it at all cost. That's a bunch of crap. I did heavy BN presses for over ten years, and my shoulders are just fine. I can't really speak for why the mechanics of this movement are so helpful in developing that initial burst at the bottom of the bench press, but it helped me more than any other movement I've used.