Thread: Bar hitting your chest half way!

This sort of thing in the gym is like getting a shot on target in the footy. Just because it looks like a goal, gets people excited, and requires a certain amount of ability it aint a goal unless it hits the back of the net.

Just because you can aim a kick at the net doesn't mean you can win games, and just because you can push a weight through the middle third of the proper bench range of motion doesn't mean you can call it a bench press.

Most people care more about their egos than doing stuff properly. When these people start the gym they can't bear to be the "weak guy" at the gym so they cut the ROM short to pose around with more weight on the bar. Combine this with an inherrant lack of flexibility and even less willingness to improve that (or technique) you get people reinforcing bad habits over years and years in the gym. Sure, they get stronger in that ROM but its not a bench press.

I get annoyed when i see shit like this. They usually defend it by saying doing full ROM takes the tension off the muscle and doesn't produce as much growth when in reality they're just too weak to do it right.

Haa! Bro i love how you find it so deadly!! I agree tho your 100% right im no pro but god dam i watch jay cutler all the time .... So it's fine what i do right? Or no? I mean i go all the way up and go all the way down but don't tuch the chest ... Im not far at all but just dpn't hit it ... Shall i?

Gaz is right to a point, but some of us use a shorter range of motion due to injury, that to me is the only reason not to use a full ROM. When I barbell bench, if I let the bar hit my chest, I get an excruciating pain in my right shoulder. So with a bar, I stop about an inch and a half above my chest. Dumbbells, I go as deep as possible with no pain. Full ROM is the best idea, but sometimes it's just not possible.

I get what your saying bro, dumbel pess is alot more flexable .... Id like to know if im doing mine wrong? If i hit my chest i can only hit 60kg to 65kg but if i go just a liltle above it i go around 68 maybye 70 ??

very good points here. I also believe that unless you have an injury that prevents you from going all the way down than you should be doing full range presses.
We joke about it a little more at our gym, being a group of powerlifters, as we have no choice but to touch the chest and lockout to make a good lift, but watching people bench and go down 6" from their chest is just stupid.
Its mostly ego. These are the guys that tell you Arnold did the same thing because its constant tension on the muscle, and fumble for words when you ask why he stopped an inch from his chest and you 6"
so in short, I think your fine. I prefer to touch the chest, but if your within an inch your good.

Ohh yh im deffo within a inch but i think ima just hit the chest fuck cheating around very good points my friends