Bar hitting your chest half way!

[Pika]

Ok i always let the bar be right close by my chest and go all the way up and down again now im getting guys at the gym that do half ways and fast!!! They say you neva go all the wayy up and never go all the way dpwn .... Now me? I dont belive in this i dont hit my chest but im very close to my chest but i goo alll the way up ! Can some spread there info on this or?

 

[Gazhole]

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.

 

[Pika]

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?

 

[Anabolic5150]

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.

 

[Pika]

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 ??

 

[ct67_72]

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.

 

[Pika]

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

 

[CowPimp]

Gazhole and Anabolic both make excellent points. Basically, full ROM is the way to go excluding isolated situations involving working around an injury.

Let me elaborate a little more on why partial ROM is a suboptimal way to bench press, or any movement for that matter. If you stop half way down, then are avoiding the part of the lift that requires generating the most tension. This makes no sense from a muscular development standpoint. I don't want to give a full biomechanics lesson here, but let's just say that you don't need to generate maximal torque at the joints involved (Shoulder and elbow) until your arms are in line with your body or slightly below that position.

Furthermore, your chest muscles are most involved in the bottom position due to the mechanical disadvantage they are placed in for certain shoulder articulations once your arms move past your trunk. So, you also submaximally stimulate the chest with a partial ROM.