bench press question myth or true?

[sgtneo]

my m8 was reading a magazine and it said in there that if your a gym user when doing bench presses pull down on the bar for five seconds before you start to allow your pecs to get ready and there fore allow you to bench more weight than usuall, is this true as i ahve never heard of this statement before?

cheers

Neo

 

[BigDyl]

Or you could just warmup...

 

[Mudge]

Well you would hopefully warm up regardless, but thats a mental thing. Some people do a couple rows against the bar, but still that has about as much sense to it as hopping on one leg making you lift more. If it does make you lift more, obviously its a mental trick, just as lucky underwear, or a rabbits foot is lucky.

Perhaps there is some possibility of there being a push/pull response. The only time I've seen a powerlifter use that technique though, he headbutted the bar and passed out, lifting zero pounds.

 

[sgtneo]

LOL fair enough wernt sure on that one myself

Neo

 

[gopro]

Stretching the antagonistic muscle to the one you will be working will cause the muscle fibers in the working muscle to fire harder. Doing this between sets will also allow for more efficient recovery of the target muscle from set to set.

 

[njc]

Stretching the antagonistic muscle to the one you will be working will cause the muscle fibers in the working muscle to fire harder. Doing this between sets will also allow for more efficient recovery of the target muscle from set to set.

Do u stretch the antagonistic muscles in between your sets?

 

[sgtneo]

cool, cheers for that gopro, i will start streching the muscle, any particular ways of streching it better than others?

Neo

 

[thatguy]

The only time I've seen a powerlifter use that technique though, he headbutted the bar and passed out, lifting zero pounds.

How embarrassing!

 

[BulkMeUp]

Stretching the antagonistic muscle to the one you will be working .

Do you have a link that suggests different streaching options for diff body parts to achieve that?

 

[bio-chem]

ive tried that technique and it totally worked for me. every time before i do my heaviest lifts i do it and that stuff works

 

[gopro]

Do u stretch the antagonistic muscles in between your sets?

I do this consistently on my POWER weeks for sure.

 

[gopro]

cool, cheers for that gopro, i will start streching the muscle, any particular ways of streching it better than others?

Neo

Well, you need to find ways that YOU feel the best stretch. There are several ways to stretch the pecs, hams, quads, etc, and depending on your structure and level of flexibility, some ways will work better than others.

 

[gopro]

Do you have a link that suggests different streaching options for diff body parts to achieve that?

I'm not sure, but there must be one out there!

 

[sgtneo]

Well, you need to find ways that YOU feel the best stretch. There are several ways to stretch the pecs, hams, quads, etc, and depending on your structure and level of flexibility, some ways will work better than others.

cheers again gopro for advice and ill find some streches that work better for me

Neo

 

[gopro]

cheers again gopro for advice and ill find some streches that work better for me

Neo

I hope you find it helpful.

 

[troubador]

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

it has stretches listed to the right when you click on a muscle group

 

[pumpthatiron]

Another myth?

You should only bring the bar down 90 degrees instead of going all the way down. I know it's not true but can someone please explain why it's better to go all the way down?

 

[CowPimp]

Another myth?

You should only bring the bar down 90 degrees instead of going all the way down. I know it's not true but can someone please explain why it's better to go all the way down?

Because then you don't use as wide of a range of motion. The muscles will primarily get stronger in the range of motion you work them in, which is why isometric exercises should not be the base of a routine.

The reason people say this is because they bench press wrong. If you bench press with your upper arms completely perpendicular to your torso, then you place a lot of stress on your shoulder joints. If you bench press properly, with your elbows tucked in closer to your sides, then you reduce the stress on your shoulders greatly.

 

[gopro]

Because then you don't use as wide of a range of motion. The muscles will primarily get stronger in the range of motion you work them in, which is why isometric exercises should not be the base of a routine.

The reason people say this is because they bench press wrong. If you bench press with your upper arms completely perpendicular to your torso, then you place a lot of stress on your shoulder joints. If you bench press properly, with your elbows tucked in closer to your sides, then you reduce the stress on your shoulders greatly.

However, if you are mostly worried about pec development and not strength, benching with your elbows tucked into your sides is not optimal.

Bringing the bar all the way to the chest allows for a greater stretch to be put on the muscle, and a stretch under tension is a strong trigger for muscle growth. Also, the pecs are recruited to the greatest extent through the first half of the range of motion...from chest to midpoint.

 

[CowPimp]

However, if you are mostly worried about pec development and not strength, benching with your elbows tucked into your sides is not optimal.

Bringing the bar all the way to the chest allows for a greater stretch to be put on the muscle, and a stretch under tension is a strong trigger for muscle growth. Also, the pecs are recruited to the greatest extent through the first half of the range of motion...from chest to midpoint.

Fair enough, but adding in some decline presses would be a better way to go about this in my opinion. Rotator cuff and other shoulder related injuries are so common, it's just not worth it to bench press for maximal pectoral stimulation, at least in my opinion.

 

[gopro]

Fair enough, but adding in some decline presses would be a better way to go about this in my opinion. Rotator cuff and other shoulder related injuries are so common, it's just not worth it to bench press for maximal pectoral stimulation, at least in my opinion.

Well, that really depends on the person. If you can bench without shoulder problems, and you feel you get alot of pectoral stimulation from it, there is no reason to use declines over flats. I can't stand declines and don't like the range of motion it affords me. Others might feel exactly the opposite. No hard and fast rules on this one.