I made a post about proper benching technique on the thread about Viloria that was met with some debate and question and I thought I'd further expound on what I was getting at.
To give some background. I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with The National Strength and Conditioning Association, I have 2 master's degrees in Sports Administration and Exercise Science, I taught for years at FAU in the exercise science and health promotion department, I compete in USA Powerlifting as well as USA Weightlifting, I coach and program for athletes/powerlifters/weightlifters - this is my life. I don't claim to be an expert in many things, but the strength world is something I know a thing or 2 about.
For reference let's look at the bench press I was referring to.
The bench press is @3:30 mark
Now a few points for me to make about bench press technique. I mentioned upper back tightness in the last thread - what this means is retracting and depressing your scapulae or shoulder blades - imagine a girl pushing her boobs up. You will notice this creates some extension or arch through your thoracic spine, or upper back. This has a few different functions. This creates a better "shelf" from which to press from. Imagine the difference between your back being soft foam or your back being made of cinder blocks - which do you think would allow you to push more.
This also changes the sternal angle from which you press, tilting your ribcage back slightly. This does turn the flat bench into a slight decline bench, as some gym newbs may point out, but this is a good thing. The pectorals main function is to bring your arm across and down, think a movement akin to a cable crossover. Also benching with a flat rib cage and arms out wide will create impingement in the shoulder which can lead to rotator cuff and labrum tears. Not to mention, this style of benching puts a lot of the agonist action into the front deltoid rather than the pectorals.
As for leg drive, it is not the most important component to the bench press, but it is something any decent trainer/strength coach should teach his/her athletes. By pushing backwards with your quads, imagine doing a lex extension into the floor, you stabilize the hips/spine and reinforce the slight tilt of the ribcage that allows for better pectoral involvement and less stress on the AC joint.
As for the difference between how a powerlifter and an athlete bench, there really should not be much difference at all. The main difference is that powerlifters have to pause the bar on the chest before receiving a 'press' command to push the bar back up, while an athlete should stick with a touch and go style bench. Also, you may see some excessive arching in the bench - especially from female powerlifters. This excessive arching shortens the range of motion of the bench press and allows powerlifters to execute heavier lifts, but is not good for building strength or muscle.
If you are more interested in how to bench I highly suggest this video by Mark Bell, a guy who has benched some ungodly weight in his day:
As you can see the bench press done by the FSU athlete had very very poor technique, the weight was insane, I would love to see what that kid could do with some proper coaching.
If you guys like this post I can also go a little deeper into what was wrong with the "power cleans" that were featured in this video. But that one is gonna take even longer, those were some truly horrific looking cleans.
Hope this helps!
To give some background. I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with The National Strength and Conditioning Association, I have 2 master's degrees in Sports Administration and Exercise Science, I taught for years at FAU in the exercise science and health promotion department, I compete in USA Powerlifting as well as USA Weightlifting, I coach and program for athletes/powerlifters/weightlifters - this is my life. I don't claim to be an expert in many things, but the strength world is something I know a thing or 2 about.
For reference let's look at the bench press I was referring to.
The bench press is @3:30 mark
Now a few points for me to make about bench press technique. I mentioned upper back tightness in the last thread - what this means is retracting and depressing your scapulae or shoulder blades - imagine a girl pushing her boobs up. You will notice this creates some extension or arch through your thoracic spine, or upper back. This has a few different functions. This creates a better "shelf" from which to press from. Imagine the difference between your back being soft foam or your back being made of cinder blocks - which do you think would allow you to push more.
This also changes the sternal angle from which you press, tilting your ribcage back slightly. This does turn the flat bench into a slight decline bench, as some gym newbs may point out, but this is a good thing. The pectorals main function is to bring your arm across and down, think a movement akin to a cable crossover. Also benching with a flat rib cage and arms out wide will create impingement in the shoulder which can lead to rotator cuff and labrum tears. Not to mention, this style of benching puts a lot of the agonist action into the front deltoid rather than the pectorals.
As for leg drive, it is not the most important component to the bench press, but it is something any decent trainer/strength coach should teach his/her athletes. By pushing backwards with your quads, imagine doing a lex extension into the floor, you stabilize the hips/spine and reinforce the slight tilt of the ribcage that allows for better pectoral involvement and less stress on the AC joint.
As for the difference between how a powerlifter and an athlete bench, there really should not be much difference at all. The main difference is that powerlifters have to pause the bar on the chest before receiving a 'press' command to push the bar back up, while an athlete should stick with a touch and go style bench. Also, you may see some excessive arching in the bench - especially from female powerlifters. This excessive arching shortens the range of motion of the bench press and allows powerlifters to execute heavier lifts, but is not good for building strength or muscle.
If you are more interested in how to bench I highly suggest this video by Mark Bell, a guy who has benched some ungodly weight in his day:
As you can see the bench press done by the FSU athlete had very very poor technique, the weight was insane, I would love to see what that kid could do with some proper coaching.
If you guys like this post I can also go a little deeper into what was wrong with the "power cleans" that were featured in this video. But that one is gonna take even longer, those were some truly horrific looking cleans.
Hope this helps!
