erics44

Hi
I am new to body building so sorry of i sound a bit behind

I read a lot about people saying form is more important that the amount of weight you are lifting which i can understand

with a bench press however (bench press is lying on your back bushing a barbell upwards yes?), im not sure how your form can be bad. As your body is stuck to the bench it is only the arms doing the work so your form cant deviate that much. Would putting a bit more weight on be better in this instance?

Thanks

fozyspilgrims

Your form can be bad if you:

1) Go to fast

2) Bounce bar off chest

3) Don't have full range of movement

4) Jerk the bar up and down instead of smooth controled movement

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trickymicky69

and remember to have the bar further down your chest. most newbies look like they are performing shoulder press when benching

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cellaratt

One commom bad form you will see is the leg assissted ass lift, on the flat bench press. With most compound movements good form is essential to injury prevention...keep the weights light until your form is correct or pay the price that comes with the macho man attitude that you have to look the part to make the gains...If your seriouse about your training you must take baby steps and research is the key...youtube can be your best freind...Ask specific questions on the board when you require a specific answer and you will get all the help you need here...best of luck with your training...Cheers

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dudeson

The biggest advice I would give is to not bounce off your chest. It may be easier at first, and if all you care about is the amount of weight you can put up then go for it, but the muscle will come with controlled movements, and don't sell yourself short. I see alot of guys, including my best friend, stop the bar several inches from his chest, don't do this unless you have some sort of pain associated with going all the way down, you want a full stretch at the bottom. Also, I see a lot of guys going really wide, in order to handle more weight, I only go a few inches outside of my shoulders at max,

Con

Lets get a little pedantic about this
1) Position your feet in your "power position" for me this is feet pointing outwards away from the body, heels firmly planted on the floor.
2) From a sitting position keeping your feet still firmly on the floor slowly lay back when your upper back reaches the bench squeez your scapula together and keep it held there through out the movement this is hard at first but crucial to sucessful benching.
3) Take your hand position on the bar dont worry overly about going wide rather pick a position for comfort personally i have long arms so i place my index fingers on the rings of the bar.
4) Take a deep breath and unrack the bar make sure your entire body is tensed this includes your ass and your abbs.
5) Slowly and controlled lower the bar to your nipple line, some powerlifters go lower such as to their belly button this is not needed to grow a good chest and use heavy weights some bodybuilders believe lower to ones neck recruits more chest fibers some do swear by it personally i believe this stresses the shoulders too much.
6) Hold the bar on your chest for at least half a second basically the bar must become motionless in order to allow for no bounce.
7) Drive the bar straight up as it goes up exhale.
8) At the top of the movement take another breath hold it and repeat from number 6.

The bench press is a full body movement if done correctly recruiting power from your legs to your lats (squeezing scapula).
Now many bodybuilders argue that it is just for chest but at the same time they say flat bench has little place in a bodybuilding routine so if you are going to do it do it correctly.

Other notes...
On lock out never drive your shoulders up off the bench as this does nothing but take stress of the pecs and onto your shoulders.
Do not worry about your weight start of light do it correctly and slowly increase weight in smart increments such as 2.5kg.
NEVER USE THIS MOVE TO TRY AND IMPRESS OTHER PEOPLE you will eventually get hurt and any one who knows any thing about lifting is more impressed with a good physique coupled with correct lifting form.

dudeson

So CON. Do you lock out still when you bench? My training partner pointed out to me last year that I Never lock out, only maybe at the last few reps of a last set to rest. I never realized I was doing this and I figured it out that locking out really just takes the stress off the pecs puts it on the joints. Do you still lock out?

erics44

Thanks for the description Con, ill try and stick to it

I have been doing more reading and a lot of people seem to sugest a beginner like me should be looking at the Rippetoe method, you probably know this but it is

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Power cleans

You train on 3 nonconsecutive days per week.

So week 1 might look like:
Monday - Workout A
Wednesday - Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

do you agree?

what kind of weight do you think i should be starting with? I work out at home and only have a total of 40kg to put on my bar, is this enough? Im not that strong at the minute, i am fit tho