Geschatte leestijd: 3 minuten
In collaboration with Nazil Karić, I, Jonah Rohi, have worked on a series of 4 video episodes and articles: the bench press, squat, deadlift, and the pull up. In this series, I highlight the most common gym ”mistakes”. Through these videos and articles, I hope to help you perfect these exercises. Today in the spotlight; the bench press.
1. The bro bench
It’s absolutely fine to have your buddy spot you, but how much weight are you actually lifting yourself? You can easily reduce 20 kilograms from the total weight with just two fingers.
Moreover, you should also consider whether you want to create so much muscle damage. It’s scientifically proven that muscle damage is not equal to muscle growth. Excessive muscle damage and the accompanying soreness can negatively affect your subsequent training. Your body often responds and recovers better at a lower intensity. Besides, it’s not cool to have your buddy deadlifting during chest day.
2. The ab crunch bench press
A flat back, or no shoulder blade retraction, means that your chest doesn’t get properly tensioned (isolated) and at the same time, you don’t activate the muscle fibers you want to activate the most. It’s a misconception to think that this way you isolate your chest muscles more.
Also, you cannot generate power from your lower body this way. The bench press is, after all, a compound movement, in which your lower body also plays a role. Try firmly planting your heels on the ground and exerting pressure from your legs. You’ll quickly notice that you generate more power with the correct execution.
This way, you can move less weight from point A to point B, resulting in less progress in the end.
3. The bouncing bench press
By letting the weight bounce on your chest, you may be able to move more volume from point A to point B, but what value does it have when you use momentum? Because there’s no muscle tension and your time-under-tension becomes shorter, you miss the most important part of your lift. There’s more muscle damage and less “real“ strength, which ultimately leads to less muscle growth.
4. Half reps
Why do half the work when you can do it fully? Half repetitions are the result of ego-lifting. More range of motion (full repetition) ultimately leads to more muscle mass. There are, however, a few exceptions, as some people cannot create a full range of motion due to limited shoulder mobility.
5. Sportclub de losse pols
Every day, I see people placing the bar too high in their palms. This can cause wrist complaints and result in loss of strength.
Always make sure the bar rests low in your palm and keep your wrists straight. I always tell my clients: “break the bar“, this also pulls your shoulder blades together, your elbows are fixed, and your wrists are straight.
6. The injury bench press
The moment I instruct people in the gym to tuck their elbows more inward, I often get the reaction: ‘’But this way I feel my chest better’’. It’s important to know that training by feel is not decisive for
muscle growth. An injury will never be worth more than a nice pump in your chest, right? By tucking your elbows in, you can bench press more safely and lift more volume. This way, there’s less stress on your shoulder joints, and your triceps take over a large part of this force. You don’t have to worry that your chest muscles won’t be properly targeted, because with the right execution, your chest will be sufficiently isolated.
To give you an idea of the correct execution during a bench press, I recommend watching the video below. At the end, I’ll give tips & tricks that will take your bench press to the next level.
If you’re interested in further guidance, feel free to contact me via the Fitsociety App.
