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Old 03-03-2007, 09:12 PM
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Default Bench Press Article Part 2 - Material LIFTED from Starting Strength

ok so as promised here is Part 2

THE BENCH PRESS

Racking / Un-Racking Errors
1.) Face and Throat Safety
At all times, when the bar is moving over the face and throat coming out of or going back into the rack, the elbows must be locked out straight. When unracking the bar, the elbows must lockout while the bar is still over the hooks of the rack. This means that the elbows drive the bar up along the uprights until they lock out, and only then does the bar move down over the nipples to the start position. The triceps should lock out the elbows over the rack hooks so that the bones of the arm are in a straight line and the weight is being supported by the skeletal components instead of the muscles when the bar moves over the head and neck.

2.) Starting Movement
The bar should move all the way out over the chest to the start position, without stopping above the chin or throat. It is common to see novices stop the bar short of the starting position, lower the first rep to the chest, and finally end up in the correct position just in time to start the second rep. When the bar gets all the way there and the eyes have found their place against the ceiling, the bar should start down , but not until then. If he stops short repeatedly point out that the bar is over his throat and that the throat is a bad place to lower the bar.

3.) "J" Movement is BAD
Some pople get in the habit of taking it down to the chest right out of the rack. It should never start down before it is in place - there will be the bar path problems if it does, due to the lack of an initial ceiling reference for position, and the fact that the bar is going back to a different place than it started from. It makes the first rep different from the next ones. It prevents the lifter from getting a good, right start on the reps, since shoulders and upper back cannot be correctly set until the bar is in position over the chest. And it indicated a lack of patience, an unwillingness to take the few extra seconds to prepare properly.

4.) Racking it correctly after the set has fatigued the muscles
If the trainee misses the rack hooks because a tired elbow is not locked out, and the spotter is not paying attention (believe it or not, this actually happens!), atleast one side of the bar is going to come down. The bench press MUST end in elbow lockout, directly above the chest, everytime, or the rep should not be counted. When racking the bar, make sure that your trainees are taught to find the uprights with the bar and not to try to set the bar down on the hooks. If the uprights are tocuhed first, it will always be above the hooks; if straightening out the elbows got it clear of the hooks when taking it out, then locked elbows will ensure that it is high enough to get back over the hooks when putting it up.
Breathing
1.) Basic Tranfer of Power
In the bench press, breathing provides support for the chest. This takes the form of increased throughout the thoracic cavity due to the increase in pressure provided by the big, held breath. A tight ribcage allows for a more efficeint transfer of power to the bar by the muscles attached to it when they contract.

2.) Abs
In the extended spinal position that the arch requires on the bench, the abs cannot tighten. They cannot therefore increase intra-abdominal pressure, and cannot contribute to the needed increase in intra-thoracic pressure, thus making the big breath the sole source of support for the chest.

3.) Pattern of Breathing
The pattern of breathing during the bench is dependent on the length of the set and the abilities of the lifter. Novices should be instructed to take a breath before each rep, hold it during the rep, and exhale at lockout, using the very brief break between the reps to make sure everything is set correctly. More experienced lifters may prefer to use one breath for the entire set - any exhalation involves a certain amount of loosening of the chest to exhale and re-inhale, and some may elect to stay tight for all the reps if the set is important. Most people can only manage five reps this way before the discomfort from the hypoxia becomes too distracting. For a longer set, other arrangements will need to be made.

4.) Breath Timing
The breath is to be taken BEFORE the rep. If the breath is taken during the rep, the lungs will incompletely fill due to the loading of the ribcage by the now-contracted pecs. If the breath is taken at the top with locked elbows, the pecs are not pulling on the ribcage and a more complete inhalation can take place. Moreover, when the rep starts everything should be right, from the floor to the fingernails, and this rightness will prevent a really big breath. If you can breathe during a rep, you're not tight enough.

5.) Tidal Volume
No breath taken during a set will involve a complete exhale/inhale of full tidal volume. This takes too long, requires too much relaxation, and is unnecessary. Breathing during the set consists only of topping off the huge breath taken before the first rep, after a quick exhalation the might consists of only 10% of tidal volume. The short transfer of air accomplishes just enough to allow the set to be finished. The fact that it amounts to so little air is the reason many lifters decide to forego it in favour of maintaining tightness. Most of the time, if a lifter stops in the middle of a set to take two or more relative full breaths, he is about to miss the next rep.
Spotters
1.) Predominant Need for Spotters
Spotters should be there for safety, when there is a question of safety - spotters should NOt be there to help with a set.

2.) New Rule
No rep counts that is TOUCHED by anybody other than the lifter. Nobody touches the bar that is still moving up.

3.) Honesty and Effectiveness of a Program
If the numbers being reported out of the program are not honest, you have absolutely no way to evaluate the program. This obviously applies to all lifts that customarily require spotters.

4.) When to Use Spotters
The first warm-up sets are not a safety concern and do not require spotters, unless they are providing a coaching function. As the weight gets heavier, more trainees will need a spot, some needing one on the last warm-up, until the work sets, where everybody should be spotted because the weight is supposed to be heavy. Excessive caution, and the insistence that every set be spotted, is inefficient, unnecessary, and hard to enforce. It is much more productive to yell about spotters grabbing the last rep of a work set than to bother everybody about getting a spot for the first warm-up set.

5.) The Handoff
One of the actual functions of the spotter is the handoff. A good handoff is one of those rare commodities - there are more bad ones than good. A bad handoff interferes with the lifters timing, balance, view of the ceiling, and concetration, if he is one of those people that thinks his participation in the rep is essential. A good handoff spotter is experienced and appropriate with the timing and force of his bar contact, respectful of the mental requirements of the lifter, and above all, conservative about when and how much to help.
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ok so thats it. the complete Bench Press chapter in a small nutshell. please go buy the book. actually, buy both books.

peace

Sentinel
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