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By Root 547 0

Think about the “driving against the bench” model and why you need your chest up. Then sit on the bench in the same position you assume before lying down to take the bar. Before you lie down, imagine a hand touching you right between the shoulder blades, as illustrated in Figure 5-21, and imagine pinching the hand between your shoulder blades. This pinching will also cause you to raise your chest as your upper back tightens, further contributing to a good position. Now actively raise your chest, lifting it up as if to show someone your boobs (Again, sorry for the coarse analogy, but you now know exactly how to produce the contraction). This is the position you will take against the bench. Now lie down, take the bar out, and assume this position, making sure your shoulder blades are together and your chest is up high. Do a few reps, correcting your position before and after each one and focusing intently on the way it feels to do it correctly. This way, the position becomes embedded quickly and you can assume it without a lot of conscious thought or direction.

Figure 5-21. Retract the shoulder blades by thinking about pinching a hand between them. This effectively tightens the upper back for pushing against the bench.

During the lift, minimal shoulder movement should occur. If the shoulders move much, something in the upper back has loosened and the chest has lost some of its “up” position. The thing that moves is the elbow. Now, it should be obvious that the humerus moves within the glenohumeral joint, so the shoulder movement referred to here is the forward shrug that novices often add to the end of the bench press before being coached. Some minimal scapular movement is unavoidable, particularly in a set of more than a couple of reps, but if it is excessive, it will compromise your efficiency by adding to the distance the bar has to travel to lockout. This effect can be illustrated by examining what happens during a shoulder shrug and the distance it adds to the bar movement.

Lie on the bench and pull your shoulders back into full adduction, with your chest up in a good position and your back arched. Put your arms up with straight elbows in a position that simulates the start of the bench press. Note the position of your hands. Now shrug your shoulders up off the bench so that your shoulder blades come out of adduction, and note the difference in position. There will be a 4- to 6-inch difference in the distance from your hands to your chest from shrugged-back to shrugged-up. This is the extra distance you have to push the bar if you don’t keep your shoulders back.

Figure 5-22. Note the extra distance traveled by the bar when the shoulders are shrugged forward at lockout.

During a longer set (more than just a couple of reps), most inexperienced people will let their upper back deteriorate out of the shrugged position. If this happens, each rep is a little looser than the previous one and the bar must travel a little farther each time. At the end of a set of five, reset your shoulder blades and chest-up position. If you are able to move them much at all, they have come out of position. Your goal is to be able to do all your reps without losing the set position.

Neck

The function of the neck muscles is to maintain the head’s position and to protect the cervical spine during the loading of the chest and upper back as the bar comes down on the chest. The neck muscles therefore function isometrically to maintain position, in a role similar to that of the lower back muscles during the deadlift. But unlike the back muscles, the neck muscles should not transfer power along the neck to help with the lift. In other words, you do not use your neck to bench press. Do not push your head into the bench, even if you have been told that it will create a stronger rebound off the chest. It very well might, but this is an excellent way to injure your neck. You need to learn how to tighten up your neck without pushing on the bench with the back of your head. As a practical matter, this involves holding your head about