Bench Press

[dr.shred]

Who thinks its necessary to touch your chest when you bench?

[YounG_SluG11]

I go as close to my chest as i can without touching.

[Strictly Business]

I Always touch my chest

[dr.shred]

Well to be specific you should really touch your sternum if we want to get technical.

[Strictly Business]

well of course shred

[SMYL_GR8]

No, why? If you stop just BEFORE touching, you'll get ideal stretch with no rest in tension on the muscle which is the ideal.

[dr.shred]

im not talking rest it on your chest.

[SMYL_GR8]

The "touch" to the chest is a drop in exertive force. The amount of force required to shift the momentum of the weight back up is much lower with the touch than without and this shift in momentum is significant in the overall movement.

[AG5678]

The "touch" to the chest is a drop in exertive force. The amount of force required to shift the momentum of the weight back up is much lower with the touch than without and this shift in momentum is significant in the overall movement.

Exactly

[Jantzen4k]

it is important to get full range of motion without hyperextending.


i feel that most people i see in the gym dont 'touch' their chest and if they do 'touch' their chest they usally bounce the weight off it, which is worthless.


j4k

[Ermantroudt]

For dynamic work-Yes; At a meet-Most Definately; Every training day in the gym-Nope, that is why I use boards.

Erm

[jollygreenGIANT]

i dont touch

[Power76]

Powerlifters need to touch the chest just like they need to squat below parallel. You need to train like you compete. I don't see the point in not touching your chest if you are doing full range bench presses. That would be like doing a box squat but not sitting all the way down on the box or doing a board press and not touching the board.

[hemidog66]

Drop it on your chest,push it through the sky
39yr old 225lbs bench 405 repp no shirt

[Mighty]

I've heard this argument alot, and what I have gathered is this.
This boils down to leverage, and not wanting to cross a certain plane making it more difficult , or enabling you to bench press less than you can by not performing the excercise correctly.
I am a big guy and with a fairly wide grip I have something crazy like a 24 inch stroke. A good friend of mine that is a power lifter is 5'5" and uses a wide grip, he has a 9 inch stroke.
It would be a good idea for me to adopt the philosophy that I "shouldn't" touch my chest, because not performing the excercise correctly would give me an advantage . Once I begin to lower the bar to my chest, and my forearm breaks a 90 degree angle to my bicep ,every inch that I travel lower makes the trip back up become more difficult.
My powerlifter friend doesn't have this problem because he has shorter arms, and that coupled with a wide grip enables him to perform the excercise correctly and maintain awesome leverage ( I don't think his forearm and bicep even break that 90 degree angle)
It's been my observation that the people that dont touch thier chest, benefit from this technique. If you can stop the bar 2 inches above your chest, you can certainly stop it on your chest without interupting the excercise.

[powerliftmike]

touch your chest, but dont ever bounce. most meets require you to pause when touching also, until you get press signal.

[Velkar182]

To be honest, the question is not "should I touch my chest," it is "how often should I train with chest touching. In competition, any judge worth anything is going to make you touch your chest. Records are made and broken with a touching pause and then a signal to "press!" Obviously if you are doing board presses you will not touch your chest. If you go really deep on a bench press with a camber bar you might not touch depending on the bar. But if you are a competive powerlifter, training with chest touching pauses is crucial. Touch and goes w/o a bounce are helpful. "braking" the bar on dynamic effort day w/o touching your chest are also important. So, yes and no.

[Doc.Sust]

always touch if you are a powerlifter!!!unless you are doing board presses or lockouts.

[chest6]

i puase on the boards just like the box when i squat..correct?

[Doc.Sust]

i puase on the boards just like the box when i squat..correct?

correct!

[ToTheBuckeT21]

I find i tend to bounce it toward the end of my sets so i start the first half of my sets touching my chest and the last say 3 i stop about 2 inches before my chest to make sure i don't bounce it up

[rockybling]

i thought i read somewhere that you should bent only till your elbows/shoulders are parellell which w/ my wide grip is about 2 inches from my chest? i got short arms too though. sorry for the bad wording.

[Sanecrazy]

sometimes touch

[FeldMarshellPotter]

touch 95% of the time, only go 1/2, then 3/4 of the way down, then all the way when trying to break plateaus

[Doc.Sust]

i thought i read somewhere that you should bent only till your elbows/shoulders are parellell which w/ my wide grip is about 2 inches from my chest? i got short arms too though. sorry for the bad wording.

not if you are a powerlifter!!!!

[Hackamaniac]

I always touch but i'm not a powerlifter just habit.

[Savage1]

Always touch...better stretch.

[Doc.Sust]

I always touch but i'm not a powerlifter just habit.

good habit to have!

[onlyatest]

i touch touchin steches too much and may cause stains in your shoulders and stuff like that? way off?

[Doc.Sust]

i touch touchin steches too much and may cause stains in your shoulders and stuff like that? way off?

WTF, try english!!!!! stains in your shoulder?!?!?!?!?!? get some clorox?!?!?! no idea what you just said.

[power65]

Unless you are working some type of "Top Level" of your bench for lock out strength I think it is always good to touch your chest. Like Power76 said, you need to train like your going to compete. It's too late a few workouts prior to a meet to start doing Full Pressing. Too many lifters rely to heavily on their bench shirts to help get them out of the hole; ie, meaning to get the bar off of their chest. Yes it is true that most bench shirts should assist in getting the bar off the chest, but if you have extra strength combined w/ the assistance of the bench shirt you can generate enough force/power/explosion coming off of the chest to help carry you thru a great portion of the lift. I hope that makes since what I just said. LOL>

[OldPLer]

To be honest, the question is not "should I touch my chest," it is "how often should I train with chest touching. In competition, any judge worth anything is going to make you touch your chest. Records are made and broken with a touching pause and then a signal to "press!" Obviously if you are doing board presses you will not touch your chest. If you go really deep on a bench press with a camber bar you might not touch depending on the bar. But if you are a competive powerlifter, training with chest touching pauses is crucial. Touch and goes w/o a bounce are helpful. "braking" the bar on dynamic effort day w/o touching your chest are also important. So, yes and no.

You said it perfectly...............

[onlyatest]

WTF, try english!!!!! stains in your shoulder?!?!?!?!?!? get some clorox?!?!?! no idea what you just said.

wtf. don't know what the f**k i was writing there. i meant to say, touching your chest would cause alot of strain on your shoulders instead of working out your chest. I have have shoulder problems because of it and this is why i do not touch my chest anymore. shitty typing. i must have been talkin to someone or somethin. lol

[Doc.Sust]

wtf. don't know what the f**k i was writing there. i meant to say, touching your chest would cause alot of strain on your shoulders instead of working out your chest. I have have shoulder problems because of it and this is why i do not touch my chest anymore. shitty typing. i must have been talkin to someone or somethin. lol

hahahahy don't feel bad, i am the worst typer an speller on the board. i never proof read my posts either. try lighter weight to touch your chest and slowly work your way to using more weights. work out the weaker muscles in the rtator cuff and i bet your shoulder pain when touching would stop.