Bench press problem

[will2012]

I find that with bench press my shoulders begin to give out long before my chest even feels affected by the exercise.

To bench, I slightly arch my back and pull my legs back so the balls of my feet are on the floor. I position my middle fingers on the smooth rings of the Olympic bar and keep the bar flush with the heels of my hands. I control the weight, don't bounce, and do not lock out after each rep.

I seem to think that I'm doing one of two things wrong. Either I A) need to work to strengthen my shoulders, or B) bring the bar more to the middle of my chest (I tend to bring it closer to my upper pecs/ neck).

Any thoughts on how to relieve my shoulders??

[reardbandit]

IMO, you should put the bar right at the bottom of your nipples when you come down. Although I have heard the "neck press" is a good exercise, I never do it and would not recommend it to anyone. It sounds like you are almost doing a neck press, which puts undue stress on the rotator cuffs and elbows. Continue not locking out at the top of the reps. There is another thread on here very similar to yours, check that one out too.

[DSM4Life]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQutODgl2J4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwQyFoD6E80

[pk420]

I find that with bench press my shoulders begin to give out long before my chest even feels affected by the exercise.

To bench, I slightly arch my back and pull my legs back so the balls of my feet are on the floor. I position my middle fingers on the smooth rings of the Olympic bar and keep the bar flush with the heels of my hands. I control the weight, don't bounce, and do not lock out after each rep.

I seem to think that I'm doing one of two things wrong. Either I A) need to work to strengthen my shoulders, or B) bring the bar more to the middle of my chest (I tend to bring it closer to my upper pecs/ neck).

Any thoughts on how to relieve my shoulders??

I use to have that problem before, especially when I was doing incline bench, and starting to load the weights up on the flat bench. Something that works well for me, the entire time I keep my shoulder blades together. When you lay down the on bench, do 3 or 4 reps with nothing in your hands focusing on keeping your shoulder blades together, during the positive and negative movement. I once read that trying to pull the bar apart as if you were going to break it in half throughout the entire motion will help you keep your shoulder blades together. IMO, it helps me focus more on using my pecs to push the weight instead of my shoulders.

[trulbfan3]

agreed w/ pk 40

i keep my back arked as well and shoulder blades together, lats tight, bring the bar to the bottom of the nips and drive through the floor w/ my feet pushing like one solid machine....lift heavy and maximum intensity and results will come

practice technique w/ light weight till u get it down an be prepared to add 20 or so lbs to what u did b4

[TJ09]

I would go with strengthing the shoulders bro, try some incline benching too.

[ottopit]

What works for me...
First i get some old school metallica or megadeth cranking on my ipod(optional but recommended), then what i do is spread my feet out wider to the sides of the bench - feels more stable to me, when i bring the bar back up from the chest instead of bringing the bar straight up i angle it more in an arc shape visualizing an arc from my nipples to my eyes. That seems to keep my shoulder from "dropping"