Bench vids

[MVP]

Well, the videos are up. They failed to upload from my PC, so I used my camcorder on my phone to video them off the PC, then uploaded them to youtube from my mobile.

Anyway, I'm 4 weeks into lifting. I'm down to 204 from 221. The first video is 225 x 3 reps and the second video is 245 x 2 reps, which I failed to lockout on the 3rd rep.

This is mainly a form critique. I think I may be going too close with the grip, but my bone frame is more small than large. I also notice at the bottom of the bench, my elbows are automatically flaring without noticing it and perhaps its due to a dependence on my anterior deltoid muscles due to overuse of shoulder exercises and lack of tricep exercises, so I have strong shoulders and weak triceps. That's JMO.

What do you all think?

Bench 225 x 3 - YouTube

Bench 225 x 3 - YouTube

Bench 245 x 2 - YouTube

Bench 245 x 2 - YouTube

[BendtheBar]

I worry how tight your back is, and if you created a nice shelf.

One major thing I noticed...your wrists are inside your elbows. Widen your grip. Keep your wrists over elbows until you feel your form is in good shape, then you can think about widening your grip a bit if you'd like.

If you like benching with that width, then pull your elbows in a bit.

[MVP]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I worry how tight your back is, and if you created a nice shelf.

What do you think I could do to fix it? Maybe arch my back a little or drive my feet into the floor?

One major thing I noticed...your wrists are inside your elbows. Widen your grip. Keep your wrists over elbows until you feel your form is in good shape, then you can think about widening your grip a bit if you'd like.

Now that you pointed this out, I definitely noticed it as well. I didn't even realize that before. I'll widen my grip up. This cycle I tried to train my body to bench with a more narrow grip in fear of putting too much stress on my shoulders.

If you like benching with that width, then pull your elbows in a bit.

To be honest, I really don't care too much for the width I was using in the vid. I just have always had a misunderstanding on bench width until now. I always thought what I was doing there was a regular grip bench and close grip benching was with the wrists touching. I'll widen my bench out a bit next cycle and see how that does.

Do you think additional close grip benching will help get me back to +300?

Thanks for the tips. I'll get another bench vid up soon and see how much the form has been corrected.

[Ryano]

Try to get up on your traps and squeeze your shoulder blades together to decrease ROM. When you bring the bar down, engage your lats. Widen your legs and get your feet back. When you press, drive your heels to the floor. BTB is right on. Your grip is WAY to close. That's closer than I even do close grips. Also, before you take the weight, squeeze the bar like you're trying to put dents in it. If you are tight all over, it prevents the "oh shit" factor of feeling heavy weight.

[LtL]

Great advice in here.

LtL