FLAT BENCH PRESSES WITH DUMBBELLS

Dumbbell bench press: Execution

The starting position sees the athlete lying on his back on a flat bench with the buttocks, upper back, shoulder blades and nape always in contact with it and with the feet firmly resting on the ground vertically below, or behind the knees, but never in front. The hips are abducted and the lower limbs push on the floor in a balanced way to ensure stability to the position. The flexors of the spine are in the elongated position, but in isometric contraction, while the extensors are in shortening; both work in balance to ensure continuity between lower limbs and upper limbs. The shoulder blades are adducted, neither depressed, nor elevated. The one just described is nothing more than the position of strength of the back, therefore it is perfectly normal that at the level of the physiological lumbar lordosis, there is no contact with the bench The arms are straight, the shoulders flexed to varying degrees, with a maximum of 90 ° (arms perpendicular to the ground) and the grip of the scales. iere can be prone or neutral. As the distance between the hands varies, a different degree of shoulder flexion and a different spatial positioning of the handlebars correspond. The starting position with a relatively narrow distance between the hands therefore sees the athlete with the shoulders slightly less flexed in the sagittal plane and the dumbbells above the upper abdomen / lower chest, compared to the starting position greater distance between the hands. hands in which the shoulders can reach a degree of flexion in the sagittal plane close to 90 ° thus positioning the dumbbells above the upper part of the pectoral. The execution consists in lowering the dumbbells in the vertical plane until allowed by the individual mobility. This movement must trace a straight line segment that tends to diverge the dumbbells towards the corresponding side of the body. At the end of the descent, from a lateral view the forearm must be perpendicular to the ground and a neutral grip is recommended when using large dumbbells to prevent them from coming into contact with the body. At this point, the athlete pushes the dumbbells towards the top, making him retrace the exact trajectory he traced during the descent, until he returns to the starting position.