FLAT BENCH: TECHNIQUE OF EXECUTION

Technique

Last but not least, the point to be examined concerns the movement technique: the push on a flat bench must make the barbell make a trajectory that is not straight, it cannot be. If you started from the line of the nipples and pushed perfectly vertical with respect to the ground, you would arrive at the point of maximum extension with the arms inclined towards the feet of 20-30 ° with respect to the perpendicular passing through the shoulder, finding yourself having to hold back the load from falling towards your stomach, when ideally at the highest point you should discharge the force vector through the fulcrum of the lever (shoulders).
To summarize, the perfect lift is accomplished by detaching the barbell from the stops, which must not be too high (in case of an incomplete repetition you must be able to hang it up anyway without fully extending) nor too low (to force you to make an effort equal to the lifting to detach it) and positioned approximately on the line that passes over the forehead (too far back would unbalance you in the opposite way to what has been said above and would stretch the shoulder stabilizers). inhale deeply and lower following with a natural movement a parabolic curve that slowly leads you to support the rod to the chest. As soon as you feel the contact, keep the shoulder blades closed backwards, the shoulders extended (do not "shrug") and push strongly and ferociously upwards, keeping the elbows under the projection of the wrists on the ground, while exhale vigorously the air from the lungs until you reach the apex of the lift, where the bar will be aligned with the line that passes between the shoulders. Well done! You have just completed a "great bench press! From today on repeat it ad nauseam and always in this form!

A few tips for a perfect lift:

Put aside the ego: if you follow the advice given in this article to the letter, your usual bench press loads will probably suffer a drastic downsizing: better this way. Get used to working correctly and only after having acquired perfect familiarity can you handle superweights insecurity Do not worry about the bully who laughs at you and your barbell with 30 kg, because his 100 kg flat bench with the butt at a span from the floor, 5 cm of excursion of the barbell and bounce on the sternum will take him to one side only: the physiotherapist's office.

Maintain tension: when you lift the barbell and you are almost at the top, do not stretch out completely until you unload all the weight on the elbow (the so-called joint block) but stop 1-2 centimeters earlier. This technique is purely pertinent to bodybuilding and has the dual function of maintaining a continuous tension on the target muscle (he will keep the load up now) and at the same time safeguarding the elbow joints If you try you will feel a strong involvement of the pectorals, when they first reached the "peak" they were practically excluded.

Strengthen Grip: A strong, persistent grip has been shown to improve strength in a variety of exercises, including this one. A powerful hand, in addition to an excellent business card, is essential for grabbing large loads and not wobbling.

"Feel" the muscle: with time and familiarity with the execution you will be able to concentrate not so much on "pushing up" as on contracting the pectoral voluntarily and with determination. Being small, however, they quickly yield, leaving the pectorals in the middle of the work because, being much larger, at the end of the exercise they have not yet given their best. "of our iron meal. To give an" idea of how to do it, think instead of pushing up, as if you were to fold the barbell in two by bringing both hands together: focusing this thought will cause the chest to close like meshes " steel, dragging with it the elbows that will extend for its merit and not for the prerogative of the triceps.

Increase gradually: now that you have learned, don't do the foolishness of adding 10 kg from one session to another. Proceed slowly and steadily and you will get far, if you want to proceed with jumps and sooner or later you will stumble ... in some injury.

Stretch: between the series of flat presses, stretch the pectoral and triceps for no more than 15 seconds: you will favor recovery and relax the taut fibers. At the end of the session, do not forget to perform a more in-depth stretch (3-4 progressive stretches of at least 20-30 seconds) to improve blood flow and relax your hard-wearing pectorals. Remember that an elastic muscle (with a greater excursion) develops more strength and can grow more of a contracted and blocked muscle.

Train the external rotators: important to stabilize the load and avoid injuries is to train the chain of the shoulder external rotators with small and fast targeted exercises. This will stabilize the humeral site and prevent dangerous injuries.

Train the lats: it may seem misleading but a massive and powerful lats help, for balance, to give more strength in the flat bench press. If you want a steel chest, don't just train that ...