The Bench Press

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The Bench Press

• Core weight lifting exercise
• Effective in strengthening prime movers of upper
  extremity
• Examples include
• Primary purpose is to strengthen muscles
• Triceps, anterior and middle deltoid, pectoralis
  major and minor, wrist flexors (grip), rotator
  cuff, biceps

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Down Phase
-Key to successful bench press -Prep muscles for
pressing phase -Maximizes results -Eliminates
wasted time -Prevents injury
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Starting Position

• Check for balance
• Lifter postions himself on the bench
• Position bar in above the lifters eyes

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Pressing Phase
-Begins when bar reaches chest -Muscles develop
quickly when bar is pressed in deliberate
manner -chest -shoulder -arms -Muscles pull
up with pure strength
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Joints of the Shoulder

• Glenohumeral joint (GH)
• Acromioclavicular joint (AC)
• Sternoclavicular joint (SC)

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Glenohumeral joint

• Is a synovial ball and socket joint
• The most mobile joint in the body
• Has 120 degrees of unassisted flexion

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Acromioclavicular joint

• Located at the top of the shoulder
• It is the junction between the scapula and the
  clavicle.
• The joint is stabilized by three ligamants, the
  acromioclavicular, coracoclavicular, and the
  capsule ligaments.
• There is 40 to 50 degrees of motion in this joint.

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Sternoclavicular Joint

• It is the articulation between the pectoral
  girdle and the axial skeleton on both sides.
• It is a saddle type joint and has synovial fluid.
• A very strong joint due to the large number of
  ligaments around the joint

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Planes and axis

• The traditional bench press involves combinations
  of movements in the sagital (flexion/extension),
  coronal (ab/adduction) and transverse planes.

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Muscles used

• Arms, triceps, biceps
• Shoulder, anterior and middle deltoids
• Chest, Pectoralis major and minor
• Wrist flexors, rotator cuff

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The movement and muscles

• The exercise begins as the lifter pushed the bar
  off the rack and has the bar in the starting
  position (arms extended ad elbows locked out).
• The bar is then lowered, now controlled by the
  chest, shoulder and arms muscles.
• The chest, shoulder and arms muscles develop
  quickly as they push the weight back up with pure
  strength.
• The bench press forces the muscles to work
  throughout the full range of motion.

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Reflexes involved in the bench press.

• Stretch Reflex
• Tonic Neck Reflex

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Stretch Reflex

• The Stretch Reflex is an important term when it
  come to bench pressing and not many lifters know
  it. The stretch reflex is essentially like an
  elastic. When a muscle is stretched close to its
  maximum, it contracts forcefully, this is known
  as the stretch reflex. The muscle stretch is
  detected by muscle spindles whose afferent
  neurons synapse with lower motor neurons and
  interneuron's. In most cases this reflex is a
  defense mechanism against tearing muscles.

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Stretch reflex in bench press

• In the bench press, when the bar is lowered to
  the chest and then pressed out without a pause,
  the initial burst of strength at the bottom of
  the lift comes from the strength reflex of both
  the pectoral and latissimus muscles.
• This reflex only lasts 1 to 2 seconds after the
  max stretch of the muscle. For this reason it is
  important for amateur lifters to avoid a long
  pause at the bottom phase of the bench press.
• For this exact reason there is a pause in
  professional bench pressing competitions. This
  limits the stretch reflex and focuses the lift on
  the strength of the muscle itself.

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EMG
-The linear envelope EMG patterns of the four
major muscles used in the bench press were
analyzed qualitatively. -The prime movers for
the pushing motion in the bench press (pectoralis
major, triceps brachii, and deltoids) were
recruited throughout the whole exercise. -The
biceps were recruited during the transition of
phase from lowering to raising probably as elbow
stabilizers.
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Tonic Reflex

• The same reflex that we learned about in class,
  which was relevant to infants is also relevant
  when talking about the bench press
• The tonic neck reflex in relation to the bench
  press is essentially the extension of limbs when
  the neck is dorsi-flexed. There have been
  several studies done to test this and the
  majority of them have concluded that both males
  and females can create more power in a
  dorsi-flexed position than a neutral or
  ventroflexed position.
• In the bench press there are two ways to create
  dorsi-flexion. The easiest is to force the rest
  of your body into the arm (as you see many
  amateur lifters doing during fatigue) or your can
  move all the way to the end of the bench and
  place your neck and head below the level of the
  rest of your body. I will demonstrate!!

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What do you think the record for most weight
Bench Pressed is?

• 456 kg (1005 lb) was set by Gene Rychlak (using a
  stretch reflex duplicating denim shirt)
• The heaviest raw was 713lb (323.4 kg) by Scott
  Mendelson (this is thought to be a greater
  accomplishment than the 1005lb with denim shirt.
• Do you want to see it?
• http//www.criticalbench.com/bench-press-world-re
  cord.htm

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With the help of these reflexes we can all have
bulging chests like this.
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General overview of shoulder joints role in
bench pressing

• The most common injuries involve the shoulder
  joint.
• Critical component is the Rotator Cuff
  Infraspinatus, Supraspinatus, Teres Minor,
  Subscapularis
• The rotator cuff allows the joint to move in
  multiple directions
• More tension is on the shoulder joint when
  performing incline bench
• Shoulder rotate slightly when elbows drop below
  shoulder level
• Shoulder is solely responsible for support of bar
  load

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Injuries

• One of the best ways to prevent injuries is with
  using proper technique with control.
• Bench press injuries are usually one sided,
  usually on the dominant hand side

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Acromioclavicular

• AC joint arthritis is an injury associated with
  bench pressing
• This is a loss of cartilage in this joint
• The AC joint is located at the tip of the
  shoulder where the shoulder blade (scapula) and
  collarbone (clavicle) come together at a point

Signs and symptoms Pain and soreness around the
front part of the shoulder X-rays will need to be
taken
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Rupture of the pectoralis major tendon
Signs and symptoms A sudden sharp pain at the
front of the arm or shoulder. Pain and swelling
over the front of the shoulder or upper arm.
Pain when you try to bring your arm inwards and
across your chest against resistance. Pain when
you try to rotate you arm inwards against
resistance. A gap or lump visible in the muscle.

• Pectoralis major tendon is used to rotate the arm
  inwards, pull arm across the body, pull arm above
  the head and down by ones side.
• Usually ruptures where it inserts into the
  humerus

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Thumbless grip

• Wrist is kept hyperextended
• The bar can easily slip while lowering the bar
  with enough weight.
• Once the bar falls this can cause further injury
  like broken ribs and internal injuries

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Prevention and Training

• Train shoulder joint with resistance to prepare
  for stress
• Practice scapula retraction
• Squeeze shoulder blades together
• maintaining throughout the whole set
• Forms stable and wider base on bench
• Prevent shoulder rotation
• Decreases tension on the spine

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Cont

• The abs also play a role in bench pressing
• Contracting the abs stabilizes the spinal column
  

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Cont

• Cool down your pecs

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What not to do

• Hold breath
• Feet resting on bench
• Lower bar quickly
• Raise Hips
• Raise bar unevenly
• Twist

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Until next time
Just keep pressing!!