Learning to Bench Press | The Starting Strength Method 

Hahaha. Nice, heretic. :P

Same, wish I had seen this video in 2004 😂

Yikes pal

Same bruh

Your not alone buddy

Ok, I will Rip, is pink and FAT!!😂😂 But, really I’ve used his program to get some decent numbers 510,405,320,200. Thanks Starting Strength!! Love the podcast and videos!!!!!

Nothing ground breaking. You can use that same mentality with "dont push the bar up but rather push your body away"

Watch the first 30 sec again

@@avidsensei Yep, I somehow missed that. Thanks!!

There's no incline/decline bench press in the SS program. Squat, bench, deadlift, o.h. press. Later on, cleans and chins.

@Consoom media and lie wow. Thx!

It's in the SS book. All mechanical drawings

@@gbward2978 ssbook

Bench press is inherently bad for shoulders and rotator cuff. Main reason being that shoulder blades are pinched together throughout and restrict natural movement at scapulae. Shoulder joints have to take lots of pressure. No free & natural movement occurring in shoulders. If you are not going to be a powerlifter, you can always drop the benching without any regrets. You can use push-ups with added resistance in form of bands or chains. Or you can progress to more difficult versions of Push-ups over time to allow progressive overload. Push-ups allow the shoulders to move in natural rhythm. Same applies to parallel bar dips, they would allow easier way to progress in terms of adding resistance. These two are way better choices than benching. Overhead press is already part of the program and is an excellent exercise.

So you don't hit the hooks while you're benching.

I always feel like if I go too far out from the hooks the heavier it gets, especially if you don’t have someone to help lift the bar out it gets kind of sketchy having alll that weight up towards your face lol

@@startingstrength I found out the same thing. If I don't scoot down so when my eyes are looking straight up at the bar, I end up hitting the hooks. I thought this was just me till I watched your video.

Arching puts you into thoracic extension and puts your pressing in a more decline type angle. You can decline press more weight than you can with a straight bar path.

@@josephmoore977 I understand that. Essentially we are choosing to use the greater weight vs the greater range of motion because the weight is more useful than the ROM?

@@d13bowman80 Time under tension and maximum effective ROM is more for hypertrophy. Strength/power is about using the most muscle mass/groups possible in moving the maximum amount of weight explosively against gravity.

I believe it's better for your shoulder if you do the arching. Less chance of getting shoulder impengment.

This exact situation has been happening to me for a while. I'm currently correcting it. The way to do it is by strengthening your upper back muscles. I noticed that the weakness in my upper back was the culprit when I realized how hard it was to maintain and force the contraction to the scapulas.

Me too on my left side I feel like I have a lat and a shoulder and nothing inbetween, just In general I cant feel anything there with mind

@@angrahell pretend that you're trying to put your shoulder blades into your back pockets. Squeeze then together like what's shown in the video, but also try to squeeze them down towards your butt, like the exact opposite of a shrug. Instead of using your traps to lift your scapula, use your lats to pull them down towards your ass.

Realthinx you spelled lucky wrong

just like prison

nothing comfier than a wooden head-rest.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6JVSjte9F-M.html Here

I love Rippetoe and SS like crazy, but you're absolutely right here. I impinged my left shoulder when racking after a heavy work set. I think depending on your anthropometry and the type of rack itself it may be more beneficial to have the bar slightly below your eyeline, roughly where your nose is.

I know he says you dont need a spotter, but if your gonna unrack the way he tells you to, you need a spotter to unrack from that position

A spotter is essential when placing the bar this way, in order to help you bring it over your shoulders.

@@McCawidule isn't impingement impossible to occur if your scapulae are correctly abducted and retracted?

i cant figure out why. not necessary to get away from the hooks so why?

You want it to be almost as high as your locked out position. That way, on your final rep, you can send the bar backwards until you feel it make contact with the vertical part of the rack, and then when you unlock your arms, you only have to control the bar’s descent for an inch or two, guiding it down the vertical line of the rack until it’s safely cradled. If the rack is set too high, you’ll have to do an extra push at the end of a set to get the bar back in place. It’s easy to miss that if you’re tired, so better to have them too low than too high. Too low will probably put extra stress on your elbows because you’ll be easing the bar down without help from your back muscles, but at least you know you won’t drop the bar on your neck or face. I believe there’s a diagram in the starting strength book, which is a wonderful reference.

Thanks Brian. That explanation just made it all click for me. I saw the diagram in the book but maybe just needed an alternate method of explanation. Thanks man!

Drive your feet into the floor and your upper back and butt into the bench

Could be you’re on a very narrow bench. Otherwise odds are you just can’t generate “tightness” very well through your lower limbs + torso, either due to how you’re set up (foot placement etc) or due to a lack of kinaesthetic awareness.

You should hug the bench with your thighs, feet flat. Have your feet back far enough to feel a slight pull in your quads, squeeze the bench, then go.

Steel is the next level

Yes. But good luck setting your upper back and not have it slide all over. Best value in benches has to be the Rep Fitness FB5000 with the fat pad.

its a hardcore gym

As high as you can have them but still be able to unrack and rerack the bar. The exact height will also depend on how far down the bench you set up plus the size of your j cups

That's going to have little to do with a single lift. You have to look at the totality of the workout and overall training stress, plus level of adaptation.

Well, light EPEOC I like keep laying. When the EPEOC gets high need to sit up straight and look down a little. And when it's medium it's like you said per circumstance.

@@startingstrength all I meant to say is Stamina combines with Power beautiful idea.

Ask rip so I can laugh at his answer for you 🤣🤣🤣

Yes.

If done with dumbbells, YES. If done with barbell, NO. Barbell simply does not allow "that" stretch at the bottom bcoz you stop when it touches the chest. Dumbbells allow that extra range and stretch at bottom.

@@MrGene15 yes combining barbell and dumbbells is good idea. But barbell alone won't do the job. If aesthetics and muscular development the main focus instead of just strength, then weighted dips are even better option than any for of benching. It trains the concentric as well as eccentric contraction of pecs to the maximum.

I've never seen anyone benching 3+ plates for reps on a barbell that didn't have a barrel chest

Then don't lay flag on your back, arch your back slightly so the weight of the bar is resting on the top of your rear shoulders. This will allow your shoulder blades to move more freely.

Ilan Chernyak yeah I prefer a pause, feels like I’m building better raw strength then just bouncing and using a bunch of stretch reflex.

Not needed for training, doesn't really add anything

@@maximusstrength157 it takes out the momentum and makes it much harder. It's a technique you can add to become stronger at the bottom portion of the lift.

@@18yearoldconservativefromc60 There is no bouncing in this technique. The bench press is made with a "touch and go". If someone makes it with the bounce, then that is considered "cheating", for the purposes stated in the book. As Max Dumas said, the pause doesn't add anything and you will end up benching less weight.

JRussoC benching less weight yes, but you also better train the bottom portion of the lift/off the chest strength. Also the fact you’re using less weight makes it easier on the CNS so you actually get a better stimulus to fatigue ratio and you could argue it’s safer compared to the t&g style. Also it’s required for powerlifters and even if you aren’t a powerlifter it still has its place as a horizontal press that can be rotated into any athletes regimen.

It looks like a Texas power bar

@@binyamj definitely not a TPB. Looks like the Starting Strength bar. But for the money I would suggest a 20kg Rogue Ohio Power Bar. Especially if you plan to compete as it is a common bar used. And in many people's opinions the TPB is inferior to it's competition. www.texaspowerbars.com/Starting-Strength-20KG-Bar-by-Texas-Power-Bars-p/ss20.htm

@@bmstylee I took a look at this bar and will consider buying it when it's back in stock. But no where in the description does it list its maximum weight capacity. Do you happen to know it?

@@silvermane1while I am not familiar with your capacity it's generally more than most people can lift. Also keep an eye on Rogue's Boneyard. I have the 20kg IPF approved bar from the Boneyard. If it has a flaw I can't find it.

@ryan rogersBased off of yes. However the Texas power bar has been passed by the competition. Rogue, Kabuki, even the offerings from Rep Fitness beat the Texas bar.

Sounds like it might be shoulder impingement. I used to always have pain in my shoulder during and after benching. I bought a slingshot from mark bell’s supertraining website, after benching with the slingshot for a couple months I stopped having shoulder pains, I now bench raw and have no more shoulder pain. Not sure why exactly, but I think I was flaring my elbows out too much.

Lower the weight. If that doesn't work than seek a professional.

Dead hangs help with shoulder pain.

dont bring the bar all the way to your chest! bring it an inch or two above, less shoulder pain

Better switch to weighted push-up and weighted dips for some time. Benching is inherently bad for shoulders as it restricts natural movement of shoulder joint and scapulae due to pinched shoulder blades during execution.

45lbs

Yes, i'm sure youre allowed to show your students a RU-vid video.

Lmao why are you asking permission. Just show them no one cares

You’re always allowed to use videos for educational purposes. It’s part of fair use law.

It was most likely bad technique. You should be pinching both shoulders back, so they're planted flat against the bench. They should not be moving during the press, the press should be done mostly with your chest muscles, without moving your shoulders at all.

You could try floor press for a while then go back to bench later . Safer on the shoulder as it restricts the range of motion . Better feedback from a hard flat floor than a bench , you can really feel your shoulders back and down and everything tight. Don’t have to think about leg drive etc.

Yes, but much less efficient. It is all a matter of degree. Any machine or cable can produce gains. These will just be inferior to free weight.

I'd worry about sliding on it.

@@stoopidwookie1695 exactly. Seems like a good way to get hurt when you try to drive out of the bottom of the rep and your back goes sliding. And the bar goes someplace you don't want it to.

@@bmstylee The unpadded bench is so you can see the arched back position properly.

@@reavsie1 that makes sense

@@reavsie1 Actually, it's the official Starting Strength wood bench. There was a post about it sometime in the past year.

What are you talking about lmao

This isn’t for bodybuilders.

Yeah, he touched her boobie in the video. Instant lawsuit.

Touching the bar to the chest doesn’t come close to challenging normal the range of motion of the shoulder. These gentlemen seem to lack experience and seem to be approaching this topic from a purely theoretical standpoint.

Starting Strength Who at the Starting Strength assembly is answering this? For selfpreservation reasons one should always validate a source... Thanks for the reply Andy

@@andyrundy678 giana michaels

@@andyrundy678 if you retract your scapula and use a grip similar to what is suggested in the video, touching your chest around your sternum will not overstretch your shoulder. Flaring the elbows and gripping the bar too wide + lacking upper back tightness from 0 scapular retraction is why they likely observe overstretched shoulders as a result of benching. In other words: their patients are doing things improperly. Doctor or not, barbell exercises done improperly can lead to injuries. And they do not teach bench press technique in medical school. These doctors are likely observing injured patients and assuming that the injured person was doing things correctly. Not sure if you are around but thats the answer truthfully. These men may be exceptionally intelligent but they are out of their scope on this one. Mark Rippetoe has taught more people about barbell lifts and strength training than can be counted.

@@gainsandglory6808 this

I've noticed this Technique cum Form useful for PR 1-2 RM. However, I would like additional clarification from Experts.

Its like im not using all my strenght

@@user-gn5ti2pb6r Hi, so i wasnt using my back more (i wasnt all the way back)

I'm confused... the barbell weighs 45lbs so how are you only able to lift 20?

@@hori9181 how do u deadlift

You mean 20 KG, which is the weight of the bar? I'm 22 160 pounds and struggle with it too, so don't worry. Doesn't matter what age you are, if you are new to lifting you probably have no muscle and it will be hard at first. Work on form and use guides like this video to help out.

same, it fell on me and i was so embarrassed...

It's a good novice program. After LP ends you need to look elsewhere. Juggernaut AI is a nice programming option. I'm long passed LP and still making gains on their AI programming.

@ryan rogers true. But at that point you are at the end of LP. You can't keep adding weight every session. It's time to leave novice land and move into intermediate programming.

iron savior I would say natural arch not flat

Arching is a bit of an ordeal to learn but is quite helpful in later progression especially in strength sports.

He’s a whiskey man