Benchpres. Lats v. Chest.

[Twitched]

I'm having an argument over here.


I swear lats and tris are the two key muscle groups for power in benchpress.


My buddy says chest.



For me it is 90% lats when I train for power.


What do you guys think?

I spread and flex my lats, balance the weight on them, then explode somewhat with my delts at the bottom and push out with my tris, all while pushing with my lats.

 

[HighIntensity]

sorry bro, for decline press I would say lats are key but not in bench press.

Bpress = tris, chest and abs

I know this because my lats are the strongest part on my body and yet my Bpress is lagging in comparison...

funny thing is on decline Bpress I can get in the mid 300 range

 

[CytoMel]

You are right your friend is wrong. LATS are
more key than chest.

Note on chest: The chest should automaticly build itself up with a lot of bench pressing and you dont need dumbell flyes to build big pecs.

 

[Hannibal]

I swear lats and tris are the two key muscle groups for power in benchpress.

Well I dont know what the bet was for...but YOU WIN!

Tell your friend to try this.....grab an imaginary bar like it is just off your chest. Now flex his lats forward....your hands move right?

Now do the same thing...except flex your Pecs instead....nothing happens

Pecs are for the beach....Tris Lats and Delts are for bench

 

[spatts]

Re: Re: Benchpres. Lats v. Chest.

Well I dont know what the bet was for...but YOU WIN!

Tell your friend to try this.....grab an imaginary bar like it is just off your chest. Now flex his lats forward....your hands move right?

Now do the same thing...except flex your Pecs instead....nothing happens

Pecs are for the beach....Tris Lats and Delts are for bench

Amen, brutha...

Dave Tate:

12 Steps to a Bigger Bench

1 – Train the Triceps

Years ago, if you had asked Larry Pacifico how to get a big bench, he'd have told you to train the triceps. This same advice applies today. This doesn't mean doing set after set of pushdowns, kickbacks, and other so-called "shaping" exercises. Training your triceps for a big bench has to involve heavy extensions and close-grip pressing movements such as close-grip flat and incline bench presses, close-grip board presses, and JM presses.

Various barbell and dumbbell extensions should also be staples of your training program. Don't let anyone try to tell you the bench press is about pec strength. These people don't know the correct way to bench and are setting you up for a short pressing career with sub-par weights. I just read an article in one of the major muscle magazines by one of these authors on how to increase your bench press. The advice given was to train your pecs with crossovers and flies and your bench will go up! This, along with many other points, made me wonder how this article ever got published or better yet, how much the author himself could bench.

12 – Train the lats on the same plane as the bench.

I'm talking about the horizontal plane here. In other words, you must perform rows, rows, and more rows. "If you want to bench big then you need to train the lats." I've heard both George Hilbert and Kenny Patterson say this for years when asked about increasing the bench press. When you bench you're on a horizontal plane. So would it make sense from a balance perspective to train the lats with pulldowns, which are on a vertical plane? Nope. Stick to the barbell row if you want a big bench.

Read more at: http://www.testosterone.net/html/body_115b600.html

 

[Twitched]

Thanks :->. I'd be willing to bet anyone who can bench twice their weight will agree that lats rule here.

 

[spatts]

When I started training with Hnnibal 2 months ago, he fixed my bench form. I was stuck at 95 pounds for 6 months, because my shoulder would flare up when I benched. I was trying to bench with my pecs and shoulders. Now, 8 weeks later, I'm right around 175 pounds for bench. I had strong lats, but my brain had not made the connection to engage them in the movement. Once I focused that in, it worked. My tris were weak because I could never work them due to shoulder pain. Now that my bench style doesn't cause me shoulder pain, my tris are coming along nicely, and further assisting my bench. It's cyclical.

 

[NFG123]

I can't believe I am reading this from such an educated group of bodybuilders!

Will someone be willing to say quote, unquote "lats devote more power to the bench press than the pecs" I don't think anyone will, biochemically, this is ridiculous!

Your chest is the major muscle group involved in the lift, you need to build a bigger bench by training the lats, delts and triceps sure ... but those are secondary muscles involved in the lift, and are often the weaker ones holding up your PECS from doing the majority of the work.

Sure the difference between a GOOD powerlifter and a GREAT powerlift maybe his technique, some of which is the ulitization of lat strength, but for damn sure, you dont use your lats to bench more than your chest ... that is ridiculous!

NFG

 

[Twitched]

Same here. My bench sucked but my lats were wide as hell. As soon as I incorporated them as the primary bearer of the weight, I had no problem dramatically increasing it.


I think most people simply do not know HOW to flex their lats. and the natural benchpressers instinctively do it.

 

[Hannibal]

I can't believe I am reading this from such an educated group of bodybuilders!

Will someone be willing to say quote, unquote "lats devote more power to the bench press than the pecs" I don't think anyone will, biochemically, this is ridiculous!

Your chest is the major muscle group involved in the lift, you need to build a bigger bench by training the lats, delts and triceps sure ... but those are secondary muscles involved in the lift, and are often the weaker ones holding up your PECS from doing the majority of the work.

Sure the difference between a GOOD powerlifter and a GREAT powerlift maybe his technique, some of which is the ulitization of lat strength, but for damn sure, you dont use your lats to bench more than your chest ... that is ridiculous!

NFG

I refuse to flame someone on this board....but YOU ARE WRONG plain and simple.

George Halbert benched 733lbs @ 215lb bodyweight...I wonder when the last time he did some "cable crossovers"...or some "flyes".

WSB...is the strongest gym in the country...and there is NO pec dec. No crossover machine...but they do a shitload of lat work.