sticking point on bench

[bigmag]

I think this might come down to individual builds. I have long arms so I have to work chest to hit the bottom of my lift. Others either use a big arch or have a shorter range of motion for some other reason, so they tend to use more shoulders at the bottom. Thats my humble newbie opinion

Isolation exercises such as flies have never worked well for me. For me it works better to use a lift that is very similar to the one used in competition.....hence the suggestion of db bench, wide grip bench etc.

that's a very good point that I didn't think of before....it does have alot to do with build. Thanks for pointing this out!!! If you're tall, then go with what he says (shoulders) If not then I'd go with my earlier statements.

 

[Bobba]

I must agree that pec decs and flies are crap exercises neither good for strength or anything else.

I also agree that dumbbell presses and wide grip bench are good ways of developing chest strength (and size for that matter). However I missed my personal favorite being mentioned. Weighted Dips! It is a great compound movement that allows you to go very much deeper than the barbell, and will at the same time allow you to use much more weight then the dumbbells.

I know it involves a good deal of shoulders and triceps, but done in a correct manner you'll mainly feel them in your chest. In my opinion it's all about the weight anyway.

 

[Zombie]

If you compete, I suggest you buy a shirt and don't worry about the bottom of the lift. If you dont compete then I'm with whoever said floorpresses no matter what your build is. Tell a bodybuilder that works his chest to max out for ya so you can see that chest doesn't mean shit.

 

[Imnotdutch]

Just out of interest, if you benched say 500 with a shirt, how much weight would the shirt take at the bottom? Would you have to be able to move 400 over the first few inches? 450? I guess it depends on the shirt.....I know its a newbie question.....but thats what I am compared with most in here

If you compete, I suggest you buy a shirt and don't worry about the bottom of the lift. If you dont compete then I'm with whoever said floorpresses no matter what your build is. Tell a bodybuilder that works his chest to max out for ya so you can see that chest doesn't mean shit.

 

[Zombie]

I need to take something back and that is the floorpress thing. No matter if you lift raw or with equip. floorpresses are great. I'm not sure about your last question. I do about 410 raw and depending on the shirt 450 but it's a problem with lockout and not the bottom of the lift. The only time I have a problem with the bottom is if it's a raw lift.