Why does everyone bench half way?

[revexrevex]

more weight

 

[Parabellum]

It seems like everyone is doing this all the time, on the flat bench, incline and even the decline press. It drives me crazy,

 

[ConstantChange]

Here is a post I made today that is along the lines of your question.

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=242950

 

[WarriorPL]

I go a little farther than halfway, but not all the way due to a messed up rotator. Unless a bad shoulder is the case, then they go halfway to get more reps with that weight.

 

[Parabellum]

It seems like everyone is doing it and not even with a lot of weight.

 

[WarriorPL]

It seems like everyone is doing it and not even with a lot of weight.

Well then they don't know what they're doing. I've seen lots of guys do it at the gym. Warm up with 135x15 almost to the chest, then do 225 halfway for as many reps they can.

 

[louden_swain]

It seems like everyone is doing this all the time, on the flat bench, incline and even the decline press. It drives me crazy,

Yes. . . I am sure that this is ruining your training.

Might want to focus on your training instead of everyone elses.
BTW, those who are performing half presses may be working through a sticking point, may be injured, or are not flexible enough to get the bar down that low.

For those who have none of these problems. . .its hard to say what they are up to. These half reppers will hurt their training in the long run if they constantly use it.

 

[sk*]

Re: Re: Why does everyone bench half way?

For those who have none of these problems. . .its hard to say what they are up to.

It's their ego. The guys I have seen at my gym don't have any injuries or flexibility problems. They just like training chest cause they think it is the only thing that matters, but how can they use a lot of weight if their pecs are flat? Half reps, and convince themselves they are doing something.

-sk

 

[bignate73]

there is not too many reasons why someone couldnt touch their chest. just drop the bar lower on the chest. tucking the elbows allows the bar to travel through its full range of motion. i can easily demonstrate this to someone and feel a tremendous amount of strain being relieved from my shoulders by just moving the bar down.

i watch all kinds of bench warriors, 1/2 repping their way to moderate weights only to be buried if the bar grazes their chest hair. remember, it doesnt count unless it touches the chest. thats the cardinal rule in bench pressing, from those that do it as a sport.

working through a sticking point is one possibility, as in the case of 2/3/4/5 board presses, but the for the majority of people this thread is talking about, that is their style of benching....all the time.

 

[Mike_Rojas]

At least they're not bouncing the weight off their chest