Bench press set-up video...

[mikesbench]

We filmed a brief bench set-up tutorial video at the gym the other day. Nothing "groundbreaking", but maybe it'll help some people out. Hope nobody is alarmed at how fat I look for a 198er.

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVSxpx6X53Y

[yasher]

All you need to stick in the [Youtube] tags is the jibberish after the = sign in the link.

Video

Edit: Just finished watching the video and man you're one flexible dude. Awesome video.

[Off Road]

That was very cool and easy to understand. Thanks for sharing that with us.

[Lones Green]

Nice video Mike. I would have said you were 235, LOL

[Buccos1]

Great video! I need to work on my arch more.

[TallRob]

nice video. i do my bench press this way. It got me curious and i went over to bodybiulding.com to see their tutorials. They have two guys going over flat, decline and incline. Now, they make a point of saying that flat bench press is just that.flat bench and that they dont want to see you arc your back. They make fun of guys that arc their back. they say;"Dont be that guy". Now I was always taught that arching your back helps keep your shoulder blades in which inturn takes pressure off your rotator cuffs and helps you put the load on your chest and not so much your tris. So your working your chest more and helps prevent rotator cuff injury.
WHat is your take on not arching your back?

[Brian C]

Really good vid Mike. Thanks for making it. Im going to try to apply it to my setup.

[Clifford Gillmore]

WHat is your take on not arching your back?

I'm more than happy to take Mike's advice on benching with an arch, a 600lbs+ bench is NO JOKE. How much are the experts at BB.com benching? What are they benching FOR?

I can't see it hurting your RC joints, traditional body building benching with elbows way out would be more likely to tear a head in there.

[Travis Bell]

nice video. i do my bench press this way. It got me curious and i went over to bodybiulding.com to see their tutorials. They have two guys going over flat, decline and incline. Now, they make a point of saying that flat bench press is just that.flat bench and that they dont want to see you arc your back. They make fun of guys that arc their back. they say;"Dont be that guy". Now I was always taught that arching your back helps keep your shoulder blades in which inturn takes pressure off your rotator cuffs and helps you put the load on your chest and not so much your tris. So your working your chest more and helps prevent rotator cuff injury.
WHat is your take on not arching your back?

bb.com is garbage

Arching your back doesn't hurt you at all. Is it beneficial for a bodybuilder? Not too much, although tightening the core and keeping a solid position is. But for them, it's not so much about keeping the movement as productive for the weight as can be, but more about putting as much stress on the pecs as possible.

Now, benching with elbows out, that's a great way to mess your RC's up big time. It'll have almost nothing to do with arch or no arch.

[Bang Bang Boom]

wow how much are you lifting there? thats some big plates

[mikesbench]

TallRob.... EXACTLY what Travis said. It's mostly about WHY you are benching, what I showed is for pressing max weight for powerlifting, not necessarily the best for bodybuilding, but definitely safest and most effective for max weight.