Dear Bench Presser...

Dear Bench Presser,

Stop arching your back when you press! This is an exercise meant to strengthen your Pecs, anterior delts, Serratus anterior, and triceps, all muscles along the anterior aspect of your upper body. So why the heck are you turning on the posterior side?

We are often taught to pull our shoulder blades together when we lift, not the case here! Pulling your shoulder blades together is called Scapular Retraction. Retraction turns on the muscles of your posterior upper body, predominately your mid traps and rhomboids. By moving into retraction, you are actually shortening the movement and limiting the range of motion you would get. Decreased range of motion means decreased power (Power is a function of force and distance over time. I will talk more about this another time because power lifting has its own techniques and applications.)

The act of bench pressing is broken down into three movements:

1. Horizontal Abduction of the Gleno-humeral joint

2. Protraction of Scapulo-thoracic joint

3. Extension of the ulna-humeral joint

These actions correspond to the following muscles to be activated in the order of the joints listed above:

1. Pec major and anterior deltoid

2. Serratus anterior and pec minor

3. Triceps

I am not listing every single muscle involved in these actions for three reasons:

1. The muscles I omit contribute to less than 20% of force per muscle.

2. Many lay people probably have not heard of them. Although don’t be insulted lay-people, most fitness professionals will not have heard of them either! Yeah, I’m talking to you coracobrachialis and anconeus!

3. The muscles working isometrically to help with stabilization will vary a lot depending on the individual.

Scapular protraction is not promoted in fitness enough because this position is equated with slouching. Knowing the difference between slouching and protraction is important so bear with me because this is key to getting the part of your pecs that I like to call the holy grail or cleavage for those of you lucky to have them. Slouching is an unconscious act of rounding your entire spine, from cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, to the base of your spine, called your sacrum. It does not come from activation of muscles and is simply sloppy and unattractive. This causes excessive stress to the connective tissues that are not meant to work very hard, such as your ligaments and joints. Ligaments and joints do not repair and regenerate like muscles do and therefore should be stressed sparingly. Scapular protraction however uses muscles and is the intentional act of pulling your shoulder blades forward. By using your muscles, you are essentially protecting your joints from being overworked and is the most effective and efficient way to move. This goes for every joint in the body so remember this for future blogs.

So now that you know the mechanics of a bench press, do as follows and you will have beautiful and sculpted pecs for years to come!

1. While lying on your back with the bar in your hands, and your hands over your nipple line, push rib cage down and shoulder blades up. This will activate your anterior chain. It also helps to root your feet onto either the floor or the bench.

2. Slowly lower the bar towards your chest by pushing your elbows outward, do not collapse your shoulder blades until you near the end range.

3. Then push the bar upward while getting as much reach as you can, especially by rounding shoulder blades and coming into scapular protraction. Make sure to straighten but not lock your elbows. Straightening comes from your triceps, locking comes from your joints and we now know how important it is to use your muscles and not your joints.

4. Repeat as many times as it takes to feel some fatigue in your muscles. The exact number of sets and reps is not as important as maintaining high quality movement.

As you develop mastery with this technique, you can begin to set some goals like increasing the number of repetitions, increasing the amount of weight, etc. Just remember that the key to all good weight lifting must follow an order of mastery:

1. Technique

2. Stability

3. Endurance

4. Strength

5. Power

You can’t have Power without good technique and stabilty so follow this in order. When technique and stability are achieved, you can bounce from endurance, strength, and power at any time in your weight lifting routine.

Good luck and stay tuned for my next blog!

To your health,

Kim