Bench press eccentric phase

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I have tended to control the bar down to my chest and it takes 2-3 seconds.

But I've read about 'rowing' the bar to the chest. Should I actively engage lat muscles to bring the bar to the chest faster?
 


I have tended to control the bar down to my chest and it takes 2-3 seconds.

But I've read about 'rowing' the bar to the chest. Should I actively engage lat muscles to bring the bar to the chest faster?

A controlled row is probably the best way to describe it.

I think if you bench with a 'j' path and achieve that correctly then you get it right re: the lats being engaged. But I have no idea of how to describe that well :lol:
 
A controlled row is probably the best way to describe it.

I think if you bench with a 'j' path and achieve that correctly then you get it right re: the lats being engaged. But I have no idea of how to describe that well :lol:
Ok ta I think the bar path is fine. I found it a little easier today when I thought of pulling the bar slowly down as it kept my body under tension.

I was then a tad disheartened when I saw a bloke bench pressing twice as much as I was!
 
It's more of a cue for equipped benching where the bench shirt actively resists the weight and is trying to dictate the bar bath.

If it helps engage the lats then use it, as they are important, but twisting the bar usually does thst easier
 
Thanks my next bench session is on Friday so I'll see how I get on.

I found this which is what made me think about the technique.

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/the-bench-press-is-a-pull-5-cues-you-might-be-missing

4. Pull the Bar Down to You

Now that you have pulled the bar out of the rack and into position, and are gripping it tight and trying to pull it apart, it’s pretty uncomfortable, right? Then you’d better pull that bar down to your chest as quickly as possible so you can bounce it off your chest and drive it back up. That’s how it works, isn’t it? Hell no. Though I bet you see it happening that way more often than not.

Instead of doing that, consider utilizing that tension and position you have created. Actively pull the bar down to your chest, under control. There’s that word again - pull the bar down. Use your lats to set both the pace and the path of the bar.
 
I had 13 working sets of bench yesterday and by the time I got to the volume sets at the end (5 sets of 5 with 80% of max) all this went out of the window :lol:
Snap!

During the warm ups with a light weight I could feel a difference.

When I did the 5x5 I added a massive 2.5kg and even managed 6 reps on the final set. However when there's more weight on the bar I was happy to just lower it under control and to keep my chest raised, never mind to do controlled rows.

It did make me realise that with a good technique someone new to lifting cound probably add 10% to their lifts.
 
Snap!

During the warm ups with a light weight I could feel a difference.

When I did the 5x5 I added a massive 2.5kg and even managed 6 reps on the final set. However when there's more weight on the bar I was happy to just lower it under control and to keep my chest raised, never mind to do controlled rows.

It did make me realise that with a good technique someone new to lifting cound probably add 10% to their lifts.

It was fine when I was going singles with 90% of my max and then 3x3 at 85%. After that I just couldn't/couldn't be arsed :lol:
 
I have a Doctorate in Molecular Biology and now work in IT/Tech.

I also have a MSc in Love Making.
What sort of role do you have in IT? I work with people with doctorates in physics and maths but I don't think that I've worked with anyone from a background in biology.

As an aside I spoke with someone today who's a retired biology teacher and he's now involved with marking gcse biology papers part time for AQA it sounded quite interesting.
 
What sort of role do you have in IT? I work with people with doctorates in physics and maths but I don't think that I've worked with anyone from a background in biology.

As an aside I spoke with someone today who's a retired biology teacher and he's now involved with marking gcse biology papers part time for AQA it sounded quite interesting.

I'm currently working as a solutions architect whilst I attempt to become proficient in software development, which is ultimately what I'd like to do. Except I'm quite enjoying the current role :lol:
 
I'm currently working as a solutions architect whilst I attempt to become proficient in software development, which is ultimately what I'd like to do.
Nice one, my ex colleague went from 30+ years in development into a solutions architect role. It tended to be that coding monkeys ended up as analysts or team leaders if they weren't total geeky virgin types. When I started I was an analyst programmer but now we have loads of business and systems analysts.
 
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