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Bench Press
What is
the best way to do a bench press.
The
Bench Press is a two-joint exercise involving the shoulder
and elbow joint. The chest muscles (pectoralis major) and
front and middle deltoid muscles are the prime movers of the
upper arm. If you have shoulder pain, you should not do this
exercise until you get clearance via professional medical
help. The Incline Bench Press is especially hard on the
shoulders because the upward angle of the upper body causes
the deltoid muscles to work harder to move the upper arm.
Incline Bench Press is probably a major cause of shoulder
pain and injury. As the upper arm moves forward in a motion
called horizontal adduction, the triceps start to take up
more of the motion by extending the elbows.
The Bench Press can be performed with dumbbells or a
barbell. Both are very functional motions, but the dumbbell
action allows more freedom of motion, since no bar is
restricting motion. Dumbbells often seem harder to control
to beginners because of the extra freedom of motion. Over
time, however, the barbell can be more stressful because the
hands are fixed on the bar and stress cannot be moved out of
the restrictive and repetitive path of the barbell. With
dumbbells the path of motion can be changed even to more of
a "fly" exercise where there is almost no elbow extension.
The "fly" motion puts more focus on the chest muscles. In
either case, the exerciser should not allow the bar or
dumbbells to come too low. Different individuals can
tolerate different low levels, but the lower positions,
especially with the dumbbells, can overstretch the shoulder
ligaments and put excess stress on the rotator cuff tendons
and muscles. The low back should be kept firmly, but not
strenuously, on the bench, preferably with the feet also on
the bench if it is quite a reach to the floor. You should
always have a spotter or an effective bail-out support.
Exhale while the weight is lifted and inhale on the way back
down. Keep the strain out of your neck and keep the abdomen
tight as an effective stabilizing force for the upper body.
Imagine that the body is bolder when it is confident that
your core (abdomen) is effectively stabilizing your low back
and torso.
One technique that has been recommended by experts is
scapular retraction, that is, keeping the middle borders of
the shoulder blades together during the Bench Press.
Scapular retraction has advantages and disadvantages,
however. The advantage is that the line of pull of the
pectoralis major is more in line with the line of pull of
gravity of the barbell or dumbbells. Scapular retraction
holds the shoulder joint further back, which changes the
angle of the pectoralis major muscle to line up more
parallel and effectively against the line of force of
gravity. The disadvantage of scapular retraction is that the
action counters the motion of the upper arm. In other words,
the arm is moving forward while the shoulder blades are
being held backward. This could have a separating force at
the shoulder. I think I prefer to let the shoulder blades
glide forward with the motion of horizontal adduction of the
upper arms. Scapular retraction should be performed with
extra care and monitoring -- if at all.
What
is considered a good body composition reading for males and
females.
The
best measurement of Body Composition is Percentage of Body
Fat. Body weight, even Height-Weight Tables, and Body Mass
Indices are not as telling as the percentage of body fat.
Simply put, the body is a ratio of Fat Mass to Lean Body
Mass. For females, 13-20 percent is considered
optimal. For males, 8-15 percent is considered
optimal. Higher readings for either gender are classified as
varying degrees of fatness or obesity. Male athletes, such
as wrestlers, gymnasts, and long distant runners may go as
low as 4 percent body fat.
Body fat is estimated by skin caliper measurements of
standard skinfold regions that are plugged into an equation
that estimates the body fat percentage. Bioimpedance is also
used to measure the electrical resistance of the body by
passing a small current into the body. The resistance is
correlated with the amount of lean tissue and fat tissue in
the body and offers a resulting fat percentage value. The
"gold standard" Body Composition measurement is made
calculating the density of the body by weighing the body on
land and underwater. Scientists have developed accurate
equations that predict the body fat percentage from the body
density that can be obtained from the comparing the two
weights. A newer technique also measures the density of the
body in an airtight container.
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