Pressing Matters: The Bench Press

 By far, this is the singular most popular and widely referenced exercise around any gym or fitness culture. Start up a conversation with someone about going to the gym and the first question after, “Oh? You lift?” is, “Whaddaya bench?” It usually goes somewhere along those lines. More for guys than gals, it seems. In spite of the love and draw of this movement there are still a number of mistakes in the form. Some of which can land the person doing them in hot and painful water. From my own experience, years back, as I was doing triples with 315, my left shoulder came apart. That bar landed on my chest and rolled onto my throat.

That one event, the injury and the bar on my throat, scared me. It scared me more than the injury hurt. Let me assure you, it hurt like nothing else. The failure of my shoulder was due to my form. Thanks to my using poor form, my shoulders were not properly supported by either my musculature or by other bones the way they should have been. That is why my left shoulder came apart.

Today, we are going to detail the proper form and technique for bench pressing. I am not going to go through that kind of pain again, nor am I going to sit by and not say anything that could prevent you from the same.

I am not a doctor. Talk to your physician and make certain that your body is ready for the stress that you are about to put it under.

As Boromir has so elegantly pointed out, you do not just flop onto the bench, heft the bar, and go to town. There is technique to the bench press. Far more than I had imagined prior to tearing my shoulder apart. When you stop to think about it, the shoulder is a rather tenuous joint that is held together in a precarious manner.

Let’s take a quick look, not an in-depth or medically technical one, but a basic understanding-style look at the shoulder here. The construction of the joint is ball in socket. This allows for an enormous range of movement. Along the flexibility and range of movement comes the higher risk of injury. The joint is held together and stabilized by four muscles and tendons. This group is known as the rotator cuff. It often takes the brunt of injuries.

The image here, from Stack, shows the muscles used in this exercise and how they encapsulate the shoulder. It all comes out to be a very impressive package.

The form used, the way one moves the weight while under it is what we have come to. We don’t just flop on the bench, no. There are preferred points of contact that will be on the bench. Those points include the upper back, shoulders, head, and your glutes. Your feet are on the floor and pressing firmly down and slightly out. How far out and at what angle is up to you. Still, try to keep your heels close to being under your knees. Squeeze your glutes some.

 With your upper back on the bench you will squeeze your shoulder blades together. Flexing your upper back stabilizes your entire back, shoulder, and chest region. This is the solid foundation from which you will move the earth.

Grip the bar firmly. I prefer a narrower grip at shoulders width. For someone of my height and long arms this is an anomaly. Competitive lifters with my build will go for a wider grip. This is to shorten the vertical range of motion that the bar must move in to complete a repetition. You will also see the wider grip used with barrel-chested lifters, again for the same reason of shortening the distance needed to move the weight. Still, I like to lift with my grip at just outside of my shoulder width.

Back flexed? Check

Grip firm? Check

Feet planted? Check

Butt on the bench? Check

Unrack the bar and bring it over your chest. As you begin to lower the weights your shoulders could move in a variety of angles. The strongest angle is where your upper-arms come down alongside your torso and, when at your sides, are at a 45-degree angle to your centerline. Imagine that there is a straight line down the middle of your body. Just a perfectly straight line. The line from the tips of your elbows to your shoulders and going on to intersect with that centerline should be about 45 degrees from the centerline. The positions the shoulder joints to be best supported by the muscles of the shoulders, the chest, back, and along the sides of your body. In order, these muscles are the deltoids, pectoralis, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi.

You have unracked the weight and have lowered it toward your chest. The bar should not hit you with a thump, thud, or hard impact. You must have enough control over the weight to stop its decent so that the bar just lightly touches your shirt. The bar will make contact, and you should be aware of this light contact, just above your diaphragm.

At this point you can hold the weight here for two seconds before pressing it up, just to increase the intensity, or immediately press the bar upwards. Once the bar reaches the top position, pause. Do not lock your elbows at the top of the repetition as this will later cause problems for you, rather keep your elbows slightly flexed.

While you are bench pressing you will want to coordinate your shoes with your workout top. No, not really. Nobody gives a fig about your outfit. You should coordinate your breathing. Inhale as deep as you can at the top of the repetition. Hold your breath without forcing it on the decent. Exhale on the pressing portion. Breathe again with the weight in the top position.

A spotter, someone you trust implicitly, is a highly suggested thing. When my shoulder came apart, I was alone. Nobody was even in the gym with me. Believe me, you do not want to get caught under a bar with more weight than you can press or a with a shoulder injury.

Use a weight with which you can do three sets of 8 to 10 repetitions with if you are just starting our or adjusting your form. Practice your form adjustments and make them a regular habit prior to attempting a 1-rep maximum.

Whether you are new to the gym or not, I hope that this helps you out.

Lift safe and lift smart.

2017 January Tabata Challenge Final Tally

       As this is now February 1st and I have finally pulled myself from the wreckage of the last week, and quite a bit of wreckage there was, it is time to go over the results of the 2017 January Tabata Challenge. This has not been a scientific study, mind you. My part in all this has been anecdotal. Yours has been anecdotal as well. Any input that you have to add is important in that it adds to the sum of knowledge as applied.

       When I set out on this challenge there were some questions that were in mind. Those included the primary interest in fat loss and strength gains. Did I lose fat?

       After three months of gorging myself, October to the end of December,  I had gone from 220 pounds to 240 pounds. My abs had faded so far into the background that they may as well have been Dr. Richard Kimble from the Fugitive.

       One month of body weight only Tabata style exercises did have some positive effects. The question of fat loss should be addressed first. Did the Tabata help in my losing fat? Since that was the only exercise I was doing for the month, we can say that I did lose body fat.

       The other question related to gaining muscle. Were there gains in muscle strength and endurance? The answer to that is a clear and unequivocal yes and no.
       Muscle groups where strength and endurance was already at a higher level saw the greatest gains while those that lagged the furthest saw the least gains in spite of being worked with the  same parameters of time and ... in retrospect, the amount of weight varied based on the exercise. Squats used only upper body as the weight. Push-ups get around 80% of the entire body's weight. Abdominal muscles will get varying loads based on the exercise and the strictness of the application. Wow ... tons of variables here. In fact, the only exercise chosen in this month's routine that saw use of the entire body's weight was the pull-up/chin-up. Ironically, this was also the area that saw the least amount of improvement.
       The best improvements were in Squats then push-ups. Abs came next. The pull-ups/push-ups came in dead last as I already said.
       For the month of February I will put myself through another physical challenge to see what changes will occur. Hopefully, some of you will be as curious and join me.
      

Some of the Benefits of Tabata

     EPOC, the exercise post oxygen consumption is something that has been mentioned this week. It’s

one of the benefits of Tabatas. Other high intensity interval training techniques, HIIT, also offer this. Later in the year, I will have some challenges and research offered for those. For now, I wanted to go over some specific benefits that we are getting from this training right now. The more I learn about these, the more motivated I get about doing them. Hopefully, you’re finding this to be the same. Let me know in the comments below.
     One thing, before we go into the big bennies of this training, let’s go over something that those of us doing them already have come to realize and those who have not yet need to consider. This type of training is tough on the body. It is really harsh on the body. If we were using weights, cold, hard iron weights, then there would be some major issues in doing this daily. Weight training is not recommended more than three days a week. That is, unless, you are using a type of split training cycle where the major muscle groups are being trained two times per week with such intensity that even three days would lead to injury. Yes, I have done those types of workouts. They are as much fun as pain inducing. No, really, I love them.
     Since we are only using our own body weight and nothing else we can run these daily … we are using just our own bodies, right? That had better not be the sound of crickets and nervous glances I’m hearing from out there … seriously.
     Many of us have been through military training and, before that, on some kind of school athletic team. In both of those we trained with body weight and on a near daily schedule, at the very least Sunday through Sunday.
     As I mentioned above, we are going go into more detail on several benefits of this high intensity style of training.

EPOC

     Exercise post oxygen consumption is also known as oxygen debt. Why is this important? Those exercises that burn more O2 burn more calories. This is where Tabata drills can be more effective in two weeks over the traditional 60 minute jogs. This is where the studies I have seen all seem to stop, at the two-week point. My challenge is to take this and expand the routine to four weeks. Ever since hearing about these, I have wanted to do this.

     EPOC only happens after you are finished training. It starts as soon as you start your recovery period. During this time your body repairs the muscles (this is when you get stronger and experience muscle growth). There is cellular repair. Several of your hormones have been altered by the intensity of your training and are being reset to normal levels. Most importantly, EPOC.

     Fatty acids are released into the blood stream. These are then oxidized at a higher rate. When the body uses these acids as energy and converts some of them back into fat stores more calories are used.

     Obviously, this effect is going to be greatest right after your workout and it will slow down as time goes on until everything goes back to normal. The European Journal of Applied Physiology published a study in 2002 that was quite impressive. This study showed an increased metabolic rate up to 38 hours after training.

     It is this after burn that gives Tabatas the edge over the traditional aerobics. This type of training builds muscle (long term higher metabolic rate), longer EPOC (up to 38 hours), and burns through your glycogen stores in short order (around 20 minutes).

Heart Health

     This is not something that should be done without talking to your doctor. Something which needs to be done with any and every regimen that is undertaken for our health. Always, always, always talk to your doctor first. That way, you can also be referred to a good psychologist to deal with delusions of grandeur. Seriously, talking to your doctor before jumping into a fitness routine or changing your lifestyle drastically is always the best idea.

     Now, Tabatas and your heart, what to expect. There are cardiologists who have concern regarding this style of training. Boxers, cyclers, rowers, and other athletes who deal with intense bouts and bursts of performance do not necessarily live longer than traditional aerobic athletes. Some cardiologists are concerned about 40-somethings doing these exercises. 20s and 30s? Still, talk to your doctor.

     If you are healthy, Harvard Medical finds that working at the range of 70% to 80% of your maximum heart rate is a safe thing for those who are already in adequate shape. How do you find your maximum heart rate? Subtract your age from 220 to roughly approximate your maximum heart rate during exercise. Exercising at between 60% and 70% of your estimated maximum heart rate is sufficient to build cardiovascular fitness. If you can gradually condition your way up to 80%, the fitness gains will be even more noticeable. I try to go a bit further, just because I’m goofy that way.

     How would you know if you’re in adequate physical condition to try this? Ask your doctor.

Increase Endurance

     These are part of the overall endurance package and not to be confused with the lie that these could or would replace all endurance training. These are great to mix up the routine. They shake us out of our regular pattern.

     A study published in Medicine and Sports Science from 1996 looked at test subjects who were tested in Tabata training for 5 days a week for 6 weeks. The results of this study showed an anaerobic increase of 28%. Participants also showed significant improvement in their aerobic capacity. The study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (1997) 29, 390-395, concluded that the Tabata protocol was increasing both aerobic and anaerobic capacity in study participants.

     The study used two groups, IE1 and IE2. IE1 performed the test at 170% VO2max doing 20 second work and 10 second rest intervals while IE2 performed at around 200% VO2max with 2-minute rests between each round. The conclusion was that the participants working at the 170% level saw a far better increase in both categories.

     Tabata had higher oxygen deficit and for longer period

O2 levels in muscle tissue may be fully restored in 30 seconds, so the 2-minute rest for IE2 had the group going back to each cycle at full, or near full, capacity for each bout.

The human body is incredibly adaptable. It adjusts to our training very fast. Which is why we so frequently hit plateaus. Tabatas are a great way to get off that plateau. This is the sledgehammer to break through your wall.

     Whether you spar/fight, swim, run, cycle, do under water basket weaving, I don’t know what your sport is, speed and endurance can always benefit from being bumped up.

Fat Burn

     Having done several cycles by of the full body Tabata style workout, you have most likely found yourself huffing and puffing pretty good. Within the four-minute time frame. This is your body reaching out for more oxygen to turn glycogen into energy. This is how muscles are fueled. Glycogen that is stored in our muscles is turned into energy that fuels those muscles in movement. The more we move, the more intense that movement, the faster that glycogen is exhausted. Once that immediately available glycogen is gone our body turns to what is stored in our liver. After that is gone, body fat is attacked for energy.

     How long does it take to burn out your total glycogen stores? That will vary from person to person as the variables change. Fitness level, athletic level, body type, the position of the stars, the house of the rising sun, you name it. Generally speaking, though, light to moderate aerobics will take up to 90 minutes to drain all your glycogen stores. Blood, muscle, liver, all of it. Tabatas and other HIIT? That takes 20 minutes.

     So, push yourselves as hard as you can, as safely as you can. Seriously, no doctor visits or ambulance rides from this. Because, that is a mission failure. Seriously Don’t go there.

     This challenge is giving us 16 minutes of solid work. Add to this a Tabata run and you get a round 20 minutes followed by several more minutes of huffing and puffing and questioning your sanity. Then, the EPOC kicks in. This is the after burn. We talked about that already. Next, is to refuel our bodies. We have put all of this effort into breaking down muscle tissue, now we must stoke the stove for growth and regeneration.

    We need carbohydrates and proteins. Eating carbohydrates 30% to glycogen 70% to fat stores. For now, I will simply say stay away from simple carbs like sugar and processed foods as best as you can. Eat fruits and vegetables. Take in lots of protein. Milk, cheeses, yogurt (real yogurt, not that over sweetened crap), lean meat, fish, chicken, quinoa is a fantastic food. Alfalfa sprouts are a great natural source of nearly all the aminos you’re going to need.

     After you train there is that optimal window of one hour to gnosh down protein and carbs. One hour, gang, to shower, change, and refuel.

     Go forth and achieve more than you thought you could.