How Low Should You Go The Bench Press

The bench press is not only a measure of upper body strength but also one of the most popular exercises when it comes to building an impressive upper body. Therefore it comes as no surprise that abounding this popular exercise are also many myths and ‘bro-scientists.’

The most common thing you hear from people is that you have got to go as low as possible to reap the most benefits out of this exercise. ‘Your bar has got to touch your chest!’ One such well-meaning dude will say as he looks at you in his tightly muscled shirt. ‘Bounce the bar off your chest!’ Another bespectacled dude in his ‘bodybuilding.com’ T-shirt hollered at you as you inadvertently looked to him as the spotter in the wee hours of the empty gym.

The question is, is it necessary for you to go as low as possible during the bench press?

The Mechanism Of The Bench Press

The bench press is done while you lie on your back and lowers the bar until it is almost level to your chest before you push it back till your arms are straight. The elbows should be tucked in during the execution and the wrong way of executing this movement usually is when the elbows are flared out. There is a tendency of rotator cuffs injury if you do so. The exercise focuses on the development of the pectorals – your chest and also other supporting muscles such as your deltoids and triceps.

There is also the grip width to note. The grip is usually shoulder width apart or slightly wider than that to put a major focus on the chest area. A too narrow grip would place more emphasis on the triceps which has its place in your training arsenal depending on your objective.

Some people like to do the bench press on a swiss ball which I feel defeat the purpose of the bench press. There is a limitation to how heavy you can lift if you are doing it on a swiss ball as the exercise becomes a balancing act. You wouldn’t want a 100kg load breaking your ribs as they come crashing down when you lose your balance. Yet, this is precisely also why there is a preference for the exercise to be done on a swiss ball by some as they believe that the core stabilizers would be activated and strengthen their core while executing the movement.

While this sounds logical, the objective of the bench press is to build strong, toned and striated pecs. Hence I would recommend focusing on deriving strong pecs from the bench press and not training your abs although they get an indirect workout.

The Confusion

The main confusion arises over how low you should lower the bar and at which degree of lowering would there be an optimum recruitment of muscle fibres in the execution of the exercise. Many people have been told that the bar has to touch the chest to achieve a full range of motion. Full range of motion is usually associated with the maximum recruitment of muscle fibres. While that sounds logical and makes sense, the reverse is actually true. As counter intuitive as it is, lowering the bar till it touches your chest for most, would in fact transfer the weight onto your shoulders.

The Right Angle

The correct way to do the bench press is also where the maximum muscle fibres in the chest are recruited with minimal to no risk of injury. And that is to lower the bar across the nipple until your upper arms are parallel to the ground which places your arms at a 90 degree. At this angle the weight is distributed across your chest and any lower, weight will be transferred to your deltoids.

Disclaimer

This 90 degree angle varies from person to person though as your height, length of arms etc will affect at which level you will experience maximum contraction of your chest muscles. The best way to observe that you are doing it well is to get someone to observe you while you are executing the movement and correct you until you have gotten it right. With practice, neuro-muscular memory will enable you to have an intrinsic sense of how low to go and eventually you would be able to instinctively get it right.

Check out this video for a visual explanation of the bench press done correctly.

So How Low Should You Go?

Till your arms are at a 90 degree angle. And as mentioned, it varies from person to person. So if you are wondering why your shoulders are aching the next day instead of your chest, you might be doing it wrong. Start developing the right technique the next time you go to the gym!