Though just photos and not a video, Jim Wendler breaks down proper bench press form beautifully in this T-Nation article: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...=52E05F7B79DCB1B6419D28167F3AB71A-mcd01.hydra
Sorry I got the name incorrect before, that was Paul Carter, US National ?Junior Masters Champ in 2012 ( I believe). I also know that Jim Wendler uses his stuff on his site sometimes and the two guys work together having similar training philosophies. Last time I looked Paul was benching over 425 3 years ago.... What ever works eh LFD
From the rule book. I'm not sure what federation allows that kind of arch, but in 90 percent of them it's not allowed. Butt is suppose to say on the bench in competition.
re: thumbless grip: safety is probably directly proportional to hand size and grip strength. someone with small hands, like me (although mine are absurdly small, as they barely close all the way around an oly bar even with a full grip) will be at a much greater risk of having the bar slip out than someone who can grip the bar firmly. and of course, someone with a really strong grip will be better able to hold on to it. then again, there's always safety pins (sawhorses, adjustable racks/cages, etc), and you can always bench from the bottom if you're using them. if you don't compete in powerlifting, you don't strictly need powerlifting style set-ups, nor powerlifting-style execution (incl. arch, benching from the top down, multiple bases of support, etc).
also re: small hands: someone with smaller hands will need to bend the wrist back more to use a thumbless grip than someone with bigger ones. speaking from experience as i pretty much can't ohp with a suicide grip and a straight wrist, because there's a big bloody gap that my thumb usually covers and from which the bar can quite easily escape to try to mate with my nose. again though, my own hands are ridiculously tiny, so take that for what it's worth.
Most people get a lot of wrist pain using a full grip for CGBP and if you can't hold something safely with a suicide grip you probably have no buisness benching it. Paul has inclined 400lb, and benched 450 (it think) close grip as well as having the most rediculous overhead press. FTR I do all my bench/incline/strict press with a false grip, no harm has became of me. I do have bear paws for hands though. Misted dropped benches happen because of wrist positioning, if the wrist flops forward or back with any kind of substantial weight it doesn't matter what grip you have, ergo I opt for the grip that allows me to use the straightest and most stable wrist position.
[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EHx1gYTA-Rw[/ame] This is gold for learning to bench for stength, just a heads up thoug, there is a lot of swearing. If your goal is swole pecs I'd reduce the arch, or use a different exercise tbh, I'm a big fan of using incline for beginners, it requires no set up and is so delt explanatory. Sit on bench, press bar, done.
I think at least one area where you and I could agree is on DB Bench Press, and just how tough doing them on a Swiss Ball: no Bench arch, no Rack/Unrack, no discussing on thumb vs thumbless grip, any leg drive is used in keeping core stability, any flaws in form get multiplied
Ahh I miss doing them, they where a fun movement, beleive it or not it was a bodybuilder who introduced them to me, he still uses them pretty regularly. You can also kind of bounce your elbows of the Swiss ball and get a budget slingshot (since I know you're heart mark bell) which is a great little overload tool. I do remember the ball popping when I had a 45kg bell in each hand though, suprised I walked away from thet one with teeth intact! Flat DB pressing with no lower body involvement is a fantastic tool for building bench strength in any variation, if you ask me, it's also pretty humbling. Been talking to dudes who use this for redic volume as their main accesory, 20kg each for 30-50 reps per set one guy claimed, Ouchy!
N00b advice alert: I find the width of the bench is very important. If I try to do it on a bench that's too narrow I can't dig my shoulder blades in, so I can't balance properly or lift as much. Also, a shout out for the valsalva manoeuvre.
