It's probably a no-brainer for most of you guys but I wasn't aware of that til it was too late

Sorry to hear that. I hope you recover quickly. What do you think the cause was? Weak core, not resetting at the bottom/touch and go, too much weight, hitching?

So it happened when I was doing 315, which I've rapped plenty of times in the past. I've been able to get sets of 405 in where I can do ~5 reps each. So the day I got injured I was warming up with 225 and I felt *great* so I was like "OK 315 is gonna be a breeze" so I just rushed it and went to full extension too quick and felt my spine shift from within my belt and it HURT. My adrenaline was going so I was able to re-rack and go home but I could barely move when the adrenaline wore off

I wear the belt tight too when I go just to be safe

@Steve - NJ sorry to hear that, brother. Once you're recovered, you'll be back at that weight in no time. I had a buddy who completely blew out his knee and couldn't squat for 8 months. Once he recovered fully he ended up hitting a 20lb meet PR after only 8 weeks of training

I prob could do light stuff for now but it seems like whenever I take a long break anyways I come back better than before. Which sounds counterintuitive but just seems to work out that way. Moral of the story is don't be stupid and assume you're invincible.

@Steve - NJ did you brace your abs against your belt on the set where you got hurt? Ive found thats a pretty good way to limit the pressure on your back during deadlift

I probably took pressure off since I was going quick and left an opening for my back to give

one of you mentioned touch and go opposed to resetting every rep

I actually seem to have better form and stretch in my hamstrings when I do touch and go!

my first reps is usually my hardest, but from there it gets far easier

So, your first rep when you don't bounce the weight off the floor is harder then the subsequent reps when you do.... hmmm, tell us more. 😃

i don't bounce it lol

it just turns into a kind of rdl and its easier to engage my hamstrings

So you weight nerds...where to bring the bar on my bench press? When I bring it down directly across my pecs, I feel nasty tweaking in my delts. So I usually bring it down about three inches below my nipples. I feel like that engages my chest more and my shoulders less. Is that okay?

Like, right at the base of my sternum. @Deleted User ?

https://youtu.be/wKhI-O4HI8M

Thanks @The Huwhyte Ulf - VA watching now and liking the music

Alan Thrall is a monster

That's about where I go but it depends if I'm doing dbells, I go a bit higher with dumbbells

He has several other videos. Good source for form and he's updated some of his videos as he learns better form etc.

Aye though DB press is a bit lighter

My form has my tris tucked in and it naturally flows to the sternum

Granted, at highest weight that control is questionable

I was going to say to tuck your elbows a little more to get more triceps than deltoids.

Bench wobbles TAKE YOU TO THE TOP

(Don't do this)

My shoulder starts to pop when I do heavier weight. But mainly on incline.

I usually keep my feet on the bench and my head hanging off the bench when I press @Deleted User. I heard thats the safest.

My shoulders always wanna get involved at max, you must train them to serve and not take over

Oh my god

😆

okay so it looks like he does the same thing, there's a slight arc in the path

Also, if you do have overactive shoulders I've never had a problem if I totally forced my shoulders down with some intensity. Doesn't seem to be a detriment if that's what you need to work on .

Not pinning shoulders down can be a real risk to your rotator cuff so that's why I'm mentioning it

@The Huwhyte Ulf - VA Ah very helpful - "elbows behind the barbell turns the exercise into more of a front shoulder raise"

I do try to pin my shoulder blades before every set as well. Has helped isolate my chest.

I have bad shoulders and have been tweaking things on bench press for a while to try to find the safest method