Ive come to a theory that ive been testing for a few weeks , havent done any research on it but this is my conclution ,

would love some input on it,

if i do bench press . i do dumbell press(scotts chest max growth) on mondays and a very standard barbell set on thursdays , i stop the downward movement when my elbows are right next to my shoulders. like 180 degrees to each other , ive noticed that when i go below that im not working my chest , at feels like the power shifts into my triceps and shoulders , and i feel like injury can be sustained in the lower part of the exersize aswell. so i stay in the upper part of the exersize never dipping past 180 degrees ,i.o.w never dropping my elbows below my chest , this keeps my chest ingaged all the time and i feel less fatiqued. allowing me to push harder and get that extra rep without failure and dropping the weights on myself lol. ,

i personally feel this does give me a better workout and that it allows me to push more , just wondering if you guys have tried it , and if you would try it and give me some feedback.

also u guys talk about pushing the wheights higher every week, ive only been lifting for a few months but my barbell bench is at 80kg for all sets and my dubell press is at 30ks per side , ive noticed that im close to the weight the guys incl scott use in the videos ., so where does one stop loading on week after week. although i can handel it most of the time its becoming hard getting the wheights up iwhen doing dubells.

Well to truely stimulate a muscle you need to work through a full range of motion. This technique only works the pecs through their mid to inner range therefore neglecting the outer range. This will depress the effects of hypertrophy. You are also decreasing the recruitment of the clavicular (upper) portion of the pec as you are not getting shoulder extension. In relation to injury if you keep your shoulders retracted and pressed firmly into the bench and maintain a slight arch in your lumbar spine you will minimise the risk of injury. In terms of pectoral activation during the bench press you need to torsion the bar to create stimulation. What I mean by this is try and bring your hands together. This will create a horizontal adduction torsion which will activate the pec major.

Anthony,

Daniel is right. You need to due full range of motion (FRM).  Injuries occur when you don't do FRM and then either try to do it for the first time or are forced into it by using too much weight too fast.  Scott has a video discussing this and as Daniel pointed out you will limit the full growth of a muscle if you don't exercise it thru its entire range of motion.  When you ench press, both flat and dumbell, you should never be completely flat.  You should have an arch in your back and your shoulder blades squeezed together with your but on the bench and your legs firmly planted on the floor.  Your arms should never be "winged" out to the side.  This is what transfers more stress onto the shoulders the lower you go.  They should come down more at a 45 degree angle close to your rib cage.  Again, Scott has a video on this.

As for raising the weights, there is many ways to do this.  A muscle grows from not only progressive overload (increased weight) but also time under tension (TUT).  To make 30Kg dumbells fell like 60Kg dumbells, slow the tempo down especially the negative when you  lower the weight.  Do drop sets or try super sets like 10 reps of flat dumbell press immediately followed by 10 reps of incline dumbell press.  Try pyramid sets where you do 4 sets of 10 reps but raise the weight each time.  Raise all the weights when you can complete all 4 sets without struggling (the last 2 should be hard to complete).  For example with dumbbells, do 60Lbs for 10, then 70 Lbs for 10, then 80 Lbs for 10 then 90 Lbs for 10.  Don't raise these weights until you complete all 4 sets fairly easy.  Then do 65Lbs for 10, 75 Lbs for 10, 85 Lbs for 10, and 95 Lbs for ten.  You don't need to raise the weight more than 5-10% to cause growth.  Many people jump up too fast which only grows your ego and your chance of injury.

As for getting the dumbells into position, Scott has an awesome video that shows a trick on how to raise the dumbells yourself especially as they get heavier.  He even shows the trick working with 125Lb dumbells in each hand.

John

Thx guys , tha puts some yhings into pespective , the arch u  talked about seems to happen naturally and squeezing my shoulders back is gna be something to get use to.

thx 

Anthony

I totally agree with these guys Koty. Its always best to touch your chest, pause for a brief second and then power the weight to starting position. You are actually at greater chance of injury by not going all the way down. Typically most people can't handle as much weight with the dumbbells as they can a barbell so don't sweat the amount of weight too much. I see that you are still a beginner so it would be best to master the proper form and technique before adding any more weight to these exercises. It is great to progressively over load as much as you can, but just remember that muscle gain is greater achieved with proper form + time under tension. With that being said I would recommend that you go no less than 8 reps and no more than 12-15 reps per set. Use as much weight as you can manage for these rep ranges with proper form each week and you will start seeing size and strength gains in your chest. Don't forget about the upper chest either. If you really want your chest to stand out more then start focusing on incline barbell and dumbbell presses as well. I love doing incline dumbbell fly's as well. It's a great exercises to add width and thickness to the upper pecs. 

You will definitely feel more power by pinching your shoulder blades because it allows you to take most of the tension off your shoulders and allows you to use more chest.

Hey Anthony!

Not bringing the bar all the way down to your chest could be a simple form issue.  Even when I bring the bar to my chest I am still basically hitting 90 degrees with my elbows because of my form.

I want you to check out this video on bench press form and see if it helps you.  As far as increasing the weights, try to go up 5-10lbs each week.  This might be hard without a spotter so be careful.  It's ok to get "forced reps" in as well.  The goal with forced reps is to get your body used to lifting the heavier weight.

good stuff guys , i do chest on mondays and thursdays . so ima get back on this by thursday night and try the small things i missed that i noticed in scotts video , like my feet sometimes come off the ground . i know it sounds silly but i get so wrapped up in the set that i forget everything else , i think ill just stick with the 80kg's im benching atm and work on form , for 2 weeks . 

Do you guys know if scot has a video like maximum shoulder (like the chest tricep bicep and back videos)

i hate real delt lifts , it just doesnt feel like i have any power in the movement and end up using light wheights , i dont think ive felt my shoulders hurt once ever.

Yeah man, you need to keep your back slightly arched, core tight, glutes GLUED to the seat, and feet on the ground.  That stable stance is the foundation to your bench! :)

Also, check this out :)

awsome stuf. thx dude