Ik heb onlangs tweedehands gerief (rack, bankje, gewichten ...) aangekocht...

Terug ontopic met een tweede probleem.

Nu mijn squat-techniek er in begint te komen, stuit ik op een tweede probleem, wanneer ik voor het eerst met (lege) bar probeer. Ik voel namelijk pijn in mn armen/schoudergewrichten als ik de bar achter mn schouders wil plaatsen.

Is dit normaal? Leg ik de bar te hoog of te laag? ... ?

Making your lats stronger is going to help, but I'm pretty sure that's just a detail in this case. The main problem with stalling on one of these main lifts is almost always a inadequate technique. Lot's of people think bench pressing does not involve much more than lying down, and moving the bar up and down. Well, it is. Believe me, I've been there: thinking my technique was ok, and stalling for six months.

Half te battle of the bench press is the set-up. Everything you do before the bar leaves the rack. You need to achieve a great amount of tightness, in such a way that you're almost as rigid as the bench you're lying on. I peronally like the way Dave Tate explains it in
this video.

However, I have a couple remarks:
1) The most important is that you realise that this is a more 'bench suit'-way of doing the bench. However I recommend you try it exactly as he describes it. A raw bench isn't that much of a difference, and you will learn from there how a raw bench works best.

2) Arching: You schould arch your back (lower and upper back) in a way that your chest is as high as possible, your traps and lats are thight and your traps are pushed down (hard) on the bench. Make sure you squeeze the shoulder blades together, and you do not 'unlock' them when lifting the weight out of the rack. Short J-hooks help a lot. I used a saw to shorten my J-hooks about 4-5cm.

3) About planting the feet: A lot of people like to have their feet flat on the ground, others (like myself) like to drive the ball of the foot in the ground. Notice that in Tates first demonstration he puts his feet towards his schoulders, in a tucked position. In the second demonstration he keeps his feet out. Again, see what works best. Leg drive is a very important aspect of the bench. I like the tucked position more. Your stance should be pretty wide. Make sure you can push yourself in a rigid state using your legs without your butt coming off the bench.

4) Tightness: if you conform with the previous 3 points it's time to tighten up. Drive your legs in order to arch your back even more. Tighten your back muscles in order to achieve maximum tightness.

5) Time to get the weight out of the rack. Keep the arms locked out and the shoulders together. When the weight is free make sure you keep pushing those legs to balance your weight perfectly. If the barbell is going from side to side you are doing things very wrong. Keep everything thight, arched, and your chest as high as possible. I can't stress this enough.

6) Pushing the weight. Take a deep breath, and hold it. This will expand the chest even more, and will make your vertebrae more rigid. When lowering the weight, do it at a steady pace, not too fast, but not too slow. Already start pushing the weight back up (increasing the push on the barbell) when the weight is a couple centimeters from your chest. Doing this correctly will slow the barbell down till it hits a stop on the chest, and will bring it immediatly back up. (a stretch reflex). When being back in a locked out position, release your breath and prepare for the next rep. Whenever you have the barbell out of the rack, make sure your wrists are straight. All of your force must be directly under the barbell when pushing. A lot of energy can be dissipated in a wrist that is not completly straight.

7) Bar path: You should hit he chest (don't bounce!) about on it's highest point when being in the correct position. Don't put the barbell down too close to your shoulders, as this is not an optimal position of pushing the barbell back up.

mmm, this got longer than I anticipated. Anyway, use it, and I hope you'll make some progress.

Je squat: je rug is niet hol, en te plat (te parallel met de grond).

Bench:..is eigenlijk alles wat die niet moet zijn :p

1) The most important is that you realise that this is a more 'bench suit'-way of doing the bench. However I recommend you try it exactly as he describes it. A raw bench isn't that much of a difference, and you will learn from there how a raw bench works best.

2) Arching: You schould arch your back (lower and upper back) in a way that your chest is as high as possible, your traps and lats are thight and your traps are pushed down (hard) on the bench. Make sure you squeeze the shoulder blades together, and you do not 'unlock' them when lifting the weight out of the rack. Short J-hooks help a lot. I used a saw to shorten my J-hooks about 4-5cm.

3) About planting the feet: A lot of people like to have their feet flat on the ground, others (like myself) like to drive the ball of the foot in the ground. Notice that in Tates first demonstration he puts his feet towards his schoulders, in a tucked position. In the second demonstration he keeps his feet out. Again, see what works best. Leg drive is a very important aspect of the bench. I like the tucked position more. Your stance should be pretty wide. Make sure you can push yourself in a rigid state using your legs without your butt coming off the bench.

4) Tightness: if you conform with the previous 3 points it's time to tighten up. Drive your legs in order to arch your back even more. Tighten your back muscles in order to achieve maximum tightness.

5) Time to get the weight out of the rack. Keep the arms locked out and the shoulders together. When the weight is free make sure you keep pushing those legs to balance your weight perfectly. If the barbell is going from side to side you are doing things very wrong. Keep everything thight, arched, and your chest as high as possible. I can't stress this enough.

6) Pushing the weight. Take a deep breath, and hold it. This will expand the chest even more, and will make your vertebrae more rigid. When lowering the weight, do it at a steady pace, not too fast, but not too slow. Already start pushing the weight back up (increasing the push on the barbell) when the weight is a couple centimeters from your chest. Doing this correctly will slow the barbell down till it hits a stop on the chest, and will bring it immediatly back up. (a stretch reflex). When being back in a locked out position, release your breath and prepare for the next rep. Whenever you have the barbell out of the rack, make sure your wrists are straight. All of your force must be directly under the barbell when pushing. A lot of energy can be dissipated in a wrist that is not completly straight.

7) Bar path: You should hit he chest (don't bounce!) about on it's highest point when being in the correct position. Don't put the barbell down too close to your shoulders, as this is not an optimal position of pushing the barbell back up.

En moet ik dan een rustdag inlassen? Of de ene dag squat en de andere dag bench press?