The bench press is a basic exercise for the development of our pectorals and horizontal push force. Biomechanically it is the movement of horizontal shoulder adduction, where in fact the pectoralis major is the muscle that has the largest arm at the moment compared to the deltoid, subscapular or dorsal. Horizontal adduction is gesture of bringing the arm closer to the body keeping it elevated and parallel to the ground.
In this article we explain to you three variations of this important movement for you to keep in your chest-building exercise arsenal.
larsen-press
The Larsen press is a good exercise for both powerlifters and people just looking to develop their pecs, anterior delts, and triceps.
It basically consists of executing a bench press with the legs extended and raised. You can leave these hanging from the bench or even rest your feet on another bench or drawer, the fact is that the feet do not touch the ground.
It provides two main benefits: increase the force production of our upper body by removing the legs from the equation and putting a greater focus on the strength of our position and technique.
About the second benefit, it happens because not having the legs to help us maintain our lumbar arch and scapular retraction, we have to put more effort into maintaining this posture on our own.
spot press
The Spoto press is another variant of the bench press where practically all the movement remains the same. with the exception that in each repetition the bar does not make contact with the chest but remains a few centimeters from itthat is, we must lower the bar and hold it for a moment a few centimeters from it before going up.
This exercise also gives us two main benefits. First of all, it forces us to better internalize our technique, posture and position of our body in relation to the bar. This is so because the fact of stopping before touching the chest means that we maintain extra tension throughout the body and makes us concentrate more on the tempo or cadence. This better knowledge of the movement is already interesting in order to improve performance, not to mention the constant increase in tension that the pectoral receives with respect to the original movement.
Secondly, and related to what we mentioned in the previous exercise, it helps us maintain a solid posture and not lose technique at any time. You can’t push a big weight if your posture is disassembled during the process. This exercise helps us deal with that.
pin-press
Finally we have the pin press. This exercise usually maintains the original technique of the bench press that you use regularly although can be done with different grips (same as the other moves to be honest).
The peculiarity of the pin press is that we focus on a certain range of travel of the original movement by placement at the desired height of the safety pins or bars.
The main benefits of this variation are focused on the triceps and improving the lockout on the bench press.
Since the pins only leave us with the last part of the bench press travel, it is the elbow extension that is the protagonist of the movement, with little involvement of the chest. This makes the triceps work harder and therefore improves this last portion of the stroke.
This article was originally published by Ángel Gardachal in July 2020 and has been reviewed for republication.
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