How in the fuck do y'all keep your "shoulders back" or "squeeze your shoulder blades" during the lift?
I've been trying to fix my form on bench and dropped the weight a bit as well while trying to learn but it seems i'm spending a lot more energy doing that then trying to lift and feel the burn in my chest.
I've tried literally dropping my shoulders and then putting them backwards (which kind of feels like squeezed shoulder blades i guess) and then today i tried forgetting about the "shoulder" and focus on squeezing the shoulder blades hard as i could and i only felt it in my right shoulder blade lol.
I just feel like my form on the bench is bad and i'd like to fix that before I keep trying to get stronger at it.

One thing that I used to fuck up was unracking the weights, I'd put my shoulder blades in a compromised position, basically causing all of my upper back to unravel, if that makes sense.

Try bringing the bar to the end of the rack, and instead of locking your arms out to get them off, almost pull the bar forward to keep your shoulder blades tight

ok so rather than extending my arms more to unrack it, slide the bar off the rack.
but as far as keeping your shoulder blades down/back or shoulder blades squeezed, what is the proper form and how does one do this? I feel like i shouldn't have to expend a lot of energy trying to keep that squeezed lol. Maybe im over doing it, or im just doing it completely wrong, idk.

I've heard of guys missing an attempt because they were so tight, they cramped up before the lift.

The bottom of every big lift is meant to put you in an uncomfortable position. You want to be tight everywhere, especially your back, shoulders and chest. Drive through your feet, keep your back arched and keep 4 points of contact on the bench and you'll be golden.

lower your weight

Engage your lats

Use a mini band while you bench. It will force you to pull your arms apart developing lat recruitment.

lmao get outa here u westside lat bencher

Go in the push up position, arms straight, retract and protact your scapula while keeping your arms straight. Do this for 2-3 sets @ 10-12 reps. Do it every bench day at the start of your workout. This will help train your shoulder blades to stay packed together, you might just not have the ROM to maintain it in the bench press.

This post was edited by dirTyMan on Jul 25 2017 11:28am

That's not the issue. I warm up with the bar and i'm still unsure of the form.







I'll have to figure that all out i guess i just don't know what it means or if im doing it correctly then. I may give that a try but i'm going to be gym-less for a little bit since im going home tomorrow and im not buying a gym membership for 1-2weeks when i'm about to move

A good little tip I picked up from Eric Helms (which can help you too, Ozzy), is to drive thru your heels and lift your bum up off the bench (squeezing glutes) prior to unracking. This will create a much more stable base for your shoulders when unracking, and it won't cause you to protract and lose tightness.

Of course while doing this, engage lats (imagine pulling them into your back pockets), focus on the retraction and try to brace your core - not letting your ribcage flare.