# Bench press descent slow.



## DNp (May 20, 2019)

Not a powerlifter.  Anyway.  I've not been lifting since i had my back injury in January 2019... Had an huge pain in lower back and doctors could not find anything.  Wasn't able to arch my back. Not able to stand for too long without feeling pain coming.  Took my time off to heal.   Been back now for a 2 weeks and pain free for almost month.  

My bench is still decent.  But now the descent is slow.  I put up 320lbs and it took me almost 4 seconds to touch my chest?  It was like i was scared. The press itself was easy.   Trainer told me that descent took probably more energy than the push.   Even my 225lbs warm up was slow as this.  (I warm up with bar and ease up) 

Anyway to fix this? Like before this becomes habbit mentally.


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## CJ (May 20, 2019)

I'd imagine that every time you do it, and nothing hurts, your brain will start allowing you to get into a better rhythm. The mind is a funny thing, how it tries to protect us.


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## DNp (May 20, 2019)

CJ275 said:


> I'd imagine that every time you do it, and nothing hurts, your brain will start allowing you to get into a better rhythm. The mind is a funny thing, how it tries to protect us.



Nothing hurts. It was weird because 225lbs is an very easy press. I still did that extreme slow.  

I guess the mind is playing me.


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## rawdeal (May 20, 2019)

Depending on your goals, some people say emphasizing time-under-tension is a better way to train.


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## Gadawg (May 20, 2019)

It should be slow anyway.  Id say my reps are 2.5-3 seconds on the negative portion


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## ECKSRATED (May 20, 2019)

Gadawg said:


> It should be slow anyway.  Id say my reps are 2.5-3 seconds on the negative portion


Why should it be slow? There’s no right or wrong way to bench but curious why u say that. 

If every thing is feeling good then no reason to change it. But if u want to change the decent then start timing it and make it a goal to hit your chest quicker. If it’s taking four seconds now try going to three seconds and so on until you’re happy with the speed. 

I have a pretty fast decent on my press and that’s just how I’ve always benched. Like I said there’s no right or wrong here.


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## Straight30weight (May 20, 2019)

For me, if the down is too slow, I’m gassed on the up.


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## Gadawg (May 20, 2019)

ECKSRATED said:


> Why should it be slow? There’s no right or wrong way to bench but curious why u say that.
> 
> If every thing is feeling good then no reason to change it. But if u want to change the decent then start timing it and make it a goal to hit your chest quicker. If it’s taking four seconds now try going to three seconds and so on until you’re happy with the speed.
> 
> I have a pretty fast decent on my press and that’s just how I’ve always benched. Like I said there’s no right or wrong here.




Because the negative is at least equally beneficial as the positive when done slow and controlled.  The negative is also where tendons are strengthened so a slow negative decreases risk of injury and increases time under tension, which in turn causes hypertrophy.  

I havent read any recent literature on this so maybe my opinion is dated but Id doubt it.  Slower negatives also help to build the mind muscle connection which, for me anyway, is necessary for growth.


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## DNp (May 20, 2019)

rawdeal said:


> Depending on your goals, some people say emphasizing time-under-tension is a better way to train.



Time under tension is definately underrated. But in this when going this heavy i'm more focusing on moving the weight. If i'm doing under tension i normally go lighter and put out more reps.


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## DNp (May 20, 2019)

Gadawg said:


> It should be slow anyway.  Id say my reps are 2.5-3 seconds on the negative portion




Even when doing heavy bench?


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## DNp (May 20, 2019)

Straight30weight said:


> For me, if the down is too slow, I’m gassed on the up.



Now my lack of English understanding comes in. So too slow for you, means less power when exploding up?


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## Straight30weight (May 21, 2019)

DNp said:


> Now my lack of English understanding comes in. So too slow for you, means less power when exploding up?


Exactly. For me. If I’m not going heavy, I concentrate on negatives. But when the weight goes up, the drop goes quicker


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## PillarofBalance (May 21, 2019)

Any chance your back injury is actually in the upper back or neck and just referring pain down?


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## DNp (May 22, 2019)

PillarofBalance said:


> Any chance your back injury is actually in the upper back or neck and just referring pain down?




Chiropactor couldn't find anything atleast.. so still no idea what happened.. i worked out light after it happened then it came back full force and didn't go to work for almost 2 weeks. 

Still today no clue. Weird i know. But it is what it is i guess.  Right now i foam roll EOD.


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## ToolSteel (May 23, 2019)

If you’re just a gym rat then don’t worry about it imo.


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## DNp (May 27, 2019)

ToolSteel said:


> If you’re just a gym rat then don’t worry about it imo.



just a gym rat! Not competing or anything like that.


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## DNp (May 27, 2019)

*update..  failed 330lbs bench.. shouldn't have tried. It will be back up within 2-3 weeks.   Squads and Deadlifts have gone down way faster than my Bench. *


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## TODAY (Jun 23, 2019)

DNp said:


> Chiropactor couldn't find anything atleast.. so still no idea what happened.. i worked out light after it happened then it came back full force and didn't go to work for almost 2 weeks.
> 
> Still today no clue. Weird i know. But it is what it is i guess.  Right now i foam roll EOD.


I'd caution against taking the word of a chiropractor as gospel. Generally speaking, chiropractors aren't qualified to make anything more than a baseline diagnosis.

In any case, I wouldn't worry too much about the speed of your eccentric unless you plan on competing. There's even some data that suggests a correlation between slower eccentric loading and increased muscular co-contraction.


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## Tiny (Jun 23, 2019)

100% to Today’s advise

Go see a physical therapist not a chiro 

the slow decline sounds like a mental block. Just takes time to recondition


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## TeddyBear (Oct 30, 2020)

THIS is exactly my problem. I’m sooo slow on descent that I’m too gassed to push the bar back up.

I spend like 3-4 seconds bringing the bar down and only 1-2 on pushing it back up. It’s very controlled but I’m WILLING myself to lower it faster and I can’t bring myself to do it.


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## El Gringo (Oct 30, 2020)

Maybe work on explosiveness by doing Speed bench (as fast as you can up/down with 50% weight) 8setsx3reps

or if you have a spotter do board/plank bench (2x4 board on your chest). Then you can practically just drop the weight on your chest and explode up


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## TeddyBear (Feb 20, 2021)

Took a while.

https://youtu.be/gUPxefqEWGk
Super messy. 24-hours after arm day, maybe not the best idea. I’m sure he helped a little.


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## brock8282 (Feb 20, 2021)

Gadawg said:


> Because the negative is at least equally beneficial as the positive when done slow and controlled.  The negative is also where tendons are strengthened so a slow negative decreases risk of injury and increases time under tension, which in turn causes hypertrophy.
> 
> I havent read any recent literature on this so maybe my opinion is dated but Id doubt it.  Slower negatives also help to build the mind muscle connection which, for me anyway, is necessary for growth.



Exactly, the negative is actually when most of the mechanical damage to the muscle is going to occur.  if you are not a power lifter going slow is going to be much more beneficial then going fast. Way too many people piss away progress by not controlling their negatives.


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## TeddyBear (Feb 20, 2021)

brock8282 said:


> Exactly, the negative is actually when most of the mechanical damage to the muscle is going to occur.  if you are not a power lifter going slow is going to be much more beneficial then going fast. Way too many people piss away progress by not controlling their negatives.



I’d find more comfort in this if my chest grew in size or strength in the past year, which it really hasn’t. 
But, if I hit 250 on bench...

Then my low goal of 1000lbs can be 350 squat and 400 dead which is within my working sets.

My high goal of 1100lbs would then require my 385 squat 465 dead, which within spitting distance. (I’ve hit 390 squat before as a PR, 465 dead as a PR).

July’s goal is 1200. I’d like to add 25 to bench. 30 to squat and 45 to dead by then.


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