Hey guys, I have started lifting weights more regularly lately and I have a few questions regarding technique, as well as concerning protein supplements. I know a few of you lift (Andrew, Derek, John) so I respect your advice. When benching, is there any difference in muscle development if I were to place my hands further away than shoulder width, or is it better to place them closer in? I also assume the elbows should always be parallel to the body when lifting. Also about wrists- should the wrist be curled forward as if riding a bike or arched back like doing pushups? Having them forward seems to take off a lot of pressure. Also, when I am doing more reps at a lighter weight should I be bringing the bar down to my chest every time to get the most muscle development, or is it redundant motion?
1. Farther away than shoulder width can potentially injure your shoulder; there's conflicting research on this but the basic idea is that it's not bad per say to do it wide, but there's no real benefit. When doing any form of press (pushup, bench press, whatever) correct form is:
1. hands shoulders width apart
2. thumbs at the nipple line (any lower and you're putting yourself in danger and any higher like at the shoulder and you're involving more of your shoulder as a secondary mover and thus not getting the full potential of the workout)
3. putting your hands in more narrow would emphasize the triceps because your elbows stick really close to your body and come across in an angle that uses them more than the chest; again they're a secondary mover so they're going to work in a typical chest press but when they're more narrow you're emphasizing them that can be useful if you're doing a day of chest, back, bis, tris
4. your wrist should be like if you were standing up and then stuck your arms out with your palms facing down and then made a fist. If you have excessive angle on them it's going to put pressure on the wrist that isn't neccessary; obviously this cant be avoided doing a pushup unless you're doing fist pushups (which by the way kick ass) but when you're benching or using a weight you always want to have your hands like that to be in the correct form. if your wrist is curled up with the palm facing the ceiling your forearm extensors will be working and thus in a contracted position, and your flexors the same thing going the opposite way. You don't want them to be in that position for a prolonged period of time (especially when doing something for example like a bicep curl because then you're working the extensors or flexors instead of the bicep and negating the workout).
5. You should always bring the bar almost down to your chest (obviously don't smack yourself) because you always want to do the full range of motion on every single exercise. Otherwise you're cheating yourself, developing incorrectly and potentially creating muscle imbalances. People who do bicep curls and don't extend all the way or use momentum are cheating themselves and learning improper movement patterns; the general rule is ALWAYS do the full range of motion unless its a specific circumstance. Especially if you're going for muscular endurance (12-25 reps at 70% of the 1rm) you should be making sure you're doing the full form correctly and at a controlable speed. Muscular endurance is good for generating force over long periods of time and also neurologically learning the form so the last thing you want to do is do 25 reps of a mini range of motion and fuck up your motor learning patterns forever.
And about protein powders- lately I have been getting acne on my shoulders and upperarms (not any where else though, I have clear skin) after drinking this protein powder I have. I always eat clean, no meat, not much sugar, alcohol, etc... however I am convinced it must be all the sugar in the powder that is causing this acne. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm going to get pure whey after I am finished with this bag
No, protein powder should not cause acne and most don't even have that much sugar. What brand are you using? Shoulders and upper arms would likely be just from the sweat you're getting during exercise clogging your pores and stuff like that (get a good scrubber for the shower and make sure after you lift you're using a good soap and realllyy lathering and scrubbing). A lot of lifters and athletes have body acne from the sweat and dirt getting in the pores and clogging them, especially those who are juicing (but I hope you're not stupid enough to do that). In terms of protein powder you should always go for one that is mostly all protein and maybe some vitamins. Stuff like muscle or monster milk is fucking bullshit and chocked full of fat and unneccessary things. A good balance of a nice amount of protein and carbs and some vitamins is all you really need and make sure not to overdo it. A lot of people consume too much protein too rapidly and your body can't use it all and thus de-animates it and turns it into fat. A good idea is to right after you workout consume about 20 g of protein over 15-45 minutes. then from 45-1:30 another 10 g. and then another 10 g for the next 2 or so hours and then continue your day as normal. The supplement industry is packed with bullshit claims about how much BV their protein has and how you should take a shitload and blah blah blah, in the end they all contain the right amount of proteins and having a shitload of them doesn't magically make you do any better. Your body works a lot of the times on an all or none system in terms of protein function so if it doesn't have what it needs it will either make it or just not do the correct synthesis. All supplements have a good selection of proteins in them and the ones that say how much BV protein they have and throw in a bunch of random bullshit don't end up being much better yet tend to cost more too.
Towards the end of my workout my wrist muscles feel more worked than the biceps. Thanks for pointing this out, even though I didn't ask specifically.
