Avoiding Mistakes When Pumping Your Pecs

One morning Liz was working at a gym when a member came up and casually mentioned that another member needed help on the bench press. Liz strolled over to find this man trapped underneath a bar that apparently had been too heavy for his chest muscles to handle. “Caesar,” she asked, “how long have you been there?”
“About 20 minutes,” he replied.
Why hadn’t he yelled for help? He was too embarrassed. The moral of the story: Safety is more important than lifting heavy weights. In addition to lifting the proper amount of weight, take the following precautions when working your chest:

• Don’t lock your elbows. In other words, don’t straighten your arms to the point that your elbows snap. This arm extension puts too much pressure on the elbow joints and leads to tendonitis or inflammation of the elbow joint itself. When you straighten your arms, keep your elbows slightly relaxed.
• Don’t arch your back. In an effort to hoist more poundage, some people arch their backs so severely that there’s enough room between their back and the bench for a Range Rover to drive through. Sooner or later, this position causes a back injury. Plus, you’re doing nothing to strengthen your chest muscles. Instead, you’re overstraining your lower back.
  
• Don’t flatten your back. In a sincere effort not to cheat, many people do the exact opposite of overarching their backs — they force their lower backs into the bench. This posture is equally bad for your back. When you lie down, make sure that a slight gap exists between your lower back and the bench, reflecting the natural arch of your lower back.
• Don’t lift your shoulder blades off the bench or backrest. If you do this, your shoulders bear too much weight — without any support from the bench. This error is subtle but one that may be costly for your shoulder joint.
• Don’t stretch too far. When you lie on your back and perform the bench press, you may be tempted to lower the bar all the way to your chest. Similarly, when you perform a push-up, you may want to lower your body all the way to the floor. Don’t. Instead, follow the instructions we provide for these and similar chest exercises.