Role of bench press/rows fitness in golf

[joostin]

11 hours ago, pdxhak said:

The front delts are not taking over on a heavy bench. They may contribute more than necessary with bad form but that is another topic. The standard bench press and hand position will primarily work the chest.

Agreed on that.  Standard barbell or DB bench with proper form, esp. heavy, makes it easy to hit chest.  However...

 

I think the whole discussion about front delts and bench comes down to what bench variation they're doing, and lifting experience/knowledge.  The experience/knowledge is where good/poor form and intent lie.  I gotta believe there's a lot more non or novice lifters than more experienced seasoned lifters reading golfwrx that simply don't have "standard movements" down.

 

Even the seasoned crew, which I like to think I'm part of, can be so focused on other things like quantity over quality and not hit the muscle well.  Intent can go from novice "don't let the weight fall on me" to gym bro "Imma get this max PR up" to Crossfitter "Imma bang out 20 reps faster than you".  Gym bro probably hits the chest best of them 😄, but yeah there could be issues hitting the muscle when the focus, form, or knowledge is not there.  That's where bodybuilders are the best at - hitting/contracting the muscle.

 

I remember being a beginner in high school along with friends doing machine bench and pushups, and we all felt the front delts later.  Poor form, didn't know about squeezing shoulder blades together, pushing outward, elbows and feet doing whatever...  Later on heard a lot of trainers and powerlifters talk about not having elbows flared out for shoulder safety.  So I would tuck the elbows in way too much on any bench type press - bar, DB, machine - or pushups esp. with fingers turned out and elbows in... got a ton of front delt work!

 

But then learning about the muscle functions, like adduction, seeing bodybuilders get those elbows out (myself getting more 45° arm from body), quality reps, pushing inward, trying to squeeze hands together during pushups - intending to hit the pecs - that's when chest started getting hit all the time.  Single arm DB bench, single arm pushups - those are harder to get chest adduction because the torso wants to rotate the other way. 

 

Anyway, all that's to say front delts are easy to hit unintentionally, and it can make life easier to find the right intent or movement when things seem off.  Standard barbell or DB bench is great, but anyone feeling too much front delt on any horizontal press hopefully can learn a little from my and others' mistakes. YMMV

 

44 minutes ago, Albatross Dreamer said:

And don’t forget tomorrow is international chest day, just like every other Monday,

Many days of filled benches and empty squat racks is how I got more into leg day 😉