All successful bodybuilders have found nuances of exercise technique that work best for them for muscle growth. You need to do the same yourself.
If your technique for a particular exercise is a mess, you should start anew and address all of its components. See Chapter 12 of BUILD MUSCLE, LOSE FAT, LOOK GREAT.
But in some cases, just a couple of points are amiss in an exercise, and fixing just them can boost muscle growth.
Here are some examples. Try the tips, but with weights that are very light for you. Find the technique for a given exercise that works best for you, then build back your poundages gradually over at least a few weeks, to adjust to the changes. Then, for muscle growth, forge into new poundage territory.
Barbell squat
Shoving your knees outward as you descend, and keeping them shoved outward as you push out of the bottom position, is essential—to permit you to squat efficiently and effectively. But the way many bodybuilders set themselves up to squat makes it impossible for them to have their knees in the best position.
You need sufficient foot flare, and the right heel spacing for you, according to your particular structural configuration. Start with about 12 inches between your heels, and each foot flared outward about 30 degrees. (To clarify the flare, stand with your feet perfectly parallel to each other, then fan out the front of each foot about 30 degrees.) Then tinker with flare and heel spacing until you find the arrangement that feels best for you, to enable you to keep your knees shoved outward as you descend and ascend. Some bodybuilders will need a heel spacing a bit less than 12 inches, while others will be better off with a wider stance.
Absolutely never should your knees buckle inward. (Knee buckling readily occurs if you squat with your feet parallel to each other, or with only very little flare.)
To assist your efforts further, don’t place the barbell too high. Many bodybuilders place the bar at the base of their necks, rather than on the muscle immediately above their shoulder blades. Most bodybuilders would benefit from lowering the bar’s positioning.
And never descend in the squat any lower than the point at which you can no longer maintain a slight inward curve in your lower spine.
Many bodybuilders lack sufficient flexibility in their calves, hamstrings, thigh adductors, glutes and shoulders, and as a consequence have no chance whatsoever of being able to squat properly. Sufficient flexibility is essential.
Bench press
The most common errors in this exercise are lowering the bar close to your neck, and using too wide a hand spacing. Use a moderate hand spacing—about 21 inches between the index fingers, for men—and lower the bar to the bottom line of your pecs, which means just below your nipples. And position your elbows so that they stay directly beneath your wrists, and your forearms are always perpendicular with the floor—perpendicular as seen by someone from both the side and the front views.
Dumbbells permit you to adjust your wrist positioning during the bench press, which can vary during each rep. Find what works best for you. But avoid an excessive range of motion. Don’t go any deeper in the dumbbell bench press than what you would in the barbell version.
How you breathe during each rep affects your ability to bench press. If you push the barbell or dumbbells up on a deflated chest, that will make the exercise harder. Instead, fully inhale while the resistance is at arm’s length; then immediately lower it to your chest (under control, of course), pause momentarily, and then start the ascent, all without exhaling. Maintain the full chest of air until during the second half of the ascent, and then breathe out. Bench pressing on a full chest of air is easier than on an empty chest.
Parallel bar dip
For the freestyle version, use V-shaped bars rather than perfectly parallel ones, so that you have some control over hand spacing. (Large bodybuilders need a wider spacing than small bodybuilders.) Position yourself so that you face into the V-shape, and tinker with the precise position that’s optimum for you. The closer in you are, the closer your hand spacing will be. Find a medium spacing that evenly spreads the stress of the exercise over all the involved musculature.
But even with the right hand spacing for you, if you use an excessive range of motion, the exercise will cause shoulder problems sooner or later. The lowest position, assuming that your shoulders are in good condition, is where the rear of your triceps is just very slightly below parallel to the floor. But parallel to the floor is safer, and has some margin for error built into it. Arrange a bench beneath the bars, as a depth marker, so that when you’re at your safe bottom position, your knees graze the bench. To fine tune the bench’s height so that it’s exactly as you want it, elevate the bench on plates, or put something on the bench.
If you can’t get the freestyle version to work for you, try the machine parallel bar dip, if your gym has one. Then you have more control over controlling the range of motion, and it’s easier to apply resistance.
With both the free-weights and machine versions, tinker with how you apply force through your hands. Just a slight change in how you place your hands, and through which area of your hands you apply the most force, can make a significant difference to how well you perform the exercise. And fat bars or handles are better than thin ones, because they give you more area to push against.
Each rep of the parallel bar dip should be done on a full chest of air, like with the bench press.
Pulldown
Using too wide a hand spacing, and pulling to behind the neck, are common errors in the pulldown. Always pull to the front—to the point where your hands are about level with your collar bones (clavicles).
Start with a supinated grip (palms facing you, in this case) a little narrower than shoulder width. Then try a little wider. Find what’s most comfortable for your wrists and elbows. If you can’t find a supinated grip spacing that works for you, shift to a pronated grip that’s a little wider than shoulder width. Or, use a parallel grip if there’s a bar that permits a hand spacing of about shoulder-width.
Hold the bar in your palms and fingers, not just in your fingers.
Take a deep breath when your arms are extended, then pull down with a full chest of air. Exhale on the descent.
Chin-up
Until you can do at least three sets of five reps in the chin-up, I recommend you stick with the pulldown. Once you can do 3 x 5 in the pulldown with at least 5% more than your bodyweight, you should be ready for the chin-up.
With the chin-up, use the same supinated grip that was recommended for the pulldown. Small adjustments in your grip spacing can make a big difference to your performance in the chin-up, so tinker with your grip spacing to find what works best for you.
If a supinated grip doesn’t work for you, probably because it produces elbow or wrist irritation, shift to the pull-up, which uses a pronated grip. Use a hand spacing a little wider than your shoulder width, and pull to a little below your chin, if not to your clavicles.
Either way, inhale as you lower yourself, and exhale at or near the top.
Machine bench press
Machines vary greatly, from brand to brand. Some are good when used properly, but others are problematic because of the constraints they impose on users. If you use a machine, here are some tips.
Don’t bench press in a Smith machine. Use a purpose-built bench press machine, such as Hammer Strength’s. Some bench press machines are performed seated.
Position yourself so that the handles of the machine at the bottom position are lined up with the lower line of your pecs (just below your nipples), and no deeper than level with your rib cage (as if you had a barbell in your hands). To achieve this with a seated bench press machine, set the seat at the right height for you.
Avoid a wide grip. Use a moderate hand spacing. Push from the heel of your hands, and tinker with your hand positioning and elbow positioning to find the strongest arrangement for you. A slight outward rotation of your wrists during set-up can be helpful. Many users have their hands bent back far too much, and their elbows too much rearward.
Follow the same breathing guidelines recommended for the barbell bench press.
With the barbell bench press, many of the potential problems of the machine bench press are easily avoided, provided that the barbell bench press is performed properly.
Machine seated overhead press
The same caveats apply to this exercise as they do to the machine overhead press.
Don’t press in a Smith machine. Use a purpose-built overhead press machine, such as Hammer Strength’s.
If the back support is adjustable, fix it so that the exercise mimics a barbell press from the front, or a dumbbell press, rather than a behind-neck press.
Adjust the seat’s height so that your range of motion is safe—make your bottom position between your chin and clavicles. Don’t exaggerate the range of motion.
As with the machine bench press, avoid a wide grip. Use a moderate hand spacing. Push from the heel of your hands, and tinker with your hand positioning and elbow positioning to find the strongest arrangement for you. A slight outward rotation of your wrists during set-up can be helpful. Many users have their hands bent back far too much, and their elbows too much rearward.
With the dumbbell press—especially when done seated, with back support—many of the potential problems of the machine press are easily avoided. The dumbbells permit more flexibility for hand positioning.
How you breathe during each rep affects your ability to press (whether with a machine or free weights). As with the bench press, if you push the resistance up on a deflated chest, that will make the exercise harder. Instead, fully inhale while the resistance is at arm’s length; then immediately lower the resistance to your chest (under control, of course), pause momentarily, and then start the ascent, all without exhaling. Maintain a full chest of air until during the second half of the ascent, then breathe out.
Pressing on a full chest of air is easier than on an empty chest.