43+ Bench Press Elbow Position Background. Proper bench press form is elbows about 75° in at the bottom. To help provide context and tips on the topic, i reached out to jordan feigenbaum, md, and founder of barbell medicine.
Never move the bar over your face, neck and throat with unlocked elbows. Tucking the elbows in too closely. Mechanically, when the elbows drop below parallel, the pectoralis major and minor are in a lengthened position, lessening their ability to produce optimum force and requiring assistance from the anterior deltoid.
Just like foot position, your grip position is highly individual do not let your elbows flare out to 90 degrees or perpendicular to your body.
Think benching is just as simple as grabbing a bar and pushing away from you? The exact angle depends on your build. This is usually done as a result of excessively flaring the elbows out at a 90 degree angle while pressing the bar straight up and down: There are variations in elbow position an individual can use when performing the barbell bench press.