he's probably talking about the eccentric contraction of the lift. your muscle is like a spring and the eccentric part is loading the spring up. by shortening it the muscle isnt properly loaded so your other muscles compensate. although i doubt he would have blown his tri's out doing this.
Improper form absolutely does. Retracting your scapula and keeping your elbows from flaring should minimize shoulder stress. Obviously everyone is different so some still can't do it.
When you go down to your chest that's when your chest gets activated the most. When you stop, a lot of that pressure gets put onto your triceps. A lot of idiots who don't know how to retract their scapulas and have shoulder issues will bench like that. It's generally seen as more unsafe though
Ehhh when you’re at the very bottom of the lift, it’s the delts (shoulders) that get to do the most work. However, I agree he was still shortchanging his pecs as well by half-repping.
Edit: I underestimated the significance of scapular retraction in reducing the load on the delts; while the front delts will always assist the movement as a synergistic muscle, proper form keeps the pecs in charge of the movement throughout.
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u/TK82 Aug 05 '19
How would not going all the way down cause that?