Correct elbow location for bench press?
I was watching a video from Strong Lift's Mehdi on bench presses, and I noticed that instead of his elbows going out he heeps them close to his body. I remember a friend telling me to do something similer to target different muscles.
So, is keeping the elbows close to the body during a bench press the correct form, or is it a modification to target different muscles?
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It's correct form.
If your elbows are too much out, you are risking injury of front shoulder and shoulder joint. By placing elbows closer to rib cage, triceps is taking more load (from shoulders).
45° or lower is considered safe zone.
If you want to try some of bench press modifications, you could try to place wrist much closer (putting load on triceps), using dumbells instead barebell, using decline or incline bech.
Tips about doing BP
EDIT: Just to be clear -
45° and above - risk of shoulder injury
45° and lower - safe zone
the closer the elbows to your rib cage, the more weight is on your
triceps (if that can be seen as modification)
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