bnech advice

[tatteredxangelx]

anyone have any great pointers on improving a bench press ... my sticking point is an inch from my chest ... oh, advice, other than "big triceps" cause im workin on that :-D

[Kaiser]

Do you tend to lay flat or arch you back while in the middle of a press?

Triceps do not kick in until you are further from your chest. Prior to that it's all chest for the most part.

[Alin]

anyone have any great pointers on improving a bench press ... my sticking point is an inch from my chest ... oh, advice, other than "big triceps" cause im workin on that :-D


Mix your bech exercises up, decline, incline, then hit flat bench again. Try using dumbbells sometimes too.

[tatteredxangelx]

during the bottom part of my press, on the way up, i tend to look like a rainbow kaisar!

[bigworm]

I didnt see any gains in strength and muscle size on bench untill i started to mix it up....first i do flat bench, incline, dumbels, decline then few machines...then on my next bench day i would switch it around so its never the same routine....by doing this i went from my max on flat bench of 315lbs to 450lbs(repping it 4-5 times now)....i went up that much in about 3-4 months with no juice or any other supplements other then my protein.

[Kaiser]

during the bottom part of my press, on the way up, i tend to look like a rainbow kaisar!

Then if you arch your back think of the mechanics of it. You are compensating for an upper chest by angling your lower body upward so your lower chest does the work. You need to concentrate more on incline presses. Also, get yourself into doing reverse presses during tricep day right after close grips. This will tie your back into your chest. Also to get out of the hole like you want to, put some work into your back. Lastly stop over training like I know you are. Do a light week and a string week, alternating "push" body parts. Example, Week1 Chest heavy, Shoulders light, Tris light. Week2 Chest light, Shoulders heavy, Tris heavy.

[ironfreak83]

hey do you ever use any band training or chains? it teaches you to explode off the bottom with enough speed to blast through your sticking points

[tatteredxangelx]

no i dont IF, but we do have them at my gym ...

[riverat42000]

you can also experiment with the width of your grip. my bench started to move up when i moved my grip in about an inch or so. Now what i do is start with it wide and the more the weight increases with each set i move in just a bit. this may also help with your tricep development.

[Kaiser]

you can also experiment with the width of your grip. my bench started to move up when i moved my grip in about an inch or so. Now what i do is start with it wide and the more the weight increases with each set i move in just a bit. this may also help with your tricep development.


I have done this also, and it does work. I used to do a couple of sets on the Smith machine with my hands all the way out at the knuckle for both shoulders and chest. The throw was extremely short but the burn was amazing. I think I gotta give them a shot again, no that Riverat brought them back up.

[ironfreak83]

if you get a chance to try the bands it'll be well worth it. kennelly, mendelson, and all the big benchers sware by them and i've noticed a huge difference. just add them in as a speed bench day or do them on one of your light bench work days. the resistance increases as you lock out so it's kinda like drivin a car into a brick wall. in order to go through that wall you wanna get as much speed off the bottom all the way through. the bands just teach you to do that better givin you a lot more explosion.

[tatteredxangelx]

what do the chains do?

[ironfreak83]

basically about the same principle with the chains. they just get heavier as you lock out. i personally like the bands for benching and the chains on squats.

[DaveB]

Trying doing your free weight bench sets only on the lower portion of you chest, form is 0"-4" off your chest. obviously you MUST have a spoter for this because when you hit failure the weight is going to fall on your chest. Have your spotter help you out with 2-3 forced reps once you hit failure. The only point of this is to improve on your "sticking point" which is the lower range of the exercise not the lock out portion.

You can also do these on the smith machine with the side racks locked into place so that the bar rest on your chest, experiement with various angles (flat/incl/dec)

Another very important thing with bench press is you need to do explosive reps, its essential I think for strength gains. this just means on the positive portion of the exercise (raising the bar) you explode pushing as hard/fast as can up, only do this with heavy weight that you can do for 6 or less reps.

Heavy weighted dips helped me break a personal sticking point in my bench press. once I reached the point where I could use 4 45lb plates for a set, my strength in bench followed along.

[riverat42000]

if you get a chance to try the bands it'll be well worth it. kennelly, mendelson, and all the big benchers sware by them and i've noticed a huge difference. just add them in as a speed bench day or do them on one of your light bench work days. the resistance increases as you lock out so it's kinda like drivin a car into a brick wall. in order to go through that wall you wanna get as much speed off the bottom all the way through. the bands just teach you to do that better givin you a lot more explosion.
We have the bands at the gym where I train at. I may have to give that a try also. Good suggestion freak.

[Matti]

Here is an article by Dave Tate. I think its the perfect answer to your question.


http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459808

If your not cheating your not trying - Mark Grace

[Matti]

if you get a chance to try the bands it'll be well worth it. kennelly, mendelson, and all the big benchers sware by them and i've noticed a huge difference. just add them in as a speed bench day or do them on one of your light bench work days. the resistance increases as you lock out so it's kinda like drivin a car into a brick wall. in order to go through that wall you wanna get as much speed off the bottom all the way through. the bands just teach you to do that better givin you a lot more explosion.

Ironfreak,

I notice after 6 weeks of using bands that usually heavy loads start to feel very stabile and light at the beginning of a press instead of that "crippling" effect some max loads can have on you. This is obviously due to the increased tension at the top of the lift and the bands do train your stabilizers. Just wondering if it has the same effect on you.

I never tried to hurt anybody, unless it was something important like a championship game ~ Dick Butkus

[Kaiser]

If your not cheating your not trying - Mark Grace

Granted this is not your quote but: BULLSHIT. (And people don't hear me say that often) Cheat at higher weight levels and you will put yourself out of the game permanently. This is speaking from experience. Bounce 455+ off your chest and you have a good chance of breaking your sternum, gasping for air for a minute and a half and being ambulanced to the hospital. WHICH I HAVE WITNESSED FIRST HAND. Let me ask you, this is the second time we have been involved in a post. Just what have you done as far as power lifting yourself, not counting the articles you have read and what proof or witnesses do you have to back it up?