It's unavoidable: people hear "bench press," and they think "chest. And since the movement is guided by a barbell with a fixed hand and elbow position, it demands plenty of contribution from other muscles, like the front delts and triceps. Even if you put your feet up on the bench and do all the other classic bro stuff, this is never going to be an effective isolation move. Don't get me wrong—you'll still get your pump fix if you train in the right rep ranges and use the right loads to stimulate.
But a heavy bench press is more of an upper-body strength move, and less of a chest sculptor. Come to terms with it. What this means for you: If you want a big chest, do plenty of chest-focused movements like flyes and squeeze presses, but also high-rep push-up finishers.
When you bench heavy, treat it as a strength move and follow the standards I lay out in my article " Stop Maxing Out! Lift This Way Instead. There are plenty of people who can go balls-to-the-wall with any movement while remaining injury free. Others can't even look at weights without rubbing the front of their shoulder. Even good technique will only get the second group so far. They may simply be contraindicated for benching, due to the nature of that lift and their body. Put even more bluntly, the bench press doesn't promote healthy shoulders.
The reason why comes down to the shoulder blades. Pinning your scapula back on a bench while allowing the upper arm to go through a large range of motion—especially when loaded heavily—frustrates a natural "rhythm" that should exist between the humerus and scapula.
Here's what I mean by rhythm: For every few degrees the arm moves, the shoulder blade should congruently move a degree as well.
Patients who suffer from frozen shoulder syndrome, for example, have major dysfunction in this rhythm. This is what makes movements like the overhead press more functionally applicable as a training tool. Here are some tips to ensure that you get the most out of your bench press training:.
As you work towards your goal, be sure not to jump up to heavier weights too quickly, especially without a spotter. However, if you do decide to try much heavier weights, be sure to take a look at our reviews of the best weight lifting belts so that your body has some support during the heavy lifts. Let patience and safety be your guiding principles so that you can continue exercising injury-free for years to come.
Your email address will not be published. Page Contents. Bodyweight to Bench Press Weight Ratio It stands to reason that the heavier you are, the more weight you should be able to bench press. Here are some tips to ensure that you get the most out of your bench press training: Tighten up your core to make your entire body more stable. Try to pull the bar apart. This activates your shoulders and back so you can lift more.
Add fifty pounds to your bench press and you will invariably break through the next level of muscular development.
There is an irrefutable relationship between strength increases and muscle size increases. Bodybuilders need exploit this relationship. Identify the goal, simplify the training menu: if the goal is to add an appreciable amount of new muscle to the chest, delts and triceps, building a big bench press is the solution. The first order of business is to shift from a volume-based bodybuilder template to an intensity-based powerlifter style template.
We drastically reduce the number of chest exercises performed. His was the epitome of volume training. By way of comparison, six-time IPF world champion Kirk Karwoski, a man with a pound raw bench press weighing , performed a total of nine sets of flat bench press and three sets of incline bench presses once per week. His was the epitome of minimalistic intensity training. We exchange training volume for training intensity.
We seek to do fewer things better and these fewer things done better are done less often and far heavier. By exclusively benching we become extremely proficient at benching: we use every rep of every bench press set as an opportunity to hone technique. Coordinate the nutrition: It would make no sense to embark on a bench press specialization program while engaging in a lean-out nutritional phase.
Ideally, optimally, a bench specialization program is coordinated with a mass-building nutritional approach. The plan is to add lean muscle mass over a ten week time period. Each week you grow slightly larger, each week you grow slightly stronger. Systematically and methodically we use the anabolic effect of regular food to maintain continual positive nitrogen balance. We eat slightly more food each successive week; quality nutrients taken abundantly accelerate recovery and fuels muscle growth.
Cardio is critical. Aerobics insure weight gain is lean muscle and not laden with an unacceptable amount of body fat. You are a bodybuilder — not a beer-swilling pizza eating powerlifter. He has a strict, paused single-rep current best bench press of All bench presses are paused on the chest and fully locked out at the top.
Bodyweight is listed in column 2, daily caloric intake is under Kcals; the number of meals eaten per day in column 4 and number of weekly cardio sessions and session length are listed in the cardio column. Wednesday Dumbbell bench press: work up to one controlled set of 8 reps, paused Dumbbell degree incline press: work up to one controlled set of 8 reps, paused Weighted dips: 2 sets, reps; then drop the weight and rep to failure Triceps pushdown: 1x10, 1x8, 1x6, 1x Self-inflicted Bench Press amnesia: The first step in building a big bench press is to start by forgetting everything you think you know about bench pressing.
Then rebuild your bench press from the ground up. Most every bodybuilder that bench presses does something drastically wrong; most bench sloppy in order to handle more ego-stroking poundage. When a man benches sloppy he can handle a lot more weight, great for ego gratification and showing off, but deficient when it comes to building muscle mass. The bounced bench press is also very popular. Raising the butt off the bench during the sticking point turns a flat bench into a much easier decline bench press.
These are all ways in which to make bench-pressing easier. Look for ways to make bench-pressing harder. What the bodybuilder does care about is creating muscle mass. When you bench, slow things down and tighten things up; bench presses done right take intense concentration and demand extreme attention to detail.
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