WOD: 5 rounds, 3 minute rest in between: Max out Bodyweight Bench Press, Pull ups
My result:
R1: 28 bench press (previous 23), 20 pull ups (previous 20).
R2: 23 bench press (prev 20), 15 pull ups (prev 15)
R3: 15 bench press (prev 13), 13 pull ups (prev 10)
R4: 13 bench press (prev 10), 10 pull ups (prev 10)
R5: 13 bench press (prev 10), 12 pull ups (prev 8)
Total: 92 bench press (prev 76), 70 pull ups (prev 63)
I also trying to improve my overall performance on individual exercises: back squat, front squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift
Today: Front Squat 3x5 -135 lbs
Leg press: 5x5 pyramid sets - 270lbs, 360lbs, 430lbs, 450lbs, 450lbs
Here's an article of bench press:
Quick Tips for a Better Bench Press – Part One
Written by Mark Riebel
It’s pretty typical to hear among gym-goers the question “How much ya bench?” on an almost daily basis. It seems that the bench press is viewed as the ultimate test of strength, particularly amongst guys who work out in tank tops. There’s many reasons why I beg to differ with this notion (and the tank tops), but that is another post entirely. The bench press is a fantastic way to move a lot of weight with your upper body and just because you don’t see it three times a week at Invictus doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make some adjustments to maximize your potential in the lift. This two-part series will take a look at some common failures people have in their technique on the bench press, because unlike many believe, it’s not as simple as lying on the bench and pressing your arms up and down. Some of these tweaks can add some weight to your bench in one session because they’re simple technique changes that you can make right away to become more efficient in the movement.
Pinch your shoulder blades together
When you get set up on the bench, you want to pull your shoulder blades together on your back as tight as you can. It may help to think of pinching a dollar bill between them and even trying to tuck the bones into your back pockets to really get them back and down. What this does is it makes your whole upper back region extremely stiff and gives you a much better foundation for holding that weight up over your chest. I don’t know about you, but the thought of having a loose upper body whilst holding a few hundred pounds over my sternum with the possibility of it crashing down doesn’t get me too comfortable. You want to be as stable as you possibly can be, and pulling your scapulae together and down is a great start. You also get the added benefit of a slightly shorter range of motion on the exercise. If you want a quick visual, put your arms out in front of you and pull just one of your shoulder blades back towards your spine while you leave the other where it is normally. It’s easy to see a few extra inches you have to push the weight without tucking your scaps, and that few inches could make the difference for a new PR.
Brace
This should seem like a no-brainer if you’ve been listening to our coaches, but bracing is just as important on the bench as it is in the squat or deadlift. While the weight is at the top and locked out, take a big breath to fill up your lungs and clench up your midsection like someone’s about to punch you in the stomach. Keep this tightness throughout the entire movement, and once you’re back at lockout, take a quick breath if you need it, get tight again and do another rep. Don’t breathe in the middle of the rep! Again, this is all about staying as tight as you can through the entire movement. Any inhaling or exhaling you do during the rep is going to affect how stiff the base is from which you’re attempting to press from, and you want that to be as solid as possible.
Next time we’ll take a look at putting some arch in your back as well as how to really engage some other muscles that you probably think have nothing to do with the bench press.
Quick Tips for a Better Bench Press – Part Two
Written by Mark Riebel
In part 1 of this post, we talked about the concepts of bracing and pulling the shoulder blades back and down to help improve your bench press technique. This time I’ll discuss two more quick fixes you can use to help bring it up as well.
Engaging your lats and your legs
Say that again? Yes, it turns out that by incorporating some muscles that you don’t typically think of as being a part of your bench can really improve your ability to do it. We’ll start with the easier one to explain—the leg drive. Putting your feet on the ground and driving them into the ground effectively extends your kinetic chain all the way through your body to the floor. If that’s a term you’re not familiar with, just know that it further adds to your stability in the lift. Really emphasizing the leg drive on the concentric phase towards lock out can particularly be of help. If your legs are a bit short, just put some plates on the ground so you can drive your feet into those.
The other neglected muscle in the bench press is your latissimus dorsi. Admittedly, I’m still figuring this part out myself and it may be one of the strangest feeling tweaks to your lift, but really flexing these throughout the motion can add a little bit to your top end strength in the movement. It can help to think of spreading the bar apart while you’re gripping it tight if you’re not too great at just keeping them engaged in the lift.
Arching your back
When you’re getting set up for the bench, putting a little arch in your low back may also add a few pounds to your effort. You don’t need anything excessive (though having the spine of a 14-year old girl might put you in excessive range of motion), but just a little bit of arch will help. This places your pecs at a more mechanically advantageous position, the lower fibers in particular. The specifics take more time to go into than this post allows, but suffice it to say that it does based on the properties of a third class lever (we’ll save the rest of the geek talk for the coaches’ office). Arching your low back will also shave just a hair off the range of motion as well, which may help you to press more weight.
Ask one of the coaches to assist you in demonstrating any of these adjustments if you need some additional help, but I’d highly recommend incorporating all of them to start improving your bench press today.
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