(((((get Big Bench)))) Ref.2))))

**2475** · 07-03-2008, 10:03 AM

Progression of the Bench: Part 2

By Mike Strom

This is part two of an article series outlining my experiences in the bench press competition and in training to hopefully make the road to progress a bit shorter for others. In part one I covered competition bench press technique. In this part, I’ll cover training and equipment.

Training
There are many factors to consider when training to bench as much as you possibly can. To succeed, none can be overlooked. These are some general categories to consider when developing a comprehensive training program. It’s also important to remember that there’s a big difference between “training” and “working out.” Training covers much more than time spent in the gym. It’s essentially how you live your life with your goals in mind.
Training methods
What I’m referring to here is the use of various methods of training designed to yield specific results. Most people are familiar with these methods from other articles so I’ll just list them: max effort method, dynamic effort method, repetition method, and sub-maximal effort method. It’s important to do some research and understand what kinds of results to expect from the use of each method. It’s also important to understand that I can’t tell you how much of each of them needs to be included in your specific program. This is something that needs to be discovered through trial and error and by critiquing where you are now in relation to your overall goals.
For example, a lifter who wants to move up a weight class would put a greater emphasis on training for hypertrophy than a lifter who wants to improve his ranking within the weight class he’s already in. Therefore, both lifters will tend to utilize the repetition method and sub-maximal effort method to achieve their specific goals. The use of these methods should also vary to some degree depending on where you are in relation to the next competition that you’re training for. Overall, this is something that will take a great deal of time, experience, and study (of your training results) to master. This is why it’s very helpful for less experienced lifters to compete more often. More experienced lifters tend to compete less often because they’ve already determined which training methods work best for them.

Muscle priority/correction of imbalances
When a lifter first decides to compete, this factor is typically one of the biggest keys to early improvement. Most bench press competitors were lifting in some manner prior to deciding to compete, but almost any background set them up for less than optimal balance between the muscles used to bench press with a shirt. When a bench shirt is used, the triceps must be as strong as possible in relation to the other muscle groups in order to get the most out of the shirt. It’s also extremely important to develop a strong upper back so that the heavy loads pressed in a shirt can be controlled.
One common mistake is training the chest too much. I know this sounds a little strange, but when using the shirt, it’s important that the triceps are able to overpower the chest. If the chest is stronger, lockout will be difficult because you’ll naturally want to squeeze in on the bar with your more dominant chest muscles as opposed to “spreading” the bar to activate the triceps and lock the bar out successfully.
Performance practice/perfection
As mentioned in part one of this series on technique, it’s important to devote time to practicing the execution of the competitive lift. The advancement of equipment needs to be addressed in the equipped lifter’s training program. Especially in the case of a bench only competitor, it’s essential to spend time in your bench shirt. It’s also important to keep in mind what you’re training for when you’re doing any exercise. A common mistake is seen in board pressing
Weak point recognition/improvement
Essentially, weak point recognition automatically takes place whenever you miss an attempt. You immediately ask yourself, “why?” If it’s not something that can be fixed by the time your next attempt comes (technical problem), you’ve discovered a weak point that needs to be addressed in your training. Now that sounds simple, but there can be many reasons why a lift is missed. For example, if a lifter fails about three quarters of the way up, it could be that he needs stronger triceps, more explosiveness, or a better balance of triceps to chest strength. Or he simply needs to practice in his shirt to be able to make a smooth transition from the initial press to locking a weight out. So once you’ve determined where you failed, you need to determine why it happened.
To do this, first think of any possible reasons such as the ones described above. Then start to eliminate the reasons that are less likely than others. Using the above example, a lifter would then have to examine his training logs to search for what seems to be an under-trained attribute in his training that could fix the problem. You may also choose to change more than one thing at the same time. However, the downside to this is that you then can’t be certain what led to your progress if the changes yield a positive result. Once you decide how you’ll modify your training, you need to keep in mind what changes you’re trying to bring about each time you’re in the gym. It’s important to really focus on correcting your weak point so that you’ll be sure to perform each exercise in the way that’s most beneficial to your overall performance.
Recovery methods
As a lifter progresses in strength, recovery becomes more and more important because the stresses on the body become greater. To reach your full potential, you must take advantage of at least a few methods to speed your recovery. I won’t go into a great deal of depth on this topic because I still have limited experience with it myself, but I’ll list some methods that I’ve found useful.
Icing following workouts is a great way to flush out the swelling of an area so that the recovery process can begin. It can also be used to treat the small injuries that become pretty common with advanced training. Contrast showers aren’t the most comfortable, but essentially you alternate hot water for about two minutes with cold water for about two minutes (get it as cold as you can tolerate). The idea here is basically the same as icing, but it’s usually more readily available at the gym. Anti-inflammatory use is something that also has benefits, but you should try to limit your use of it for nagging pains or small injuries since most of these medications can have long-term side effects.
Massage therapy is another great way to aid recovery, but it’s typically not affordable enough to do on a daily or even weekly basis. I like to schedule this recovery aid to coincide with deload weeks. This way I feel I’m using the combination of the lowered training stress and extra recovery method to really help get over nagging tightness and soreness. Chiropractic care is a method that shouldn’t be ignored. Heavy lifting takes a toll on the spine, and it’s important to keep your back healthy if you want to stay healthy enough to compete. With so many different recovery methods, it’s important to take advantage of these if you want to see your full potential.

Diet/supplementation
In my opinion, diet and supplementation should mostly be used as a way to manipulate overall mass and body fat percentages, and maintain general health. Essentially, you have to assess your goals in order to determine what to do with your diet and supplement program. If you want to move up a weight class, you need to consume more food than you typically feel comfortable with. You also need to be sure that you’re getting plenty of protein so that the majority of what you gain will be muscle. To help with this, a lifter should take protein supplements or weight gainer shakes.
As far as manipulating body fat percentages, apply the opposite principles for gaining mass. You’ll really need to restrict your caloric intake but still get plenty of protein to help maintain muscle as you drop fat. Recovery supplements can also aid in both mass gain and muscle maintenance during body fat loss.
For maintaining general health, it’s a good idea to take some kind of joint supplement to help recover from the wear and tear that your joints take from benching heavy. This really isn’t rocket science, but so many lifters fall into the advertising traps that some supplement companies use. Keep your supplementing simple. Focus on getting a good protein source, something that you feel helps your recovery (creatine, ETS from At Large, or really whatever you feel works for you). If you experience any joint pain, find a glucosamine-based product to take for that.
Outside of these things, I feel most of what’s out there isn’t cost-effective for a typical powerlifter, especially considering that you could spend $200 on supplements that might boost your bench by only 10–15 lbs. But you can buy a good training video that will teach you how to put 50 lbs on your bench or a shirt that can give you 100 plus lbs. In my training, there are really only four supplements that I take on a regular basis and truly believe in. These are CytoGainer by CytoSport, Nitrean by At Large Nutrition, ETS by At Large Nutrition, and Releve by MHP. These all fit into the protein, recovery, and joint relief categories.

Equipment
So, how can you learn to get the most out of your bench shirt? The answer lies mostly in understanding the bench press competition for what it is and making sure that is reflected in your training. To break things down simply, you compete wearing a bench shirt. Therefore, all of your bench training should be geared towards benching more in your shirt. At first it may be difficult to take the focus off of your raw bench. However, remember that at a meet allowing bench shirts, your raw bench matters about as much as the number of pull-ups you can do. By adding a shirt, the lift is completely changed. Once you truly accept this, you just need to determine what this means for your training.
In my opinion, three things are required in your training to benefit fully from the shirt. The first is to spend time in your shirt during training. This should be a no-brainer, but many people think they can just add the shirt in for the last few weeks before a contest and magically get 200 lbs from it. Doing this means you haven’t accepted that the shirt changes the lift. Getting a lot out of your shirt takes a lot of practice and hard work. Be sure to plan training time dedicated to learning your shirt.
The second is speed work. Because the shirt aids the initial press off the chest, speed work becomes extremely important. You need to press as fast as possible in order to use the momentum created by the shirt to press the bar all the way to lockout.
The third requirement is that you must accentuate your top end strength. Since the shirt boosts you off the chest, you must be able to lockout the additional weight. Basically this means adding board pressing, rack lockouts, and lots of triceps work to your training. By implementing these changes in your training, you should notice your bench in the shirt take off very quickly.
In the final part of this article series, I’ll discuss the importance of body weight changes, training partners, and mind-set on your bench press performance.

Raw Bench Pressing - 10 Things You Need To Know

By Jim Wendler

Hot chick with no shirt = good
Fat man at County Fair (special guest appearance by Bad Company) with no shirt = bad
Bench pressing without a shirt = your opinion

I’m not going to debate the shirt/no shirt conundrum that has seemed to enrage the strength community. Debating this topic is about as productive HMB. So while some people are busy taking a hard and fast stance, I’m going to do something to help people.
Now the next obvious (and fair) question is, “What the hell does Jim know about benching raw?” I’ve used a shirt for all of my competitions and this has spanned almost 5 years. I’ve been lifting for over 17 years so I’m going to make a very bold statement and say that I’ve done a lot more raw benching than shirted benching.
What you’ll notice is that there are a few differences in benching raw, but not a lot. People seem to think that there has to be radical changes when shirt benching, but last time I checked you still lie on a bench and press.
Technique/Set up/Bar Path
I did an entire video on the correct set up and bar path on the bench press. Do yourself a favor and buy the DVD. I put a lot of work and thought into the video. Plus, you need to see the form/set up to really grasp it. Something that I think people need to do in regards to technique is more practice. This doesn’t mean more bench sessions. It means that you will perform reps with the bar everyday. Try to perfect your set up and bar path. Do at least 50 good reps a day. This will pay off more than you will ever know. Also, every set and every rep must be perfect. Don’t do your warm-up by pressing the bar like an unhinged piston. Do them correctly. Develop a habit. EFS Bench Press Index DVD
Bar Speed/Eccentric Control
This is huge and one reason why a bench shirt helps quite a bit. When benching for a max, whether it be raw or with a shirt, the bar must come down quickly but under control. This does not give you license to drop the bar or inch the bar down Poliquin-style. Both of these things will result in a poor attempt. A bench shirt allows you to have a fast eccentric phase while maintaining your tightness. Since a raw bencher is using his best 50/50 shirt, he does not have this advantage. Here are some tips that will help you in this area:

Squeeze the bar – You must squeeze the bar as tight as possible when benching. This should be done on every attempt. Repetition breeds habit. Now how do you get a better bench grip? I have found that the best way is to train your finger strength. Do this by using hex head dumbbell holds, using the IronMind telegraph with your thumb and one finger, and also by putting a thick rubber band around your fingers and opening your hand. This exercise was introduced to me by CJ Murphy and has also done a lot for people with elbow problems. There are a host of great grip exercises that you can do and most of them will help your bench press. Just don’t overdo your grip training.
Strong Lats – Having strong lats will give you the ability to lower the bar correctly and allow you to lower quickly without disrupting the proper bar path. Developing this takes time, so be patient.
Practice – This is obvious but you have to put in sometime to learn how to lower a bar quickly but do it so it is done correctly. This is not easy to do. Most people get scared doing this with heavy weights so at some point you are going to have put your fears aside, and just do it. A good way to do this is to make it a point every Max Effort day to concentrate on eccentric bar speed. But please don’t be sloppy.
Set up – By having a tight set up (again refer to the EFS Bench Press Index DVD) you will be able to confidently lower weights. I have done numerous seminars and when I show people what “tight” really is, they are amazed. I had several people approach me and say that they have never been so tired after benching. So if you think you are tight, get tighter.

Stabilization
Stabilization basically means that you are able to hold your set up position in the bench press without faltering. You have to be able to stay high on your upper back and have total control of the bar. This is easy to do, but it takes a lot of time. Stabilization in the bench press requires several things.

Strong AND thick lats - Do you want to know the trick of getting this stronger? Do a lot of work. It’s not that hard to figure out. Do a ton of chest supported rows and pull-ups. These two exercises are phenomenal for strengthening your lats. These should be done twice per week – a minimum of 5 sets of 5-15 reps per workout. But you also need static strength in your lats. When you bench press your lats are held statically. The best way to improve this is to statically hold a chest supported row in the same position as you bench press. This doesn’t have to be done all the time, but realize its importance in training.
Strong AND thick upper back – This can be accomplished by doing rows and chins (see above), seated DB cleans, face pulls, rear laterals and band pull-aparts. Like the lats, the upper back is held statically so this component must be trained.
Shoulders – Few people would argue that you need very strong front delts to be a good raw bencher, but strong delts also help in controlling and stabilizing the weight.

Shoulder Strength
I mention shoulders before, but strengthening this area is going to be huge. This is the single best thing that I’ve ever done for my raw strength. Here is a list of exercises that need to be done. Pick one of these exercises and perform them once a week. Usually 5 sets of 8-15 reps are done. This should be done as a second exercise on either dynamic or max effort day. This is a huge priority so don’t slack.

DB Bench Press
DB Incline Press
DB Military
Military Press
Chain suspended push-ups (place a band around your back or chains across your back for resistance; you can also have a person sit on your back; I swear this has been done before) Upper Body Blast Straps
Bradford Presses

All of these exercises are gone over in our Bench Index, so I will not waste time on descriptions. I should point out that when doing the dumbbell work, I would lower the DB’s under control, pause for a second and drive them up. I never thought to “push” or “press”, but drive them up. I think this made a big difference in my bottom end strength.
Max Effort Exercises
Max effort work is crucial for increasing strength. By lifting in the 90-100% range, you are going to get stronger. The trick is doing enough work in this range without overtraining. According to Prilipin, 3-10 lifts at or above 90% is optimal. But this is based on his findings with Olympic lifters. So you may have to tweak things a little, but use this as a guideline. Start with the minimum (3 total reps) and work from there. The bottom line is that you have to lift heavy weights to get stronger. Here is a list of great max effort exercises for the raw bencher:

Floor Press
2 Board Press
Incline Press
Bench Press
1 Board Press

Stick with these five exercises during your max effort cycles. Again these exercises are gone over in detail in the Bench Index.
Lockout Training
Notice I didn’t say triceps. Locking out a weight is completely different. For a raw bencher, lockout strength is important but not as much for an equipped lifter. This is because most people can lockout whatever they can get off of their chest. I should point out that lockout is about 3” to the top. This doesn’t mean halfway up. Still if this is a weak point of yours, then you have to hammer it. Plus, if your technique is good, you should be able to manipulate the bar path and put it in the correct position to lock out whatever you get off of your chest. I would stick with 3, 4 and 5 board presses with a competition grip or slightly narrower. Do one of these exercises ONE time per week as a second exercise.
Pre-habilitation
Because you are not wearing a bench shirt, you don’t have much protection for your shoulders. So I recommend being proactive in this department. By doing a lot of lat and upper back exercises, you are already on the correct path. The Shoulder Horn is another great tool and should be done once or twice a week. 2 sets of 20 reps is a smaller price to pay than surgery or losing the ability to bench press
Speed Work
The evil speed bench. A lot has been said about speed pressing, but it still has its merits. Basically it will teach you how to press from your chest to lockout with force. If you are toeing the line on this one, go ahead and take a step. Most people struggle with speed and this can do wonders for learning how to press with force. If you are still unconvinced, try doing one workout every three weeks for speed. This should do enough to maintain your speed. Also, be sure to do some reps with your competition grip. This is a good way to practice your bench form. This is because your form with a closer grip is usually different than a wide grip.
Bench Press
This is odd, but how many times have you read about how tricky it is to learn a bench shirt? I can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent trying to figure out what to do with a shirt. Raw benching is no different. If you invest the same time in figuring out how to maximize your technique as one does with a shirt, you will pleasantly surprised.
Maximize your training (prioritize)
The one good thing about raw benching is that you don’t have to spend training time on learning the shirt. With that in mind your training needs to have these priorities.
Technique – Once you get the bar almost to lockout position, your strength should be enough to lock anything out. This is manipulation of the bar path and once you get the hang of it, you will be ready to go. So this is a huge priority.
Off the Bottom – Strength off of your chest is a huge necessity and should be #2 on your priority list. This is part technique and part shoulder strength.
Stabilization – Get your lats and upper back up to par.
Max Effort Work – Lift heavy/Get Strong. If you want to increase your volume and your strength, do it by increasing the number of reps of 90% and above. Again, be careful as this can lead to overtraining. Refer to Prilipin’s chart for optimal reps (3-10). When doing more total reps at or above 90% (5, for example) your assistant work needs to be cut down.
Example Workout
Here is an example workout of mine when I was training for a raw bench max several years ago. This is taken from my training diary. At the time I had a raw bench of 405.
Day I

Speed Bench – 8 sets of 3 reps @ 225
DB Bench – 60x10, 80x10, 100x10, 100x10, 100x6
Chain suspended push-ups – 5 sets of 10 reps with an average band around my back
Pull ups – 5 sets of 5-8 reps

Day II