whats up guys. some of you may know who I am. I’m Andrew king. I was the first 16 year old to hit a raw 505 bench press (gym lift) the most I ever hit in a meet was 475 when I was still 16.
after hitting my 500 raw at 16 I had to have shoulder surgery (labrum repair) at 17 because my dumb ass wanted to play football and I fucked my shoulder up doing so.
after my surgery I went to PT and everything and now im 18 and am back to pressing 500.
My power off of my chest is awful. I can only get 500 off my chest on a good day, but the upper 1/2 range of my bench I can lockout 600 and have locked out at much as 650 doing band presses.
To work on the power off of my chest I wanted to do dead presses but a lot of people keep telling me im going to fuck up my shoulder doing them and that they are bad for people with healthy shoulders and mine is already been worked on.
I never go above 315 when doing dead presses and I just do it until failure, drop 20 pounds, until failure again, and do 5 sets like that.
Is there another way I can build power off my chest besides dead presses or am I okay to keep doing them?
also heres a picture of me
Look here, you’re a strong lad, and I can’t bench 500, but I am a powerlifter, and I think I can help you out. Looks like all your benching has been touch and go style, like almost all gym lifts are. What helps power off the chest like nothing else is paused pressing like you’d have to do in a powerlifting meet. Don’t let the drop in weight bother you, just treat it like a completely different exercise. Paused bench press can do wonders for you.
And again, it’s not like I can bench 500, but you don’t have to take it from me. Pretty much any huge bencher will tell you paused bench is essential for strength off the chest, and just in general for bench press strength. Josh Bryant, Eric Spoto, Jeremy Hoornstra, literally all of the big bench guys love paused bench press.
And another thing, your username is hilarious lol. And sorry to hear about your shoulder injury. Glad it’s all good now though. Football has ruined a hell of a lot of shoulders in its time. And upright rows have never felt good on my shoulders either dude, and mine wasn’t even injured.
[quote]csulli wrote:
Look here, you’re a strong lad, and I can’t bench 500, but I am a powerlifter, and I think I can help you out. Looks like all your benching has been touch and go style, like almost all gym lifts are. What helps power off the chest like nothing else is paused pressing like you’d have to do in a powerlifting meet. Don’t let the drop in weight bother you, just treat it like a completely different exercise. Paused bench press can do wonders for you.
And again, it’s not like I can bench 500, but you don’t have to take it from me. Pretty much any huge bencher will tell you paused bench is essential for strength off the chest, and just in general for bench press strength. Josh Bryant, Eric Spoto, Jeremy Hoornstra, literally all of the big bench guys love paused bench press.
Try it out man, best of luck![/quote]
I have paused 475 in a meet.
There are a lot of highschool and teen touch and go meets around where I live but I also lift in NASA where we have to pause.
[quote]csulli wrote:
And another thing, your username is hilarious lol. And sorry to hear about your shoulder injury. Glad it’s all good now though. Football has ruined a hell of a lot of shoulders in its time. And upright rows have never felt good on my shoulders either dude, and mine wasn’t even injured.[/quote]
[quote]Reed wrote:
Fucking beast man that’s legit. Also I hope you cry tonight as you are the official reason I am retiring and going home[/quote]
chin up man… its genetics… lol
the first time I ever touched a bench press I was 13 and did 225, never even laid on a bench before in my life.
when I was 14 I hit 385
when I was 15 I hit 440
when I was 16 I hit 505
shoulder surgery like a couple weeks before my 17th birthday, recovered all of my 17th year, now im 18, turn 19 next month and am back to touch and go with 500.
I would like to hit 550+ in 2014 while im 19.
but genetics have been on my side. thick upper body, t rex arms, the works man. lol
You might be on the road to set some records. Just be sure you take care of your shoulders so you can put in the time to do that is all I’ve got to say. And nice benching!
You’re way stronger than me so take it with a grain of salt, but if paused presses to your chest end up too rough on your joints, I get almost the same effect from light touch paused 1-boards. Just that 1.5in makes a huge difference.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
You might be on the road to set some records. Just be sure you take care of your shoulders so you can put in the time to do that is all I’ve got to say. And nice benching!
You’re way stronger than me so take it with a grain of salt, but if paused presses to your chest end up too rough on your joints, I get almost the same effect from light touch paused 1-boards. Just that 1.5in makes a huge difference. [/quote]
Okay awesome.
What are some things I can do to make sure I don’t blow my shoulder out? The doctor that did my surgery told me I would probably never see 300 pounds again. I just said “you don’t know me well then”
I want to set records. Before my surgery when I was 16 benching 500 I had my sights set on the raw world record. Now I just feel like I won’t be able too do it. But I’m going to try. And if I fuck my shoulder up trying to get there then at least i tried
Lol I was just fucking around I ain’t going no where haha. I take pride in coming from fat weak body to being kinda respectable in PLing haha. As for your problem…
Pause Presses just a inch off the chest.
DB Work could help alot.
Maybe you just need to feel heavier weights. Try some reverse bands or get a Sling Shot or Ram.
Lol I was just fucking around I ain’t going no where haha. I take pride in coming from fat weak body to being kinda respectable in PLing haha. As for your problem…
Pause Presses just a inch off the chest.
DB Work could help alot.
Maybe you just need to feel heavier weights. Try some reverse bands or get a Sling Shot or Ram.
really impressive. maybe more shoulder and chest work in general? id say if you lay out your full bench routine it would be alot more helpful. although i dont think anyone here benches as much as you ha
I haven’t got anything useful to add, but you should crush whoever keeps wrecking your t-shirts! Out of interest, how far do you reckon you can go given how long you have in the sport?
[quote]bigfatfuk wrote:
My power off of my chest is awful. I can only get 500 off my chest on a good day, but the upper 1/2 range of my bench I can lockout 600 and have locked out at much as 650 doing band presses.
Is there another way I can build power off my chest besides dead presses or am I okay to keep doing them?
[/quote]
most people can lift a shitload more using boards/reverse bands. It’s normal.
what did you do to get to 500? Something must have been working even taking into account your talent.
the prime movers of the bench are front delts, pecs, and triceps. Best way to get stronger is to make them bigger and the best way to make them bigger is via high intensity/high volume BBing training.
In other words, I don’t think dead benches are needed at all, especially if they cause pain.
