I know you guys get alot of form critiques but hell this is the best place to go! Sorry this isn’t 90%+ like people usually want but it’s still my last set on my “5s” week at 215. Thanks in advance.
215x10
I didn’t see any glaring issues. I didn’t see your shoulders roll forward and your elbows weren’t excessively flared out or anything. Did you leave reps in the tank or was that all out?
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I didn’t see any glaring issues. I didn’t see your shoulders roll forward and your elbows weren’t excessively flared out or anything. Did you leave reps in the tank or was that all out?[/quote]
It was all out, I know you’re supposed to leave a rep or two in the tank but I got 10 last cycle so I had to get at least the same this cycle lol
Benching form looks pretty nice but if you want to get those arms in I suggest using a more narrow grip and really focussing on moving the weight with your elbows straight forward. Use lighter weight to practice form. Getting the elbows in is a habit you have to form and practice if you want to do it successfully.
Looks to me like you’re too much on your toes, as opposed to the balls of your feet. I’ve done this in the past as it allowed my arch to get a bit higher, but I think you lose more in stability and leg drive, so I would recommend keeping your feet further forward and staying on the balls.
Elbows look a bit flared to me. Focus on trying to pull the bar apart after unracking and while lowering, also while lowering try to rest your triceps on your lat muscles. Should help a bit. I also like to get a little extra arch up to the bar with my chest as the weight gets close to touching. Don’t see much leg drive or scapula retraction either, squeeze your shouder blades together before you unrack.
I tend to bench off my toes too (psoas likes to cramp on me sometimes with flat feet,) but some feds do not allow that, flat feet would be more ideal.
Much of this will feel odd at first but will pay off with time.
Thanks for all the opinions fellas…I will work on the shoulder retraction and staying on the balls of my feet on Monday!
I’d like to give you a little advice on the shoulder retraction end to help you pre-emptively avoid a mistake I made for years. As we all know, in the sport of powerlifting, mental cues are huge. The most common one to assist shoulder retraction (based on my own empirical observation, anyway) is “shoulders back.”
When unracking the bar, thinking “shoulders back” can help tighten up your upper back, increase your arch, and improve your leverages by shortening the angle of the humerus. However, for a long time I made a mistake in the mental connection with the cue “shoulders back.” Something I would do would be to put my mind entirely into pulling my shoulder blades together, like I was trying to hold a pencil between them.
While this is a good thing, I was also missing out on an important facet of shoulder retraction. Still focus on pulling your shoulder blades together, but when you think “shoulders back,” think of your “shoulders” not as your shoulder blades, but as your rear delts, literally the backs of your arms. This sounds silly and simple, which it is, but I swear it made a huge difference in not only my tightness and stability, but also my explosiveness out of the bottom of the lift.
I’m using the conjugate method now so I won’t do a re-test of a strict bench single for a few more months, but as a frame of reference I went from a very poor 315 (video 2013 06 27 16 20 31 - YouTube) a month ago to hitting 325 + 32 lbs chains at nearly double the velocity of the press in that video 6 weeks later, with the biggest difference in my benching being the way I interpreted my own mental cues. Also, it could just be the angle of your video, but it looks like there’s a possibility you may be benching a little high on your chest. Personally I feel bringing the bar to about mid-sternum, an inch or two below the nipples allows me to engage my lats the most and generate the most power out of the bottom.
Great work, stay strong!
I am no bench master but I am always a stickler for elbow flare and back stability. I found if I cued myself to bend the bar with my hands, the elbows naturally come in and the lats fire in one swift motion.
Works wonders for me at least.
You seem to have a pretty good grasp on form. You have a good arch and one can see that you use leg drive well. I’d advise to fight hard and keep your arch throughout, as it seemed like you lost a bit of it towards the end of the set. I’ve had that happen, where the weight kind of moves you on the bench and disrupts form. Just try and dig your upper back into the bench.
[quote]NewEnglandPL wrote:
I’d like to give you a little advice on the shoulder retraction end to help you pre-emptively avoid a mistake I made for years. As we all know, in the sport of powerlifting, mental cues are huge. The most common one to assist shoulder retraction (based on my own empirical observation, anyway) is “shoulders back.”
When unracking the bar, thinking “shoulders back” can help tighten up your upper back, increase your arch, and improve your leverages by shortening the angle of the humerus. However, for a long time I made a mistake in the mental connection with the cue “shoulders back.” Something I would do would be to put my mind entirely into pulling my shoulder blades together, like I was trying to hold a pencil between them.
While this is a good thing, I was also missing out on an important facet of shoulder retraction. Still focus on pulling your shoulder blades together, but when you think “shoulders back,” think of your “shoulders” not as your shoulder blades, but as your rear delts, literally the backs of your arms. This sounds silly and simple, which it is, but I swear it made a huge difference in not only my tightness and stability, but also my explosiveness out of the bottom of the lift.
I’m using the conjugate method now so I won’t do a re-test of a strict bench single for a few more months, but as a frame of reference I went from a very poor 315 (video 2013 06 27 16 20 31 - YouTube) a month ago to hitting 325 + 32 lbs chains at nearly double the velocity of the press in that video 6 weeks later, with the biggest difference in my benching being the way I interpreted my own mental cues. Also, it could just be the angle of your video, but it looks like there’s a possibility you may be benching a little high on your chest. Personally I feel bringing the bar to about mid-sternum, an inch or two below the nipples allows me to engage my lats the most and generate the most power out of the bottom.
Great work, stay strong![/quote]
I’m sorry if this isn’t what you’re trying to get across, but instead of just pinching the shoulders together, pull the rear delts, back, shoulders, just everything together and down?
[quote]J. Prufrock wrote:
You seem to have a pretty good grasp on form. You have a good arch and one can see that you use leg drive well. I’d advise to fight hard and keep your arch throughout, as it seemed like you lost a bit of it towards the end of the set. I’ve had that happen, where the weight kind of moves you on the bench and disrupts form. Just try and dig your upper back into the bench.[/quote]
Yes I lose my arch and stability (moving left to right a little) the farther the set goes on
I have a deadlift video in my log also that needs some work lol