[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Ruggerlife wrote:
TheDudeAbides wrote:
plateau wrote:
I tried to do the same but the supports are too low or the bench is too high.
add plates under the bench to raise it an adequate height?
umm, based on what he said you need to do the opposite. An option may be to use stacked aerobic steps rather than a bench although the dimensions may not be great.
yeah but I was thinking he could use the next level up of supports, not the same[/quote]
Only 1 support - as Stu said where idiots like to put the bar when resting doing curls
[quote]chitown34 wrote:
Tried these for the first time last week. What drop off are you guys seeing in lifts? I worked up to a single and it was 50 pounds less than my normal bench press. This was a bit worse than I was expecting.[/quote]
It will vary from person to person. Check out the I Body Builder thread in CT’s forum where he talks about Nate, Stu, and I performing normal Bench Press compared to Bench Press from pins.
Quick Summary:
Nate was stronger on normal Bench Press than Bench Press from pins. Nate is great at using the stretch reflex, he should work on Bench Press from a dead stop.
I was stronger on Bench Press from pins than normal Bench Press. I need to work on my explosiveness by utilizing twitch reps and plyometrics.
Stu was about even on Bench Press and Bench Press from pins so either of the above methods will work for him.
Ok so my friend and I finally got to start doing these today for the first time. We had to combine the bench rack, squat rack and a couple of foam blocks to get it right. We got some funny looks thats for sure. These were much harder that I thought! At first it feels like the weight is immovable, but as long as I kept pushing; the weight would eventually move. Anyway, I really enjoyed them, something new and am looking forward to progressing with it.
Crazy right?! If you’re like Nate, and really benefit from the stretch reflex, this will totally bring you down to Earth -lol. Great way to just overload your capabilities though.
The problem with benching from a deadstop is that I never know where best to fit it into my routine. Part of me says get the usual stuff done first and then do the benching from pins, whilst another part thinks that in order to get the most benefit from this exercise it should be done at the beginning of the workout.
Additionally anytime I have done it I have found it interesting that there is a noticeable pause after applying force and till when the bar starts moving ie. I decide right lets lift this, i apply max force but the bar doesn’t budge for what seems like a whole second.
It seems that I am having trouble recruiting maximum force at a moments notice, there is an evident delay from wanting to apply max force and the actual application of it. This is bound to have an effect on the numbers that I can put up, momentum for one is gonna be sacrificed at the bottom of a heavy lift. Anyone else see this?
I would think that working with progressively heavier weights (ramping from a light load) would allow you to become better at overcoming the dead stop. you don’t always have to go with your max weights. staying at 60-80 percent while really focusing on speed can be beneficial .
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Due to the fact that my gym is without a power rack, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to try any blast isometrics or other fun stuff CT has been talking about, but tonight I realized that you can put a flat bench in a typical squat rack, and bench from a complete standstill (no stretch reflex, momentum, nothing).
You don’t do it with the ‘pins’ that you would usually walk the bar back into when squatting, but instead use the two large supports that typically balance the bar when someone’s doing their curls there.
It’s actually hard as hell if you’re not used to it, but great to just focus on blasting a heavy weight up as fast as you can. I had a great pump going afterward, and true to Thibs’ writing, I left still feeling like I could have done more, definitely still all fired up. Good stuff.
S
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I was actually doing these for a month or two in the summer; I actually got the idea from seeing CT do it in a video.
I did an incline bench press like this last night and really liked it, im going to drop my over head press for a few weeks and replace it with inclines from the power cage and see if it helps my bench/overhead press
I’m in the same boat with you guys where my gym has no power rack, but I’ve been using the smith machine to do deadstop CGB. Is there any reason you guys decided to use the squat rack as opposed to the smith machine?
In a smith you first have to worry about unhooking the bar, and then your muscles are actually contracting from the get go,… they’re supporting the weight, it’s NOT at a dead stop as if it were resting on pins where you must overcome the inertia in an explosive manner.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
In a smith you first have to worry about unhooking the bar, and then your muscles are actually contracting from the get go,… they’re supporting the weight, it’s NOT at a dead stop as if it were resting on pins where you must overcome the inertia in an explosive manner.
S
[/quote]
The smith machine at my gym has these pin type things with hooks on them. I guess it’s not a universal feature on all smith machines?
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
In a smith you first have to worry about unhooking the bar, and then your muscles are actually contracting from the get go,… they’re supporting the weight, it’s NOT at a dead stop as if it were resting on pins where you must overcome the inertia in an explosive manner.
S
[/quote]
The smith machine at my gym has these pin type things with hooks on them. I guess it’s not a universal feature on all smith machines?[/quote]
I think I know what you’re talking about, and yeah, can’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work since the bar is unhooked and resting on the safety stops. I don’t have those on the smith at my new gym - even though it’s a much nicer smith machine.
As for doing these, I’m gonna try them after doing regular Bench Press on my next Chest day. I have a feeling the bench will be too low though, turning it into more of triceps exercise (improving lockout).
