BP Journey: From Under 200 to 500

Training Powerlifting
81

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

Full ROM 465 lb RAW. Against my better judgment I did this by myself at my house without a spotter. I know my form has to stink. Id still like to see some of these other guys (ie Dixie) put up a video too. So far I see maraudermeat with a mega impressive 720 x 1.

–Bench

[/quote]

lol passive aggressive much?

I’ll be damned, you put up a video. If it seemed like I was calling your bluff earlier, its cause I was. Most people who say that there will be a video never ever produce the video. Good job, you are right, the form is off but you have a base to work with. Talk to Meat about form, not me, I learned by watching him and Dave Tate.

As to my video, as stated, I do not own a video camera BUT I do have a still photo of me mid rep on my training log. Should I ever purchase a video camera on my PLS income, you will be the first to see the video, promise.

[/quote]

I’m looking forward to someone telling me to do explosive calf raises as a strategy. Heck I think I can do better than this on my own with my hot petite wife that has DDs as a spotter LOL!!![/quote]

PLS - Poor Law Student…trust me, no income other than food haha.

petite wife with DD’s? Now i am seriously calling your bluff, pics or it didnt happen! [/quote]

Dude you’ve got to be kidding me. I teach torts (intentional torts, negligence, products liability, strict liablity) and contracts. I also help law students who are sitting for the California State Bar. What ABA law school are you attending?(You dont have to tell me)Did you have any challenge writing in IRAC form? If you didnt notice i was setting you up as I would in a deposition and you are correct, that would be categorized as passive agressive. Being too ballistic in a depo is a sure way to shut down a plaintiff or defendant making your job tougher as the deposing counsel.

Ive never heard of PLS but indeed I feel your pain.

–Bench

P.S. Sorry man wife is off limits. I posted her in a thong one time and everyone went ape in the sexy wives thread. Too stinking freaky. She keeps my T level up though.[/quote]

haha no worries bout the wife dude, people can get crazy round here.

I am a first year at Mississippi College School of Law.

Funny you should mention IRAC, we actually use CREAC to for our stuff, Conclusion Rule Explanation Application/Analysis Conclusion[/quote]

Wow that sounds backwards. If heard of FIRAC but not CREAC. Your Profs know what they are doing though. Good luck on your studies. Keep in mind that FY law school is always the toughest. The first year they scare you to death, second year they work you to death and third year they bore you to death. What area of law are you planning on practicing?

–Bench[/quote]

So far my favorite subjects have been Torts and Contracts, though we will see after a couple years.

82

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

Full ROM 465 lb RAW. Against my better judgment I did this by myself at my house without a spotter. I know my form has to stink. Id still like to see some of these other guys (ie Dixie) put up a video too. So far I see maraudermeat with a mega impressive 720 x 1.

–Bench

[/quote]

lol passive aggressive much?

I’ll be damned, you put up a video. If it seemed like I was calling your bluff earlier, its cause I was. Most people who say that there will be a video never ever produce the video. Good job, you are right, the form is off but you have a base to work with. Talk to Meat about form, not me, I learned by watching him and Dave Tate.

As to my video, as stated, I do not own a video camera BUT I do have a still photo of me mid rep on my training log. Should I ever purchase a video camera on my PLS income, you will be the first to see the video, promise.

[/quote]

I’m looking forward to someone telling me to do explosive calf raises as a strategy. Heck I think I can do better than this on my own with my hot petite wife that has DDs as a spotter LOL!!![/quote]

PLS - Poor Law Student…trust me, no income other than food haha.

petite wife with DD’s? Now i am seriously calling your bluff, pics or it didnt happen! [/quote]

Dude you’ve got to be kidding me. I teach torts (intentional torts, negligence, products liability, strict liablity) and contracts. I also help law students who are sitting for the California State Bar. What ABA law school are you attending?(You dont have to tell me)Did you have any challenge writing in IRAC form? If you didnt notice i was setting you up as I would in a deposition and you are correct, that would be categorized as passive agressive. Being too ballistic in a depo is a sure way to shut down a plaintiff or defendant making your job tougher as the deposing counsel.

Ive never heard of PLS but indeed I feel your pain.

–Bench

P.S. Sorry man wife is off limits. I posted her in a thong one time and everyone went ape in the sexy wives thread. Too stinking freaky. She keeps my T level up though.[/quote]

haha no worries bout the wife dude, people can get crazy round here.

I am a first year at Mississippi College School of Law.

Funny you should mention IRAC, we actually use CREAC to for our stuff, Conclusion Rule Explanation Application/Analysis Conclusion[/quote]

Wow that sounds backwards. If heard of FIRAC but not CREAC. Your Profs know what they are doing though. Good luck on your studies. Keep in mind that FY law school is always the toughest. The first year they scare you to death, second year they work you to death and third year they bore you to death. What area of law are you planning on practicing?

–Bench[/quote]

So far my favorite subjects have been Torts and Contracts, though we will see after a couple years.
[/quote]

That’s cool. Torts was my favorite as well. I really sucked at contracts in my first year I managed to pull off a “B+” because I did really well on my final exam. My contracts professor was somewhat sadistic and always used to like to formulate hypotheticals which would leave your brain in a knot. It didn’t matter if he was testing on bilateral contracts, quasi-lateral contracts, unilateral contracts, Breach, Defenses, or Remedies. He was a real SOB and seemed like he enjoyed failing students.

Usually law schools put a lot of weight on the final exam so be sure you are ready. Multi-states, multi-states multi-states. You cannot do enough of them. So start now. Be sure that you get a multistate book such as Finz, Flemings, Barbri or AdaptiBar available online. There is no way you can survive if you cram. If you need any help, or have any question on torts, contracts, or criminal law I am just a PM away.

Cheers

– Bench

83

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:
lol…That is funny. VT go ahead and post your free weight bench max so we can all learn from you. You look like you can easily put up 500 for sure.

–Bench[/quote]

Unfortunately I am nowhere near that mark…I am shooting for a 405 at my next comp though…
[/quote]

405 is a good lift. Keep at it. You’ll do it. Under three years ago i couldnt even budge A 200 LB bench on a smith rack. Im no where near where I want to be but hell bent on getting there.

84

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:
lol…That is funny. VT go ahead and post your free weight bench max so we can all learn from you. You look like you can easily put up 500 for sure.

–Bench[/quote]

Unfortunately I am nowhere near that mark…I am shooting for a 405 at my next comp though…
[/quote]

405 is a good lift. Keep at it. You’ll do it. Under three years ago i couldnt even budge A 200 LB bench on a smith rack. Im no where near where I want to be but hell bent on getting there.[/quote]

I think you’ll get there man…that 475 was a helluva lift

85

Thanks Bro

86

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:
I’m willing to bet you don’t do much upper back work. Am I right?[/quote]

As in?[/quote]

As in, what can you bent over row? And dumbell row. Your sticking point is at the lower end of your ROM indicating your upper back as a likely weak point in your bench. Have you ever even tried low reps with bent over row to see what you can do?

87

[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:
I’m willing to bet you don’t do much upper back work. Am I right?[/quote]

As in?[/quote]

As in, what can you bent over row? And dumbell row. Your sticking point is at the lower end of your ROM indicating your upper back as a likely weak point in your bench. Have you ever even tried low reps with bent over row to see what you can do?[/quote]

good point. i’m a firm believer in very strong lats and biceps. IMO, one’s bent over row max should be pretty close to their bench max. to be able to pause heavy weight and then press from a dead stop, the back has to be very strong.

88

[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:
I’m willing to bet you don’t do much upper back work. Am I right?[/quote]

As in?[/quote]

As in, what can you bent over row? And dumbell row. Your sticking point is at the lower end of your ROM indicating your upper back as a likely weak point in your bench. Have you ever even tried low reps with bent over row to see what you can do?[/quote]

Ok I gotcha. Ive never heard of that before. I had no idea that would affect bench press. Thanks for the information.

I do dumbell rows but not bar bell. My lower back is a bit weak so I admittedly stay away from really heavy excercises where I am bending over. However, I do one arm bend over rows with 3-4 sets with 125 lbs dumbells with each arm; one arm at a time. I could go higher, but the assembled dumbell is awkward as it is.

I didnt know that back work affected your bench. That is interesting. Thanks for letting me know that.

Much appreciation

–Bench

89

Go get yourself some olympic dumbbell handles at elitefts.com.

You’re using weight that I use and have a much higher bench, you’ll need to get heavier with the back work to balance the chest work. Everything effects their opposing muscle groups. For instance triceps are affected by biceps, quads are affected by hamstrings, so on so forth. If you have a weak opposing muscle group you limit your growth in the other muscle group.

90

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Go get yourself some olympic dumbbell handles at elitefts.com.

You’re using weight that I use and have a much higher bench, you’ll need to get heavier with the back work to balance the chest work. Everything effects their opposing muscle groups. For instance triceps are affected by biceps, quads are affected by hamstrings, so on so forth. If you have a weak opposing muscle group you limit your growth in the other muscle group.[/quote]

I bought some and the collars slipped right off as I was doing one arm dumbell rows with 150. The plate landed right on my friggin toe nail. :-#

Do you know of any manufacturer that produces a dumbell with collars that SCREW ON rather than the clamps that slide right off? If you will look at maudermeat’s 700 lb benchpress in this thread you can see what I am talking about. You can see the collar sliding right off due to the excessive amount of weight that he had on the bar. It kind of creeped me out not knowing what was going to happen on that lift. That is a lot of wieght to have flinging around due to crappy collars coming off.

–Bench

91

[quote]benchaholic wrote:

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Go get yourself some olympic dumbbell handles at elitefts.com.

You’re using weight that I use and have a much higher bench, you’ll need to get heavier with the back work to balance the chest work. Everything effects their opposing muscle groups. For instance triceps are affected by biceps, quads are affected by hamstrings, so on so forth. If you have a weak opposing muscle group you limit your growth in the other muscle group.[/quote]

I bought some and the collars slipped right off as I was doing one arm dumbell rows with 150. The plate landed right on my friggin toe nail. :-#

Do you know of any manufacturer that produces a dumbell with collars that SCREW ON rather than the clamps that slide right off? If you will look at maudermeat’s 700 lb benchpress in this thread you can see what I am talking about. You can see the collar sliding right off due to the excessive amount of weight that he had on the bar. It kind of creeped me out not knowing what was going to happen on that lift. That is a lot of wieght to have flinging around due to crappy collars coming off.

–Bench[/quote]

I have collars that screw on, I just can’t remember where I got them. If I manage to remember I’ll let you know, I’m sure you could find using google.

92

Get some proper olympic lifting 2.5 kg collars. They won’t budge at all.

As for benchaholic, it sounds like you need to do some serious upper back work. I understand about bent over rows doing your lower back in. A good alternative is dumbell rows with your chest and face flat against the bench. That way it takes the lower back completely out of the motion.

If your current max is your sticking point, then I think you will be surprised what an increase in upper back strength will do for you. Make it strong enough and then you should find at some point that bottom half of the lift gets a lot easier. Then it’ll be back to triceps most likely.

You also need to address your bar speed. Two useful workouts are the classic westside style band or chain work, or dead stop benching from inside a rack from a low pin position, close to your chest.

93

Excellent. Thank you. Im going to hit it tonight when I workout. Today is back day for me.

BTW whatever happened to this maudermeat monster? (monster lifter I mean) :smiley:

94

Okay, not to change the subject, but I have some body weight issues. As stated earlier when I started lifting I was a skinny/fat 180 pounds. Now I fluctuate between 210 and 205 lean. I’m 6 foot tall. I started lifting because the doctor told me to and also to turn my wife on – mission accomplished with my wife.

However, I noticed a lot of power lifters have an excessive amount of fat which is okay if you don’t mind. However, a guy like me who has started lifting for the aesthetics as well as strength; how the heck can I keep my strength increasing without compromising my body’s appearance? I see most power lifters eat a ton of food and I have done so to get my body weight up to 220 pounds. However, I looked like a real porker at 220 and looked like crap with my shirt off. Yes, my bench strength went up, but my body looked like crap. I dont want to offend any heavy lifters who may have a few extra pounds by asking such a question, however, we have to face reality here.

Even guys that hang around with Dave Tate or even Dave Tate (Dave completely rocks by the way) seem to have a bit of a battle with weight issues around the abdomen area. Again, this is not an insult to anyone who may have an extra pound or two around the waist but the reality is most guys of power lift carry some extra cargo as well.

Any suggestions for a naturally skinny 205 to 210 pound guy bench pressing 465 with the goal of 500?

– Bench

95

Bench,

I am a lurker, I’ve been reading posts here for awhile but after reading this thread I felt compelled to sign up and post. You are a tool, your posts are designed solely to inspire some level of discord amongst the lifters on this board, for what reason I don’t know, probably to feed your own obviously damaged sense of self-worth. If you truly have a “petite wife with DD’s” then you are the most crass and tactless idiot I have had the misfortune to read on this site, your wife has certainly failed in marrying you. If you truly want help on your bench, dismissing out of hand the advice of people who lift less than you is ridiculous, lifting is part work, part technique, part nutrition and part genetics, I have trained people that can kick my ass, but they listen to me in the area that I am an expert in, if you are not smart enough to take advice I have to question everything about you.

I question the veracity of your bench videos, I question your sanity and your age, any 45 year old that ends every 3rd sentence with “'bro” is not likely to be handling legal paperwork in a capacity more involved than that of a bike courier, and I question your true purpose for posting here. Your constant attempts to provoke a response have led me to do the one thing I swore to never do, engage in an internet war of words with an egotistical, self-fellating asshat. Good luck selling people on your cool bench bro’ I for one am not buying it.

96

Your form needs some work. Grip the shit out of the bar, retract and depress your shoulder blades, push your upper traps into the bench, get a good arch, and set your feet. When unracking, pull the bar out using your lats. When lowering the bar, tuck your elbows so that the bar touches between your upper abs and your nipples. When you press, use your leg drive to help push. Check out Tate’s “So You Think You Can Bench” series at EFTS.

Like other guys have mentioned, do some heavy upper back work. Weighted pullups, heavy dumbbell rows, etc. Benching really is a full body exercise if you want to get the most out of it.

Get a solid flat bench. The bench you’re using is a disaster waiting to happen! I bet you’re exceeding that things weight limit by a few pounds.

Then again, I’m still chasing 300, so take my advice for what it’s worth…

97

[quote]LittleLifter wrote:
Bench,

I am a lurker, I’ve been reading posts here for awhile but after reading this thread I felt compelled to sign up and post. You are a tool, your posts are designed solely to inspire some level of discord amongst the lifters on this board, for what reason I don’t know, probably to feed your own obviously damaged sense of self-worth. If you truly have a “petite wife with DD’s” then you are the most crass and tactless idiot I have had the misfortune to read on this site, your wife has certainly failed in marrying you. If you truly want help on your bench, dismissing out of hand the advice of people who lift less than you is ridiculous, lifting is part work, part technique, part nutrition and part genetics, I have trained people that can kick my ass, but they listen to me in the area that I am an expert in, if you are not smart enough to take advice I have to question everything about you.

I question the veracity of your bench videos, I question your sanity and your age, any 45 year old that ends every 3rd sentence with “'bro” is not likely to be handling legal paperwork in a capacity more involved than that of a bike courier, and I question your true purpose for posting here. Your constant attempts to provoke a response have led me to do the one thing I swore to never do, engage in an internet war of words with an egotistical, self-fellating asshat. Good luck selling people on your cool bench bro’ I for one am not buying it.[/quote]

To satisfy your irritation with “Bro” I appreciate your girly troll response.

I appreciate it Sister Little Lifter (lol…)

–Bench

P.S. It’s pretty obvious that this Little lifter is a disgruntle douche that had previously posted to this thread and going under an alternate name to conceal his identity. Especially given the fact that at the time of his assenine posting above is his very first post…lol. Wow, you are really faking us all out for sure Sis. There’s one in every thread :smiley: BTW ass bite, provoking a response is what I do for a living. If you dont like it…get over it and troll another thread.

98

[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
Your form needs some work. Grip the shit out of the bar, retract and depress your shoulder blades, push your upper traps into the bench, get a good arch, and set your feet. When unracking, pull the bar out using your lats. When lowering the bar, tuck your elbows so that the bar touches between your upper abs and your nipples. When you press, use your leg drive to help push. Check out Tate’s “So You Think You Can Bench” series at EFTS.

Like other guys have mentioned, do some heavy upper back work. Weighted pullups, heavy dumbbell rows, etc. Benching really is a full body exercise if you want to get the most out of it.

Get a solid flat bench. The bench you’re using is a disaster waiting to happen! I bet you’re exceeding that things weight limit by a few pounds.

Then again, I’m still chasing 300, so take my advice for what it’s worth…

[/quote]

Thanks Steve. I’ll look into more heavy duty equipment. You are correct, the weight limit is about 650 and the 465 and my 210 body weight probably exceeds the limit. The warning is with in the safe range of preventing products liability for injuries. In other words if a person (such as myself) exceeds the weight amount, decides to file suit if injured in a products liablity action; all a company has to do is file a defense for assumption of risk or contributory negligence. Depending on the jurisdiction (ie pure comaparative negligence ect)such abuse of a product by a plaintiff serves as a complete or partial defense.

My arch stinks. Probably due to the high setting bench. You are correct. Im also trying to pull my arms in a bit to use more of my triceps. At this point, I need to get something on the bar that will help me with grip. In the above lift my left hand started to slide.

Thanks for your recommendations. BTW 300 is still a good lift, so don’t sell yourelf short.

Best,

–Bench

99

Does the bar have knurling? If not or if it’s gotten smooth, you could do a couple things.

Use some rough grit sandpaper to rough the surface up a bit.

Or try some Gorilla Grip if it’s available. If you can’t find it, you can use a tack cloth (the kind used to pick up dust after sanding, available at any hardware store) to get your hands/the bar a little sticky.

100

[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
Does the bar have knurling? If not or if it’s gotten smooth, you could do a couple things.

Use some rough grit sandpaper to rough the surface up a bit.

Or try some Gorilla Grip if it’s available. If you can’t find it, you can use a tack cloth (the kind used to pick up dust after sanding, available at any hardware store) to get your hands/the bar a little sticky. [/quote]

Steve, no it doesnt. It is just a plain metal bar. Tack cloth or Gorilla Grip sounds good. My son has a tube of stick’em that he uses for football. I was thinking about trying that.

Good advice.

Thanks Bro

–Bench