Also I will begin to add pause reps into my reps as I’ve done some research and I can’t wait to start doing them (thanks heavy triple and osu). Again, you guys have been extremely helpful so far and I can’t thank you enough. [/quote]
Pause benching is fucking brutal. It works fantastically however, although you will probably be shocked by how little weight you can put on the bar. Just keep at it.
Note on paused benching–you MUST stay tight with the bar on your chest. Focus on the new technique, especially a super tight squeezed back/squeezed lats and your chest slammed up towards the ceiling as you are holding the pauses–this is where almost EVERYBODY who fails off the chest goes wrong when they bench–their chest caves and their lats are loose anyways. So get used to holding and squeezing the new positions HARD[/quote]
So true. I can do 300x4 or 320x2 tNg, but only 303 for 1 competition pause.
Hey everyone sorry for the long delay, I’ve been real busy studying for tests. As you can see, I did get a video of 350x3 from last Monday using my new and improved (hopefully) form. I would have liked to have done more weight for 3 (like usual) but this form is going to take some getting used to.
Also, I got really pissed at my spotter for putting his hands on the bar at the end of the final rep even though after much scrutiny he convinced me that he had not helped me at all. Please let me know if there is anything that I should work on.
After the video I did pause reps with 225 for about 5 more sets and it seemed like I was able to get a better leg drive, a tighter back, and I generally felt way more stable.
Echo the two posters above. Better, but you’re loose, unstable, legs aren’t planted at all hard, and your butt is like 6 fucking inches off the damn bench on the last rep.
I did like your elbow position and chest position much better.
Plant your feet and ass hard on the bench. Feet–you should focus on slamming the HEELS of your feet down into the ground like hammers, not the toes of your feet. This is the goal regardless of whether you can actually touch the ground or not with your heels (whether benching with only toes on the ground, or whole foot, the intention is the same: heels, always the heels). Pushing your toes into the ground will actually pull your butt farther off the bench than it already is.
Butt–you’re not tight enough. If you’re tight enough it will feel like you have a spring in your back and there should be no damn way your butt should be physically able to come off the bench.
After the video I did pause reps with 225 for about 5 more sets and it seemed like I was able to get a better leg drive, a tighter back, and I generally felt way more stable. [/quote]
Yep. This is because it’s a weight you can dominate easily so you can dial in technique a lot easier. Max weights you go back to your bad habits without thinking about it because that is the way you have benched for years and your body remembers those years very clearly. More perfect technique work is needed to counteract that.
Keep putting the work in, and big weights will come. Find the heaviest weight you can handle for 3-5 reps, without your form breaking down, and live there. Goodluck !
That first rep looked great! On the second one your butt came off the bench, and on the third one your entire body practically came off lol. I have personally struggled mightily with keeping my caboose on the bench. You can experiment with different foot positions and setups to stay down as best you can. I actually settled on going as wide as possible with my feet out in front of me a little.
It’s important to try and push back along the bench rather than up with your hips. This will be very, very difficult, but you’ll have to reduce the weight. Trust me; I’ve been there as well. It is tough to set aside the ego and back off of the weight, but I promise you, in the long run it will prevent you from hitting a glass ceiling. When your butt comes off the bench, that is not a true bench press. Strive to make every rep legitimate, and despite the initial hit, you will actually build more muscle and strength in the end.
A buddy taught me to keep my ass on the bench by saying this. It’s a bit silly but it has stuck with me and works. He said set up, try to get “balls to the bench”, then squeeze the thighs hard to the bench as if your life were dependant on it. Also squeeze the glutes like you were trying not to rip ass in church or something. Heels to the floor. Staying on your toes is fine if you like benching that way but try to touch the heels to the floor. This will create the tension required to stay firmly planted. Plus it’s hard for your ass to pop off the bench if you got a thigh squeeze death grip going on. MAybe give it a shot and see if that’s something you can incorportate into your set up. Hope this helps.
Okay guys Iâ??m going to keep in mind everything thatâ??s been said here and try to use it on Monday. It seems like what most of you are pointing out is the same. I feel like I did get a bit tighter on the bar but when Iâ??m giving it all I got my body tends to move into the position that it thinks is best, even though itâ??s obviously not. With that being said, it seems like what I need to do is train myself to properly encode this new form at a much lower weight. Is it advisable to stay away from anything over 300 for a week or two in order to do this?
Here is essentially what I need to do in order to improve (based on what Iâ??ve read): squeeze glutes, squeeze thighs to bench, drive heels into ground (not toes), and push back along bench instead of up with hips. Am I missing anything? Also, I think that the position that I got myself into before even beginning needs work because I wasnâ??t able to get as tight as I wanted. Have a lot of you found it helpful to swing your torso from behind the bar into your starting position or is that a bad idea?
[quote]gherrera91 wrote:
Okay guys Iâ??m going to keep in mind everything thatâ??s been said here and try to use it on Monday. It seems like what most of you are pointing out is the same. I feel like I did get a bit tighter on the bar but when Iâ??m giving it all I got my body tends to move into the position that it thinks is best, even though itâ??s obviously not. With that being said, it seems like what I need to do is train myself to properly encode this new form at a much lower weight. Is it advisable to stay away from anything over 300 for a week or two in order to do this?
Here is essentially what I need to do in order to improve (based on what Iâ??ve read): squeeze glutes, squeeze thighs to bench, drive heels into ground (not toes), and push back along bench instead of up with hips. Am I missing anything? Also, I think that the position that I got myself into before even beginning needs work because I wasnâ??t able to get as tight as I wanted. Have a lot of you found it helpful to swing your torso from behind the bar into your starting position or is that a bad idea?
[/quote]
That sounds about right. Id prefer to say trying to bury your back deep into the bench with your heel/glute drive rather than push it along the bench, because pushing it aloooong the bench tends to allow slippge and losing tightness. But whatever cue works for you.
Your plan sounds about right. You can do some singles at 315 or something to test the form with heavier weights, but stay away from fatigue at heavy weights because as youve noticed when you get tired your body goes back to bad habits. But yes, almost all of your bench needs to be lighter than 300 with an emphasis kn technique and coordination. In 2 weeks try some singles at 315 and in 3 weeks try singles only at about 345, no reps. How you perform then will tell you how effective the reprogramming was. 2 weeks without heavy triples won’t hurt your progress at all.
Personally I find getting the arbitrary numbers out of my head is necessary too. 315, 365, 405, etc. 400 in this case. It makes sense to be able to bench 395 in perfect form before trying 400. No point in constantly trying for some number that sounds good or looks good on the bar, and failing, when you could have instead been lifting 390 or 395 and then several weeks down the line hitting 400 no problem.