It’s indeed very sad.
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Dang. Well, homemade it is.
I bet you’d get it after a handful of practice reps. I got a 150lb keg over my head 3 or 4 times in 60s once and I definitely could not strict press that at the time.
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Probably, yeah. I figure it’s just a technique issue from using an unfamiliar implement.
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29/12/2020
Okay, I need the T-Nation collective to give me a preverbal slap.
Still pursuing clean & press as the goal, still using the fall and winter as an “off season” to build, and the spring and summer as “in season” to work on the strength and technique, however I’m getting caught up in some minutia on my press day.
Leg day and pull day are happily worked out:
Legs
- power cleans
- squats and sissy squats superset
- some type of hammy exercise
- abs
Pull
- chins
- landmine rows
- db curls
- upright row & rear delt superset
Push day is where I’m getting caught up. Right now I have push press, heavy tricep isolation and a db unwinding press & ohp superset. The 4th exercise I’m stuck on is either keeping the db flye-press, incline CGBP (probably with the tricep bar), incline CGBP supersetted with band flyes, or bench press supersetted with band flyes (similar to how I’m doing squat supersetted with sissy squats).
Flye press: I like the movement. It’s giving me good development in my chest which, while it doesn’t help with the clean & press, my chest is lagging.
Incline CGBP: I don’t mind the movement, especially with the tricep bar. It more closely assists my ultimate goal, and while it wouldn’t aid in overall chest development, it would work the upper chest a bit more (according to broscience), which is the most lagging part of my chest.
Incline CGBP SS W/ band flyes: same as above, but adding the band SS would help make it an overall chest developer. This is enticing.
Bench SS W/ band flye: allows for the most amount of weight moved, but again is more removed from the push press. I might be able to get away with that though, since I’m starting with push press skill work, and again I’m treating this time as an “off season” to build muscle before going into the “in season” when things will be more strength and technique focused.
Would love everyone’s input.
Is there any reason you can’t rotate some of those exercises in, instead of having a static item?
If not, your priorities seem to be (not following the log closely, so grain of salt) 1a) push press and 1b) chest hypertrophy. I’d go incline CG press to start and if you still feel the chest isn’t being worked enough, do the extra flyes. If you need to go heavier but don’t want to do regular bench do the close grip variation with that, on occasion.
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Priorities are 1) push strength and size, especially in the “vanity muscles” (chest, shoulders, arms), because they’re very lacking, and 2) get a monster clean & press (or variation thereof).
There isn’t really, aside from my love of routine. I had considered rotating exercises, and your comment is making me lean that way again.
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Just make it part of your routine/plan. If you’re doing this for 12 weeks you can do weeks 1/4/7/10 with CG bench, 2/5/8/11 with incline CG and 3/6/9/12 with fly press, for example. I hate routines when lifting so that might not make sense for you like it does for me but that would be a decent way to move closer to your goals with some structure.
Part of the reason something like this would appeal to me is that there is enough work to keep your bench from falling apart but little enough that you don’t have to spend time focusing on it.
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It makes a lot of sense, actually. It’s almost like a ROM progression, in a way. I could go flye-press → incline → bench or vice versa. Intensity progression.
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Exactly! Regardless of the direction you choose (bench => fly/ fly=> bench) at the beginning of the 4th week you are providing a different style of stimulus than the third week, with a different level of intensity.
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I’m not sure how much pec work you’re going to get here. I do Incline with my elbows wide to emphasize the chest. Going narrow would probably have the opposite effect. I’ve been told that Incline CGBP will help with driving the bar off your chest during bench. I can’t vouch for it, though.
If I was going to commit to a pressing day then I might do OHP, Incline, and flat bench or some variation in each plane.
If you’re concerned about the upper chest then try Incline 1.5 reps. Down, half way up, down, up. The double stretch is killer.
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You may have explained before, but are dips a possibility for you?
This is my hesitation, but using the tricep bar (thus, neutral grip) I seem to get significantly more chest activation than a barbell. The movement would also emphasize the shoulders and triceps more, which are necessary for the clean & press over pecs.
I like the 1.5 rep idea, though.
Weeeeell, yes and no. I only have gymnastics rings, which are already unstable, and on my rack become even more unstable (u-frame base with 2 uprights connected by a chin bar). I can’t get enough reps right now for it to be worthwhile, however I might rotate them in for the summer when accessory work gets simpler in favour of more running and direct work on the clean & press.
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Any consideration to Behind the Neck pressing? With a clean and press goal, I found BtN presses helpful for when presses get “lost” on the way up. Much stronger shoulder stability to recover. For chest stimulation, you could pair it with some old fashioned push-ups. Avoid lockout and focus on pec pump. The BtN press will burn out the shoulders and triceps a bit beforehand. If you have some hex dumbbells, you could use them to increase ROM.
EDIT: Also, does your incline bench have an adjustable incline level, or is it fixed?
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I had thought about it, but I might save it for when the focus shifts to clean & press specificity during the spring.
I have no clue why, but I can never get push-ups to be felt in my chest, no matter what I do. My shoulders and triceps ALWAYS want to do all the work. Tempo, hand position, constant tension, isometric, ROM, tried it all.
Fixed, sadly. I can do straight up, 45°, flat, or decline. Were you thinking about changing the incline week by week?
Can you flex your pecs and make them move?
Nah, was thinking more set to set within the workout, or doing a mechanical advantage dropset. Could still make it work with those 3 levels though.
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Do a couple big rest/pause sets. At some point you’d have to use your pecs.
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Ah gotcha. I have my rings on my rack too but it’s a cage with double my bodyweight anchoring it down. Do you have a sturdy rafter or something as an alternative?
On the pushup front, rings again! Ring pushups can light up your chest pretty well. I think the freedom of movement lets you move them exactly as you need to to target a specific muscle, vs the fixed bars/hands on floor.
There is the instability factor, but after a few sessions it becomes pretty second nature.
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This is a big no-go for me. I just cannot get a handle on set-to-set changes, including supersets if the exercises are different. I’m atrocious at multitasking and every single time I’ve tried something like this it becomes a disaster. I need single-minded focus on one thing to demolish it.
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02/01/2021
Start time: 1240
Garage temp: 5C
Clean & push press (1:5 ratio)
- worked up to 185x5
- dropset: 120x10 strict press
DB incline press (45°)
- 50 reps @ 50, 30 deep breaths between sets (18, 10, 8, 6, 6+2)
DB neutral bench
- 50 reps @ 50, 30 deeps breaths between sets (15, 11, 10, 8, 6)
- 60 sec chest stretch
Seated OH tricep bar extensions
- 50 reps @ 50, 30 deep breaths between sets (12, 10, 9, 7, 5, 5+2)
- 60 sec tricep stretch
Notes:
- Back at it, baby, and boy does it feel good. Push presses felt decent, but my right arm was lagging so the bar was getting a little out of whack. This led me to the decision to use DBs for most of my assistance, as I couldn’t “cheat” by having one side do more work.
- Also decided to double down on focusing on the clean & press and just use incline press and db bench. Still got a lot of solid chest work from the incline pressing, and benching with a neutral grip torched my triceps.
- I really, really like this “50 with 50” DB idea that I did. The ultimate goal is being able to use 50s for 50 straight reps. My basic brain tells me if I can do 50 straight reps with 50s on a bunch of exercises, I will probably put on at least some additional size.
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