Do you guys think there is a such thing as going too wide from a strength standpoint? I normally train close grip as my main lift and then bring my grip out a bit when testing my maxes. I was going for 385 Thursday and but I missed 355 while working up. I’m pretty sure I went with a wider grip than I did when I hit 365. My lats weren’t as active and I was a lot weaker off the chest. Any experiences with this?
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Do you guys think there is a such thing as going too wide from a strength standpoint? I normally train close grip as my main lift and then bring my grip out a bit when testing my maxes. I was going for 385 Thursday and but I missed 355 while working up. I’m pretty sure I went with a wider grip than I did when I hit 365. My lats weren’t as active and I was a lot weaker off the chest. Any experiences with this?[/quote]
Well obviously there’s a balance b/w optimal leverages and the shortest ROM. If one goes all the way to the collars, I doubt there’d be much ‘pop’ despite having the shortest ROM.
My last few bench sessions I felt the my ‘wider’ grip didn’t give me as much strength off my chest and didn’t allow for as much tightness, especially in my lats, so I went with a closer grip and it felt much much better.
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Do you guys think there is a such thing as going too wide from a strength standpoint? I normally train close grip as my main lift and then bring my grip out a bit when testing my maxes. I was going for 385 Thursday and but I missed 355 while working up. I’m pretty sure I went with a wider grip than I did when I hit 365. My lats weren’t as active and I was a lot weaker off the chest. Any experiences with this?[/quote]
Well obviously there’s a balance b/w optimal leverages and the shortest ROM. If one goes all the way to the collars, I doubt there’d be much ‘pop’ despite having the shortest ROM.
My last few bench sessions I felt the my ‘wider’ grip didn’t give me as much strength off my chest and didn’t allow for as much tightness, especially in my lats, so I went with a closer grip and it felt much much better.[/quote]
Yeah I feel you. I think I just forgot how wide my grip was with the 365 and went too wide.
Anything wider than index on the ring and I am considerably weaker.
I hit 350 lbs this week, that is a 50 lbs increase in less than a year. Hopefully I can duplicate those results this year and get to the big 400.
I haven’t posted in this for a while. I have switched programs from 5/3/1 to a westside template. The reason why is that I joined a powerlifting club and that is what they use for a program. I think my max is around the 340 mark right now. Tomorrow night is ME bench night and will get a better idea of where I am. I do like lifting with a group instead of by myself.
I’ll be in - before my Christmas vacation I did 300 and it just flew off my chest. Went for 315 and got stuck half-way through, bleh. I guess its alright cause I got 295 in my meet in November, so thats ~10 lbs increase in almost two months I want it to be much better though. I’ve switched full-time to westside as 5/3/1 may have run its course for me bench-wise. Hoping for at least a 335 lbs bench in the meet im planning June.
Maybe I should have a loftier goal come to think of it - 40 lbs increase (295-335) for 7 months is not that great of a progress with a bench as low as mine…
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
I hit 350 lbs this week, that is a 50 lbs increase in less than a year. Hopefully I can duplicate those results this year and get to the big 400.[/quote]
so you went from 300 to 350 in less than a year? Do share what you did plus what your weaknesses were and how you addressed them
I’m in, never in my life did I imagine I would even be close to benching 400 let alone join a forum dedicated to it…
Recently hit 345 x 1 touch and go (PR) and 325 x 1 with a pause…
Been using 5/3/1 since June and based on the program hopefully a 400 lb bench will happen sometime during 2012
Hit a very easy 345. Will go for more next week. hoping for 350.
I hope yall dont mind me joinging in. My best comp bench is 370, which was last October. Im hoping for 400 this year and I do believe it is within reach. Best recent lifts are 365 Floor Press, 410 2-Board, and 405 with an old slingshot. The best of luck to all of you!!
Worked chest yesterday. 255x5, 290x3, 325x2, then 4 sets of singles. Working towards that 400 mark. Not sure I"m going to make my goal by June. But I’m gonna try. Maxed at 350 back in November.
Been doing 5/3/1 for a month and a half now. Just put up 300 for the first time last nite. Im thinking i can get 315 thou because it was at the end of my work out so i was a little burnt out.
[quote]mlekava000 wrote:
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
I hit 350 lbs this week, that is a 50 lbs increase in less than a year. Hopefully I can duplicate those results this year and get to the big 400.[/quote]
so you went from 300 to 350 in less than a year? Do share what you did plus what your weaknesses were and how you addressed them[/quote]
Thank you for asking. I dieted down from 265ish and ended at 205 last February. Before starting the diet my bench PR was 305 with a very wide grip, last February it was quite a bit less but I don’t know my exact starting point.
When I started going back up in body weight I decided to only do close grip benching for a while to give my shoulders a break, which never liked wide grip benching, and to bring my triceps up. I was using 5/3/1 at the time and from February to June my bodyweight went from 205 to about 225 and my bench from somewhere in the high 200s to 319 paused, which I did in my first meet-
At this point I decided to continue benching with this grip and it has been the best decision I have made. After the meet I did the Juggernaut Method for all of my lifts and my bench went from 319 to 335. I just finished a 12 week training cycle with Josh Bryant where we just did his standard style of linear progression with heavy weights and it went really well and brought my bench up to 350 and my bodyweight is around 240. Between TJM and training with Josh my overhead press has also gone from 175 to 200 so whether that increased my bench or my bench increased it, I don’t know, but I do know that my pressing has gotten stronger across the board.
Training with the narrower grip has been a lot easier on my shoulders and my bench just keeps improving. I feel like as long as I continue to hit my triceps hard and they continue to get bigger and stronger, my bench will continue to get stronger. Also, I find that doing a lot of volume with moderate weights with my regular bench grip has been huge for me making gains. Obviously this isn’t what works for everyone but this is what works for my body.
PRs this cycle:
360x2
375x1
340x3
Gettin there.
Hmmm seems I neglected to post my 370x1 CG bench from two weeks ago.
I’m in. Current max bench is 325. All time best is 335. 405 has been a lifelong goal for me. Using a routine right now based on Prilipen’s Chart and it’s giving me awesome results.
hopefully ill be there in 6-8 months. using 5/3/1
[quote]JLederach wrote:
hopefully ill be there in 6-8 months. using 5/3/1
[/quote]
Your spotter is an asshole. When I saw him go for the bar, I yelled “DON’T TOUCH IT!” at my computer screen.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
[quote]JLederach wrote:
hopefully ill be there in 6-8 months. using 5/3/1
[/quote]
Your spotter is an asshole. When I saw him go for the bar, I yelled “DON’T TOUCH IT!” at my computer screen.
[/quote]
hahahaha basically any spotter i get does that unfortunately. i dunno if you can hear me yell “i got it” or not, but i usually always have to…i live in my college’s fitness center and i usually have to give some random kid a quick tutorial in spotting before i get under it.