My progress in my bench and overhead press has really slowed. I believe it’s due to weak triceps. I say this due to the amount of weight I can do with triceps isolation exercises and just the size of them are apparent. I trying to specialize and hit them with more frequency now.
One exercise I have never done is pin presses on the bench and the OH press. I have a few questions on it.
Where is the best place to set the pins when focusing on the triceps?
How far would you place your hands on the bar for each lift?
Where should you place them in your program if you intend to train 5 days a week?
Tell me what you know, and any tips, about pin pressing and why I should be doing them.
Set the pins so you are working the lockout of the bench, that will hit the triceps
You can use a close-grip if you like, but I always prefered using my competition grip.
I would put them on your bench day, I dont know what day in a 5 day program that is for you.
I dont really know what you want to hear. They are a good exercise to aid you in increasing your bench press, especially the lock out portion. If you do them, I would recomend coming to a dead stop after each rep, non of that bouncing off the pins nonsense. If we had a bit more knowledge on you, it might help. Whats your bench, whats you Close Grip bench, how much you weigh, how long have you been lifting, and are you running a specific program.
I can really only answer the programming part. I think it depends on the type of program that you do. And how heavy. If you plan on doing them as an extremely heavy movement and this is an area you lack, you might completely replace your bench with pin presses for 1 session every 2 weeks or so. Personally I’d say play around with it for a few months and see where you get eth best increases at. Good luck in training man.
Id just throw them in after your main bench work. I’ve never found them overly taxing. Id rather you set them closer to your chest, just because more power off the chest/midrange never hurts a raw bench, but doing them just for lockout purposes doesn’t always carryover.
I strongly encourage you to consider Reverse Band Presses. You get all the perks of a Pin Press plus the added benefit of still being able to practice full spot on technique work. Plus watching your self throw up your max for reps is a bit of encouraging site to say the least.
[quote]Reed wrote:
I strongly encourage you to consider Reverse Band Presses. You get all the perks of a Pin Press plus the added benefit of still being able to practice full spot on technique work. Plus watching your self throw up your max for reps is a bit of encouraging site to say the least.[/quote]
+1 - rev band presses are the cats ass…
If you have a rack to do Rev benches, then also consider chain suspended pressing. Pin presses for me suck because I can’t get the damn bar to return to the same position every rep. When suspended in chains, they will return to the exact same spot each rep which will let you focus on repping stuff out vs constantly setting up to press.
I think the slingshot is also a really viable alternative to doing lockout work. Feeling super maximal weight in your hands through a full ROM helps me be more confident in max attempts.