[quote]Grneyes wrote:
I watched that Dave Tate thing too! I now really concentrate on putting my traps together without shrugging and arching but keeping my shoulders on the bench. Since I don’t have an arch really, to speak of, this is pretty easy. I wish someone knew how to increase your arch. :[/quote]
Hey Greens, you don’t need a strong arch to bench more, different styles for different folks. At my meet, I arched hard and failed, had the side judge tell me that I sucked and needed to change my style because it wasn’t working, so I dropped it my next attempt and it felt 100x more stable and stronger (but I still missed, so take that fwiw…)
I think, like Trav said, the key is to keep your back tight and scaps retracted AND tucked down.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Trav- do you do feet on bench too? admittedly, I’ve seen people do that on occasion and thought they were just being lame. [/quote]
haha, This is how I bench! I do squeeze my shoulder blades back, but I definitely don’t do the PL arch. I dunno, never thought about trying it any other way! I’m much less comfortable with my feet on the floor, but that’s probably habit. Guess I’m a BB at heart.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Trav- do you do feet on bench too? admittedly, I’ve seen people do that on occasion and thought they were just being lame. Like one of the trainers at my gym has people doing db presses while bicyling there legs, LOL!![/quote]
No I definitely have my feet planted on the ground, that’s what I meant when I said I use a wide stance is that my feet are spread wide on the floor and I’m flat footed. This keeps me from having to stuff my feet under the bench pull myself under the bar and onto my toes like in a comp bench but still allows me to have stability and leg drive.
I’ve actually gotten to the point where my poundages with this form are better than with the big arch but that took some time.
IMO the feet on the bench thing should be saved for rep sets if used at all, but I honestly don’t see a reason to use it unless you wanted to use it as a variation that removes stability and leg drive.
Big benchers (even bodybuilders) have their feet on the ground.
I don’t know if I’m a genius or may have read this somewhere(both? )
But I used that drink mix stuff for water in my shake and it was
AWESOME!!!
strawberry orange banana mix w/ 5 ice cubes, 1/2 cup water + 2 scoops Vanilla proteinz!!!
Good to know about the Benching…
L- removes foot from mouth
Trav- sounds good!! I’m going to widen my grip slightly and see how the shoulder feels…sometimes it gets mad at me…my feet have always been pretty wide…
I arch a bit but I don’t have much flexion in my t-spine so it’s all lumbar. I don’t think arching hard would do me any favours. So long as you retract your scaps, it’s all good.
Also, jealous of the venison. It’s very expensive here - I would love to eat it regularly but the pennies don’t stretch that far unfortunately!
I got me a freezer full of deer & elk, get to eat it every day. Mmm I love my life somedays. Great benching you look good to me.
Oh sorry for not droppin by more often. You are rockin’ it.!!
I eat dairy too, cottage cheese and whey and sometimes a glass of chocolate milk. I have yet to turn into a flabby monster from it Unless you have an allergy I dont really see any reason for ‘every day’ people to ban stuff like that from their diets.
I love looking at your food pics too You can come cook for me anyday
Hubby is an avid hunter and so is my FIL, the whole family actually…Hubby is going to teach me this fall! And our boy too.
…so whenever they come down or we go up(to MI) they always restore our stock…
For as long as FIL worked on the farm, part of his pay was 1 whole cow/pig a year, so we got some of that too.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
L- removes foot from mouth
[/quote]
haha, no worries at all! Perhaps I’ll try it your way and see how that goes. I like to understand the differences in approaches and be able to comment on something from experience!
Bench:
65x10 75x10 85x10 1x115 1x115 95x10
(115 was off by a 1/2 from the top each time) not sure if its my form/grip, the bench itself, nerves, etc…I feel like the strength is there!
asst. chins- 3x10
pushups- 4x10
bb row- 4x10x95
side/front raise combo 2x12x8s
Goofed around taking pictures for too long, ran outta time…will hit legs later with some front squats/rdls.
Maybe some tire action too
Here’s my 115…
The 95lbs for reps after the 115 attempts. slight arch,shoulders together, feet wide… and it was clearly harder… or maybe I was just tired by then.
I also have to remind myself that I have not been training specifically for strength for quiet some time. And I haven’t benched in forever either.
As far as dairy is concerned, I buy organic stuff if/when I can but sometimes that isn’t possible. I’ve been stuck on the Cabot cheese lately which has been on sale at the grocery. Not organic, but from Vermont which is the home of many happy, healthy dairy cows. But I always buy organic milk.
You will <3 CSA. The best part is getting a ton of something one week and then trying a bunch of new recipes so that you don’t get sick of said vegetable. Super fun! Forced culinary experimentation and creativity.
Gotta save up the $$$ for the CSA. I REALLY want to do it, but it’s kinda pric$y for us… If not, there are a plethora of Farmers Markets around here. Seems like we missed the Summer registration as I was looking up some farms…but the fall harvest is definitely doable!!
)
