OK When I miss on bench press I aways miss it about 6 inches off my chest. I’ve been doing floor presses and that seems to be helping. Any ideas on what might help? BTW I bench raw.
My training looks like this
Monday
Bench 5,3,1 (heavy)
Floor Press
Over head lock outs (i know maybe not needed for a raw bencher)
Tri-cep work
Wednesday
Speed bench with bands
Upperback
lats
rear delt
Personal Stats
6’2"
215 pounds
First thing that comes to mind is board presses. 2 and 3 boards. A 3 board would be exactally at 6 inches off the chest, but you might want to try 2 boards as well to work the extra ROM right before your sticking point. Good luck man.
-MAtt
Big Dave Tate has just the article for ya right here on T-Nation.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459799
I’m new to the powerlifting thing, just getting my feet wet, but it’s my understanding that floor presses, like board work, do more for your lockout (i.e. triceps) than for a problem not far off your chest. My advice would be shoulder and lat work, and heavy DB benches, but there are guys here who know a hell of a lot more than me.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
I’m new to the powerlifting thing, just getting my feet wet, but it’s my understanding that floor presses, like board work, do more for your lockout (i.e. triceps) than for a problem not far off your chest. My advice would be shoulder and lat work, and heavy DB benches, but there are guys here who know a hell of a lot more than me.[/quote]
In the article above
"Barbell Floor Presses
This is one of the classic max effort movements that?s stood the test of time. The floor press is performed by setting the hooks or supports up in a power rack so you can bench press while lying on the floor. Get under the bar with your shoulder blades together and shrugged into your traps. Tuck the elbows and unrack the weight. Lower the weight until your triceps hit the floor. Pause for a split second, then press the weight back up in a straight line.
This movement can be done several ways. The first is with straight weight. Just warm up using three to five reps in an ascending pattern until you reach your one rep max. The second way would be to work up to 60% of your best bench press. When you reach this weight, you?ll begin adding one 20-pound chain on each side of the bar with each additional set until you max out.
For developing strength off your chest, using straight weight would be the best bet because it?ll teach you to press out of the bottom with maximal weights. "
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
I’m new to the powerlifting thing, just getting my feet wet, but it’s my understanding that floor presses, like board work, do more for your lockout (i.e. triceps) than for a problem not far off your chest. My advice would be shoulder and lat work, and heavy DB benches, but there are guys here who know a hell of a lot more than me.[/quote]
You’re right on the floor presses and the board presses to an extent. 4 and 5 boards will work more of the lockout. 1,2 and 3’s will work the bottom to midrange. I think the speed work has helped me out of the bottom and just focusing on exploding up out of the bottom no matter what weight I have on the bar. The lat and upper back work is a given. Maybe he should drop the bands and go to straight weight,60% of his 1 rep max and concentrate on exploding for his speed day?
Thanks for the artical! I’ve considered the board press as well. Still not such which route I’ll take yet.
[quote]bigg mike wrote:
GDollars37 wrote:
Maybe he should drop the bands and go to straight weight,60% of his 1 rep max and concentrate on exploding for his speed day?[/quote]
Ive actually been putting more wraps on the bands to bring in more tension on the bottom end of the lift. To help my speed off the chest. Do you guys think that’s a good idea?
[quote]AK47 wrote:
bigg mike wrote:
GDollars37 wrote:
Maybe he should drop the bands and go to straight weight,60% of his 1 rep max and concentrate on exploding for his speed day?
Ive actually been putting more wraps on the bands to bring in more tension on the bottom end of the lift. To help my speed off the chest. Do you guys think that’s a good idea?
[/quote]
Another good article, this one’s from Jim Wendler:http://www.elitefts.com/documents/beginner_mistakes_part2_jimw.htm
I don’t know if you have access to chains or not. I was weak right in the middle and found one exercise that worked it better than anything was to do floor press with all the chains you can get a hold of draped over the ends of the bar. I had 120lbs. of chain. Do that for max effort and it will be a very slow hard grind to lock it out. It seems like for me this worked me right in the half way point very well. It teaches you to grind.
The suggestions posed above make sense - i.e. 2 or 3 board presses, floor presses. I would also consider replacing your speed work with 4-5 sets of 5 of close grips or floor presses.
In addition to the triceps strength issue, there could be a technique component. Are your wrists cocked way back? If so, the bar may tend to get behind your elbows, putting your triceps at a leverage disadvantage.
Try to keep the bar a little more in line with your wrist. This can me helped by squeezing the bar as tight as possible, wrapping your wrists tight, and/or strengthening your wrists and forearms.