6’7" 250lbs. was 217 when I started training on a regular basics and honestly I have responded very well to Thib’s training methods. Like a lot of folks here have said “lift heavy weight”. The programs I have used to great rewards was in the 1-5 rep range and using 80% of 1RM or above. Doing Isometrics, Functional ISO, rest-pause, cluster-sets, etc etc. My 1st time through Beast Building did wonders for me. If you haven’t tried it…give it a shot. Currently, I’m at 335 bench, 365 ATG squat, and 405 on dead.
I also asked him about improving the sticking point in my bench…which is at the bottom and I’m assuming most of us here…that’s the case. Here is his response.
stretch67 wrote:
Coach,
My sticking point in the bench press is the bottom part of the movement, what is your take on improving that? Iso’s, functional Iso’s, band work, shoulder work ??
I am a tall lifter at 6’7". My wing span is almost as wide as I am tall. Once I make it through the sticking point, I normally have no problems at the top. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Technique. That’s one thing I learned from Tate: if you are weak at the bottom, it is most likely your set-up. Look at the video from his recent bench article for more info.
My training partner’s weak point was also at the start. We assumed that his pecs were weak, which did not make sense since he is super strong at most pec exercises. If anything his triceps are his weakest pressing muscle, which means that his sticking point should be during the last portion of the lift.
Well, when I got back from Ohio to spend some time with Dave, I taught my partner the proper set-up technique and not only did his press increase by 20lbs, his sticking point is now during the last portion of the lift (where it should be).
- Lack of initial burst of power. Call it starting strength or whatever, if you cannot blast the weight off of your chest you will have trouble getting that bar started. This is a very common problem with long limbed lifters. You really need to build the capacity to go from zero force to maximum force in as little time as possible.
With long-limbed individuals I like to use the explosive close-grip (just inside shoulder width) bench press from a static start. There are four levels of difficulty to this movement:
Level I: lower the bar to your chest, pause it for 2-3 seconds, lift it as explosively as you can.
Level II: start the bar at the bottom of the bench with the bar resting on safety pins about 1’’ from the chest. From that position lift the bar as explosively as possible.
Level III: lower the bar to your chest, 1’’ from the chest your partner pushes down on the bar while you try to lift it… he stops you there for 3 seconds, then release the bar and you explode it up right away.
Level IV: same as level II but with a pair of mini-bands.
Roughly 40-60% is used, but the key is to always explode. If a weight isn’t explosive from the start, it’s too heavy.
So I’m going to work my way up on those exercises until I can report some weights that are actually somewhat decent.