sounds like a plan!
Alrighty, so last night learned to bench press. It was actually pretty intimidating, I guess because its completely new. Here are my cues:
-shoulder blades super tight together
-shoulders down
-chest out
-feet planted (behind knees)
-eyes look at ceiling (not bar)
-bar comes down over sternum, touch chest
-down with control, up explosively
Here’s what we did
5x45, 55, 65, 4x75, 85
I won’t start out going this high, in fact Steve said my next bench should work towards 65 and then I can go from there.
We also had a good chuckle when on the 4th set I brought down the bar and in the down position start asking Steve a question. He yelled at me, “do not stop in the middle of your set!” and then cut this set short, stating I wasted my energy being a douche bag. Talk about tough love!
The sets all felt pretty easy, and the last 2 reps of 85 was when I really needed the spot. Is it weird that I really like the encouragement of the spotter? Ha! Poor Masch, always seeking approval…
So here are my questions:
Do you guys always have someone spot you on the bench? If so, this is going to be painfully hard for me and I’ll probably be sure to bench only when one of the my friends is around.
Steve suggested I look into buying micro plates, but said they were kind of pricey. Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions on this?
Tonight, upper body day! Kind of excited to see how my pullups go after taking a break from them…
I just put extra clips on the bar to make small weight adjustments. It works well and it free :). If you gym has plenty of them, if not you can get them at good old wal mart.
“trainer” steve sounds like he knows what he is doing. Nice work 
a rare find
Have a good one
Jim
(don’t over do the pull ups first time back lol)
I agree, Steve sounds good!
Masch:
It is not at all weird to feed off the encouragement or enjoy the attention of a coach/spotter. We’re all attention whores. Love it myself. I always have my coach spot me in bench. Given the arch position I bench in, it is almost impossible for me to lift off and rack the bar when it gets heavy. However, I have heard that it makes one stronger to do one’s own liftoffs.
Having a spot in bench also takes away the psychological angst of worrying about getting stuck under the bar, as we all have at some point. If my coach isn’t available, I will ask someone to spot and give very specific instructions. (Do NOT touch the bar unless I go backwards.) Some guys are great; other suck and rescue me, especially because I’m small and don’t look capable to them. I only bench in a shirt with my coach because he knows the nuances there.
I have microplates. The smallest plates my gym has are 2.5-lb. A 5-lb. jump in bench is HUGE for me. When I asked my gym’s management to purchase 1.25-lbers, they laughed and said no one would use them. Guess I’m a no one? I purchased my fractional plates online from Woody’s. Make sure you get the Oly ones so they fit a REAL bar and not one of those cheesy bars used in aerobics classes. They are sold in a set of 1.25, 1, .75, .5 lb. I use them weekly. A very, very good purchase for me and highly recommended.
A couple other pointers that may help:
Make sure your feet are flat and that you are driving as hard as all getout with your legs. My glutes actually get sore when I’ve had a good benching session.
Squeeze the bar hard during the entire lift.
Experiment with your grip width. The wider the grip, the shorter the stroke. However, the law of diminishing returns plays a role here as the wider the grip, the harder it is on the shoulders.
Hope this helps some and happy benching.
Hi Masch - the advice looks solid. I do dont’t have a spotter - but I don’t work with 1 rep maxes. If I can bench 2 x 5 I know I’m good for the next 5lbs (2 x 2.5lbs) for atleast 1 rep. I’ve learned to rack and unrack my own bar wich is not always easy, I know.
I think I like Steve.
Spotters are good. I tend to not get one (to avoid calling attention to myself) and I ALWAYS get pinned. Don’t be me.
Thanks for the feedback everyone!
Jim - Good idea re: the clips. Although Steve said when benching alone best not to cuff the bar in case I get pinned.
And you know I’m an eager beaver - But I’ll try to take it easy tonight.
Kpsnap - Thanks so much! I remember now that the trainer mentioned to drive through the legs - thanks for the reminder (and I just wrote it in my notepad).
Also, I see you guys say a lot of this “squeeze the bar” - what exactly do you mean by this? Do I literally tighten my grip on the bar?
nlmain - Not working with 1 rep maxes either, so I’ll follow your lead with the weight increases. Seems like a sound methodology.
Alisa - Big LOL! This is what I was saying, asking for a spot is kind of embarrassing for me. I’ll have to get over this.
right on with your benching! i train alone as well and have never pushed heavy enough to ask for a spot but i see that coming in the near future.
douche story for myself: before i came to PW, i used those pre-loaded BBs for everything. used to grab the 70, carry it to a bench, hoist it to my chest, do some reps, and have to set it on my hips to raise myself up without it smashing me when done.
SOOOO, first night i go to ‘real’ bench, being an idiot newb to benching didn’t think oh, 2 25’s on the bar would be that big a deal. i put it up, but BARELY…and thankfully a watchful nice guy came a running and made sure i locked the right side up.
moral of the story: don’t be a douche and don’t be afraid to ask for a spot!
oh, yes, squeeze the bar by tightening your grip, it does help.
Snapper, that was a really helpful post. Thanks!
Masch, I always bench with a spotter. Its easy for me because out of the three days per week that I train, one is with my trainer-guy and the other two I work out with my husband. The only time I’ll bench without a spotter is for warmup sets or easy 5 or 3 rep. working sets.
Sounds like your workouts are solid, and like you found a great trainer!
I always get a little antsy about asking for a spot as well, partly because I’m a little shy with people I don’t know well, partly because if they haven’t spotted you before you don’t know if they’re gonna be any good at it or not. Kpsnap’s advice about giving very specific instructions is dead on!
As a follow up, I think squeezing the bar (tightening the grip like Talenaah said) helps one stay tight, tight. When my coach gives me a liftoff, I squeeze the bar tight and have learned to roll my shoulders back and puff up my [extremely large] chest a bit more. Again to shorten the stroke. Learning to drive with your legs is huge, but you must do so without lifting your hips (I think USAPL requires 50% of the buttocks to remain on the bench for it to be a legal lift). And never lift your head.
And one other huge pointer. Don’t bench with chicken wing arms. Keep those elbows tucked and bring the bar down to the xiphoid process. Otherwise, you’ll eventually trash your shoulders. Working triceps will really help.
So funny that I’m giving bench advice since I’m not a strong bencher. I have been taught all of these tips by my coach, who has to repeatedly cue me to do them. This lift is just not intuitive for me.
And I’m going to let you in on a secret. I think 95% of the men in the gym LOVE being asked to spot a woman. It feeds their ego. I used to be quite shy about asking, but got over that fast. Like I said before, the key is giving the uninitiated spotter the proper instruction. And I’ve found that the simple phrase “Don’t touch the bar unless I go backwards” works very, very well.
T - HAHAH! Ok, I won’t be a douche.
Kimba - lucky you! Couples that play together…
RBlue- Thanks! And yeah, Steve is a great guy. A little on the salty side, but I appreciate his honesty.
Kpsnap - Thank you so much for all the advice!
Last nights upper body workout - Weak sauce.
pullups - 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, < failed on 3rd of 2nd set, failed on 2nd of 4th set
BD incline - 8x30, 3x6x35 < I was doing 8x35 before! Sad face
Pushups with 10lb plate - 15, 8 and 7 w/out plate, 14 and 6 w/o plate, 15 no plate, feet elevated
Bent over lat raises - 4x15x15
Banded pull aparts - 4x15 < Thank god Vic was there to correct my form, and even still not sure what the point is
So Jim was right about taking it easy on the pullups and my shoulder blade starting hurting on the 2nd set (still achey this am) - looks like I’ll be doing chins and neutral grip from here on. New 2010 goals are 10 neutral, 10 chins. As much as I want to be a badass and do overhand, its for the best. And as they say, one must check themselves before they wreck themselves.
Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and blame this shite workout on my period which conveniently made itself known yesterday. No wonder I’ve been such a moody bastard.
Warm and fuzzy gym encounter last night - I have been watching this woman for a couple of weeks, I’ve only seen her in the weight room, she’s about mid thirties, heavy set, carries her little notebook around. When I ran into her in the locker I ask her what program she’s doing and she says NROL4W. “Yay!” I say. We get to chatting about lifting and she says she’s actually thinking about participating in some kind of highland games. More yay! I tell her she must do it and if she needs any help with getting a spot, etc. to count on me and refer her to trainer Steve for form consult. Feels nice to be nice.
Finagled my way into an indoor footie match tonight at 9:30p.
Not lifting again til Saturday - squat day.
Reminded me of this song:
Good work Masch on all accounts!
I remember being surprised the day after I figured out how to bench correctly because my glutes were so sore from a chest workout. It makes so much difference though! I can’t wait to see what happens to your numbers
“Feels nice to be nice.”
I bet you’re always at the top of everyone’s guest list. When I see you’ve posted, I always know it’s going to be a positive, encouraging comment. The world could use more of this . . .
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and blame this shite workout on my period which conveniently made itself known yesterday. No wonder I’ve been such a moody bastard.
[/quote]
I hear you on that! I never used to notice much of a difference before, but now that I’m really focusing on strength my workouts suffer in the week leading up to my period. There’s an article somewhere on FA that discusses this (too lazy to look it up right now), and suggests scheduling a deload week in the last week of your cycle because of this.
However, your workout still sounded pretty darn good to me!
Enjoy your soccer match! I miss the game, haven’t played since the second of my knee injuries. 
[quote]RBlue wrote:
There’s an article somewhere on FA that discusses this (too lazy to look it up right now), and suggests scheduling a deload week in the last week of your cycle because of this.
[/quote]
x2
Good time for form work, cardio, foam rolling and especially stretching. Plus all of these things can help ease cramps too
MIM - LOVE IT! thanks for the audio, its on the ipod and I rock it.
Oleena - In other words, if my ass is sore after the bench I’m doing something right - good to know!
Snapper - HA! Just don’t cross me during feeding time, you might loose a finger.
RBlue and Bobbi - I remember this article! Yeah, I should try the TOM deload, maybe I’ll switch the sched up next month. And Rblue, nice another soccer player!!