The vast majority of my lifting has been solo and I prefer to lift the bar out myself when bench pressing. So much so that it throws me off a bit if someone hands it to me.
A former powerlifter I used to lift with was insistent that he MUST hand me the bar or otherwise I was cheating myself and adding an extra partial rep to what should be a 1rm attempt.
I never did get used to it and I actually found the shock of the weight being released into my hands somewhat unsettling and it detracted from my lift.
Which side of the fence do you sit on?
I think, if you like a handout great. But personally, I always prefer to unrack myself, and feel weird if I don’t. Granted I’m a crappy bencher, but…
He unracks himself. With upwards of 680. And he aint got no legs. Sooooooo I’m pretty sure it’s a personal preference thing.
I think, if you like a handout great. But personally, I always prefer to unrack myself, and feel weird if I don’t. Granted I’m a crappy bencher, but…
He unracks himself. With upwards of 680. And he aint got no legs. Sooooooo I’m pretty sure it’s a personal preference thing.
Yeah I tend to unrack myself, both because I train solo and because getting a good handout is fucking impossible in most gyms. People have no idea how to do it.
That being said, I’d definitely accept a handout from someone I know knows how to do it…I do feel it can help in some circumstances:
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your bench rack sucks balls and one is way too high and one is waaaay too low. This happens quite, quite a bit when I go to main-chain 24 hour fitnesses or other places on vacation. Either way you can’t get tight and stay tight as well, so a hand-out will let you keep your tension a bit better.
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you are in a tight bench shirt
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you are set up too low away from the bench
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you are overloading with more than your max (like reverse band stuff, or 4-5 board presses, or again shirt work). The extra weight makes things really unstable.
But in general yeah, learning to be able to unrack the weight yourself and stay tight jis a very good skill to have. Wendler is close to right on that one I think. Not 100%, but yeah.
The height of the bar will make a huge difference.
I train unracking by myself, but I know it does make a difference for me in a 1 RM. If it’s real low (it was at my old gym) in a HARD set of 3 or 5 it could be the deciding difference for the last rep.
I see no reason to always train with hand-offs though unless your bench work is crazy heavy…
I like to take it myself even for maxes. I can get way tighter that way and get into a better groove from the start.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Yeah I tend to unrack myself, both because I train solo and because getting a good handout is fucking impossible in most gyms. People have no idea how to do it.
That being said, I’d definitely accept a handout from someone I know knows how to do it…I do feel it can help in some circumstances:
-
your bench rack sucks balls and one is way too high and one is waaaay too low. This happens quite, quite a bit when I go to main-chain 24 hour fitnesses or other places on vacation. Either way you can’t get tight and stay tight as well, so a hand-out will let you keep your tension a bit better.
-
you are in a tight bench shirt
-
you are set up too low away from the bench
-
you are overloading with more than your max (like reverse band stuff, or 4-5 board presses, or again shirt work). The extra weight makes things really unstable.
But in general yeah, learning to be able to unrack the weight yourself and stay tight jis a very good skill to have. Wendler is close to right on that one I think. Not 100%, but yeah.[/quote]
Very well stated.
To the OP: A good handoff person won’t just “drop it” into your hands, but instead help you to stay tight as the weight is pushed out over your chest. There’s a reason why most big benchers bring their own handoff guys to meets and also insist on having their own guys spotting. I will never take a handoff from someone in a commercial gym because I’ve had it go wrong too many times.
I don’t like handoffs, they never feel right.
Depends… If its some dumb ass at the local “fitness center” then hell no. But, with a good partner you have lifted with for awhile with then yes I use a hand off constantly.
I don’t understand why anyone would turn down a competent liftoff. Bringing the bar off the pins and out over the chest isn’t part of a competition bench press, so why do it? It’s just wasted energy.
I think in these terms, even when someone ‘lifts off’ for you , you are still lifting it out. It’s not like they are upright rowing your entire bench for you and then giving it to you. I dare not estimate what percentage the lift off guy is holding for you but it’s small.
If you are used to a lift off guy then it can be a great asset and will help you keep your shoulders / upper back in place. Its like the monolift of the bench lol.
This is where those ‘extra’ pound come from. If you train alone then a hand off will likely mess you up until you get used to it and your handoff person learning how you like it, which will prolly never happen in a regular gym getting randoms to lift off for you.
I asked for a handout once.
Dude pretty much up and heaved it forward, I hurt my bicep trying to keep it from landing right on my stomach, and probably causing some serious injury.
I almost went bat shit crazy on that man… never again.
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I don’t understand why anyone would turn down a competent liftoff. Bringing the bar off the pins and out over the chest isn’t part of a competition bench press, so why do it? It’s just wasted energy.[/quote]
That was my old lifting partner’s belief as well. I do better when I unrack it myself. I guess because of the psychosomatic effect; I’ve already lifted the weight up and off the rack so it seems easier to lift it.
I don’t plan on ever using a bench shirt or sling-shot.
[quote]Reed wrote:
Depends… If its some dumb ass at the local “fitness center” then hell no. But, with a good partner you have lifted with for awhile with then yes I use a hand off constantly.[/quote]
Same. With my regular training partner, we give each other liftoffs on any heavy set. I’ve tried asking randoms several times, but not one has done it right. They lift too much, which makes the bar jerk slightly and I lose tightness.
[quote]The_Jed wrote:
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I don’t understand why anyone would turn down a competent liftoff. Bringing the bar off the pins and out over the chest isn’t part of a competition bench press, so why do it? It’s just wasted energy.[/quote]
That was my old lifting partner’s belief as well. I do better when I unrack it myself. I guess because of the psychosomatic effect; I’ve already lifted the weight up and off the rack so it seems easier to lift it.
I don’t plan on ever using a bench shirt or sling-shot. [/quote]
I can buy that. A good portion of powerlifting is psychological, so whatever gives you an edge, I suppose.
My immediate thought was “I always do better with a hand-off, even if its not a good one”. Then I actually thought about it. I train alone and generally when Im in the gym with other people lately I don’t get a hand-off either. Maybe this has something to do with why my comp bench is 50 pounds lower than my gym bench haha.
My preference goes
Handout
Solo
Shitty handout
Most of the time, I unrack myself.
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
My immediate thought was “I always do better with a hand-off, even if its not a good one”. Then I actually thought about it. I train alone and generally when Im in the gym with other people lately I don’t get a hand-off either. Maybe this has something to do with why my comp bench is 50 pounds lower than my gym bench haha. [/quote]
50lbs? Christ, I only lose about 10-20.
I’ve never competed and I’ve only attended one bench competition so, noob question:
Is it MANDATORY to have the weight handed out?
Does it depend on the federation?
I know in the video above the guy lifted it out himself but that looked like an exhibition, not an actual competition.
[quote]The_Jed wrote:
I’ve never competed and I’ve only attended one bench competition so, noob question:
Is it MANDATORY to have the weight handed out?
Does it depend on the federation?
I know in the video above the guy lifted it out himself but that looked like an exhibition, not an actual competition. [/quote]
Typically, they’ll ask you how you want it. I don’t know of any federation that wouldn’t let you unrack yourself if you asked. It’s not really a big deal.