I just read the weakest link article in this weeks mag, and it reminded me of the importance of bringing up weak points. Currently, my weak point on the bench is about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up. I always seem to get stuck at this point, and obviously it’s due to lack of triceps strength. Does anyone have any good ideas for eliminating this sticking point. Obviously more tricep work is in order, but are there any exercises in particular that would really help me eliminate this sticking point?
Sure. Here are a few that have worked for me (I train triceps on bench day, it’s always my second exercise, while I’m still strong):
– Explosive heavy close grip flat benches FROM A PAUSE ON THE CHEST with elbows tight to the body (320 tempo - zero isn’t really possible, but it should be the goal).
– Explosive heavy close grip incline benches FROM A PAUSED POSITION, again with elbows tight to the body. You will probably not be able to touch your chest due to biceps size, so go down to the natural stopping postion. Start very light…you may be surprised at the difficulty of this exercise if you’ve never done it.
– JM Presses are great. Like a close grip flat bench press but to the neck or upper chest – you won’t have sufficient range of motion to touch your body, so you’ll have to stop about six inches high. Then press it out with elbows in tight. It will be like an extension.
– Read all of Dave Tate’s articles on the bench. He has great advice. He also has a more detailed description of the JM press.
Good luck…Mark
Thanks Mark, I’ll try some of those out, they sound pretty good.
Poliquin is a VERY strong proponent of using Isometrics in combination with Isotonics to get past sticking points.
If your bench press gets stuck 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way f.ex., Poliquin recommends you prefatigue your chest by doing a number of reps and THEN holding the weight at your sticking point (that’s called Isometrics). This mix is often refered to as Isometronics. Poliquin swears by it that it allowed to add 15-20 lbs to some of his athletes BB curls in 4 weeks, and 50 lbs to their bench press in the same ammount of time.
Be warned though that Isometrics will only strengthen the muscle 15* either side of the joing angle (if you hold your arms at a 45* angle, then youll see strength gains when your arms are between 30* and 60*).
I will be trying this myself to get past my own weak sticking points.