“One of the most overlooked pieces in bench presses is really your feet.” Jesse Shaw, do, usawsports physician and associate professor at Western University. “The ability to drive and develop forces really comes from connections to the ground.”
The next time you are about to lie down on the bench, take a little time to lie flat on the ground. And when you’re ready to pull the bar from the rack, make sure you’re involved with the connection between the upper and lower body.
“Your legs are a really important part of bench pressing, especially since they get heavy,” Welch says. “You need to run to the ground with your feet, like you’re pushing your hips off the bench. It’s important to be very stable and be aware of your feet. It will allow you to use more weight, and it will help prevent overuse and injuries.”
It won’t stop
When a bar hits a certain point (for example, just before locking your arm), when you realize you have a consistent lack of steam, that’s what we call a sticking point. Essentially, it is an indicator that one or more muscles involved in moving the bar must be stronger to pull (or, in this case, push) your weight. “Perhaps the limiter for the bench press was your PEC,” Welch says. “Now, six months later, it’s your triceps and you’re having problems with your lockout. Well, you need to implement some special strength exercises to improve your lockout.”
If lockout is an area you are stuck, the global head of personal training on gym floors, Edibalta Ultimate Performance In Los Angeles, we recommend focusing on triceps development. His favorite way: bench press with a chain. While that may seem a bit extreme, benching with a chain is a simple and effective way to increase the weight of the bar when rising, allowing you to isolate and overload the problem area. “In fact, pushing to the top of the movement increases resistance, which is where bench pressing becomes more difficult,” says Baruta.
Alternatively, staying at the bar near the bottom of the person in charge, close to the chest, could indicate an imbalance in strength between the chest and the back. “If you drop your elbows down parallel to the ground, your rat will carry that weight,” says Dr. Shaw. “Therefore, if your rat is significantly weaker than your PEC, as soon as you break that level your rat will say, ‘I can’t lift this weight anymore.’ ”
Lower the bar
Each person has two phases: a lifting (“concentric”) phase and a drop (“eccentric”) phase. While lowering weight may seem less important than lifting it, studies have shown that regular exposure of the eccentric stage of the person in charge to heavier leads promotes increased strength. “Negative” training essentially means lifting in a way that focuses on the eccentric stage of the person in charge. “From the eccentric stage of muscle movement, you can carry much more weight than the concentric stage,” says Dr. Shaw. “For me, negatives are probably the biggest one, especially if you have a ceiling of weights to break through.”
To make the most of your negatives, Carlson recommends choosing a slightly heavier weight than the 1-Rep Max. And, importantly, I recommend having one or two spotters that will help you re-rack the bar after each rep. Your goal is to lower the bar with controls for 10 seconds. Do that for one set of six to eight reps, Carlson says. “If you did it every other week, it’s probably the only greatest way to improve your one rep max,” he says.
