Let's recap the 14 Bench Press tips from Mark "Smelly" Bell, who holds a BIG 854 lb person best in the Bench Press.
1) When training for speed you will typically be around 40-60% of your max effort, although Mark has seen success with powerlifters using as low as 30%
2) The key to your dynamic work is exactly that, being FAST / EXPLOSIVE! If you're not moving the bar fast then you need to lighten the weight.
3) Don't mistake being fast and under control for fast and sloppy in technique. Technique is # 1.
4) Always control the weight and lower the bar down the same path. Don't let the bar move in a wild manner where every rep looks different. Control.
5) If you're new to dynamic effort training don't try to drop the bar fast, instead, lower the bar for 3 seconds and then explode off your chest as fast as possible. As you get more experienced you can lower the bar faster.
6) A typical dynamic workout for the bench press will be 8 - 10 work sets for 3 reps using approximately 50% of your max effort weight.
7) After dynamic work on the bench press it's best to follow up with repetition work in the 10-20 rep range.
8) ALWAYS smash your triceps after your bench press workouts
9) In general, always smash your posterior muscles as these are the muscles that will bring up your squat, bench and deadlift: hamstrings, glutes, back, triceps...
10) If you've hit a plateau in your bench press, it's time to step back and assess your training. Focus on optimal training so you can progress regularly. If something isn't working don't be afraid to change.
11) Dynamic effort bench press training can wreak havoc on the shoulders, elbows and wrists, eventually leading to injury. Try alternating one week of dynamic work with a week of more controlled training and moderate reps.
12) Try using set - rep patterns such as 6 x 4 reps, 5 x 5 reps, 4 x 6 reps and then 8 x 3 reps. The varied set - rep schemes will still bring you the same volume in reps but will allow you to vary the weights and keep you from burning out or being under heavy percentages on the bench press too often.
13) Assess your body structure for the bench press. If you have long arms and flat shoulders your body might take a beating when benching. Long arms might respond better to using floor presses instead. Always focus on training optimally.
14) As you get more experienced with the bench press and as you get older and have lifted longer, you need to assess the cost / benefit ratio of each exercise. If the exercise makes you feel like crap and beats you up then avoid it and find an alternative. THINK about what you're doing, don't blindly follow a program without thinking how it will benefit you.
15) Leave a little in the tank, once again, this comes down to training optimally. Try not to miss reps or fail on reps. This will fatigue the nervous system and also affect your attitude towards training in a negative way.
Hope you enjoyed these Bench Press Tips from Mark "Smelly" Bell!
In Strength,
--Z--
For those who respect strength:
10 Responses
Cheers for this Zach, great stuff as usual. Cheers to “Smelly” too!
Great stuff Zach! I use those rep sequences with some of my athletic teams and have seen excellent results.
hey that guy smelly was in bigger stronger faster!
Zach
I wanted to ask a somewhat controversial question(s). I want to get your point of view and explain why I am even asking. But first; I have been following you for about 2 years now and really started applying your teachings for the last year and a half. I recently bought your USM (deluxe edition of course). When I first started I had no idea what a good weight vs a great weight vs an elite amount of weight was. Two years ago if you said to me “Bobby” at the gym Deadlifted 800lb I would have been like, “ok … is that good?” I would have said this because at that point I had never deadlifted and would have no frame of reference. If someone told me this 6 months ago I would at that point say “that is great … was he geared or raw?” Just so you know I am not against geared lifting, but I will never lift geared so comparing myself to someone who is not lifting raw is of no help to. I have no way of comparing. Now (present day), especially after watching “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” like 10 times, if someone says this (800lb DL) to me I say/ask’ “great … raw or geared? … is he natural or using steroids?”. Do you see where I am going with this? When you say some guy is benching 854lb, I am like “holy crap”, but then I find out he is geared and using … now I have no point of reference. That number is a product of gear I will never use and steroids I will never use. That number, 854, no longer has meaning to me, not because I am against gear or roids, but because I will never do either. Now I assume you are all natural and have always been that way. I even recall you saying that trying to follow the workouts in bodybuilding mags is a bad idea because we can not recover like they can therefore we can not really even do what they are doing. When I see you deadlifting over 500+ lb raw (Deadly Dads Deadliftin’) then I am like “that is my goal, if he can do it I can do it”, so I am going for it (I say this respectfully of course). I am also 35 but a little chubby at 200lb. I started out DL 355lb as my 1RM. Now I am up to 455. My goal is 500 by the end of the year and 600+ a few years after that. I think I am doing good as I am approaching the 500 mark and then I see videos of power lifters pulling ridiculous numbers and I get a little discouraged only to find out later they are using. And even taking into account that most of them are geared the numbers are still crazy. But then I find out that the culture says if you really want to compete you have to use (Louie Simmons basically said this in Bigger, Stronger, Faster referring, ironically, to Smelly). Now everything comes into question. What weight is really being moved? What is a good/great/elite weight for a non competing lifter?
To restate I do not have a problem with geared lifting, it is its own entity. I don’t even really have a problem with steroids. I do have a problem with using if the sport you have chosen to participate in state that it is illegal and considered cheating. And yes I fully understand that steroid are not magic, you have to still work hard, and most users work very hard. I don’t think they work harder though, just that they are given the opportunity to work more seeing they recover so much better. I am doing 531right now and my legs are so busted up after my squat session that I have trouble walking for 5 days. Users don’t have to deal with this, or at least at the level of a non user.
Here is my question (finally); everything you do seems to be all natural, so why (taking everything I said above into consideration) do you talk a lot about certain peoples achievements when clearly they use (Arnold, Smelly, etc)? I do not ask this to be critical, I am asking because I just don’t get it.
Every one of Smellys tips for benching are right on and anyone can learn from them, but he is a user and the fact that he did bench 854 means little to me. Honestly he will never know what his true potential was. That is something I truly want to know. So, yes I understand that even as a user he as a wealth of knowledge, but so do a lot of other veteran lifters who have never used. Why not bring them in for a seminar instead of the guys using?
My questions are not meant to be offensive or confrontational, and I am sorry if they come off that way. I have been wanting to ask you this type of question for a while because you talk so highly of Arnold, yet (to me at least), even though he worked hard to get thet body that he did he was a user. I remember seeing your pic where you where standing near the water and you where big and ripped. If you achieved that without drugs then why should I have to look at someone who achieved the same thing using?
Hopefully you will see this and get a chance to reply. Thanks Zach!
Great tips! as I am trying to bring pathetic bench press 1RM back to respectable weight for this washed up senior meathead. Always good info Z.
Guys, thnx 4 all the props to the video and Smelly!!
@Mike – bro, yep, I am against the use of drugs, BUT, these guys do their thing and I guess it’s a “level playing field”
My values are NOT their values and I can’t expect people to think like me
I won’t stop learning from greats in strength as I value strength so much I will learn from these men.
I roo need to build up my strength – I LOVE strength so much that I wanna have the 600 DL as well.
The contests they enter are with gear so once again, level playing field.
I don’t know what the difference is between who is stronger on or off drugs
These guys work their asses off regardless.
I never talk to them about this stuff as it’s not my business, we are friends and I don’t want to tell them my values. It’s not gonna change anything
That being said, I spent the weekend training and chillin w/Smelly and man what a GREAT, genuine guy he is. The move, bigger, faster, stronger is just that…. a movie.
I respect your opinion Mike and hope you continue your path bro, I’m with ya my friend!
–Z–
Z
Thanks for taking the time to read my long comment/question. I just wanted to make sure I am following the right guy. Now I know I am. Obviously one of your goals is to encourage men to get stronger (among other characteristics/attributes). I think you would be pleased as to how much stronger I have gotten in the last 2 years, with much credit do to you. I will continue to follow your blog and buy your products. THANKS for leading, so I can turn around and lead others.
Yo Z,
Great words of advice from Mark, man. Especially focusing on training technique through your DE work and not confusing speed with sloppy technique. That one gets screwed up all the time.
@Mark:
Drugs or not, 854 is a big bench, especially for a 3-lift lifter like Mark. There’s absolutely a difference in what gassed guys can do in training versus natural guys, but in the strength sports so much of the training and success comes from consistency, work ethic, and mastering technique. So regardless of your or your clients’ status, there’s stuff to be learned from guys that are just plain good.
Thank you for approaching your questions in a very mature manner. That’s usually not how it goes online and it’s nice to see someone who can ask a question and state an opinion without being a total dick.
Isaac
Ack, well, shoot.
@MIKE, not Mark. Sorry man, it’s early in the morning.
Isaac