Above, Sergio Oliva, a BIG proponent of The Bench Press
The Bench Press sucks.
Squats also suck.
They suck if you perform them wrong, OR, perform them too often.
Overuse injuries occur, unless, that is, you know how to build up all the support muscles and switch the angles at which you train to build up your bench and all your other pushing muscles.
You're about to learn the secrets of getting a BIG Bench Press, but even more importantly, all the things you do to improve your bench press, are going to transform your upper body into a steel forged power pressin' machine.
You see, in real life, pushing power from ALL angles is critical.
This is exactly why I personally execute, as well as my clients, push and press and throw objects from various angles. We throw kettlebells and stones, press sandbags, barbells, dumbbells, odd objects and more.
Pressing / Pushing power is not to be taken lightly, and one of the BIGGEST, yet most underlooked benefit of having a BIG Bench Press is what it does for confidence.
Don't be misled by the fallacy that only powerlifters should bench press.
Powerlifter or not, you can learn from powerlifters who understand the application offorce.
Check out this video below and drop a comment with your thoughts, questions or anything that you want to share.
Notice how we bench with thick bars, incline press with awkward heavy dumbbells (130 lbs each hand!) and do thick bar military pressing. Those were Football players and Basketball players pressing away.
If you have a BIG Bench, post a comment and let us know why.
If your Bench sucks, post a comment and let us know why.
More to come manana bruddahs!
Peace!
--Coach Z--
PS: Check this out!!
My Buddy & professional powerlifter, AJ Roberts, compiled his BEST secrets for your Big Bench Course HERE.
If you snag a copy from HERE, forward me your receipt because we're gonna hook you guys with a FREE teleseminar, Thursday night!
We'll be talking powerlifting for athletes, powerlifting combined with Underground for athletic development and packing on rugged muscle, the bench press and how to jack it up and bust through your plateaus, and of course anything you want us to chat about regarding training. You can ask us any questions you want!
It's going to be a freaking awesome teleseminar, I am psyched and can't wait to unleash everything you want to know about, NO Holds Barred!
Click HERE to get your Big Bench Course and get in on The FREE Teleseminar this Thursday.
Get Your Course NOW and Get in on Our Teleseminar!
PPS: You will also get a killer Bonus from me, The Sandbag Assault Course. This course alone will mold you into a Beast.
16 Responses
I find i tend to twist my body when i bench, and end up taking more strain on one side of the body than the other, it goes right up from the leg through to the shoulders and is usually on my left side, any pointers?
Thanks
@jc: JC U need to lock down your body when you bench. The bench press is a FULL body exercise. I’ll post some vids and you’ll feel a million times better!
I LOVE bench press and related movements. As someone on the wrong side of 45, I can’t work the bench like I did a decade ago (back when I would sometimes do 20-rep sets with 315). But I’m still having fun with it, and hope to nail a 500 lb. single sometime before … uh, well, before I die, anyway.
-Coach Z-
My bench used to suck! That is until I recruited the help of a powerlifter and worked on my pressing technique (specifically hand spacing/placement). The best program that I used to help my bench sky-rocket over the course of one summer is outlined below. My bench jumped from 225# to 275# (the first summer on this routine) and in the follwoing summer it jumped from 275# to 335# (max one rep) NO JOKE!
1 set of 8-12 reps Flat Bench *Joint specific Warm-up*
4 sets of 3-6 reps Flat Bench *ea. week increase weight by 2.5#-5#
1 set of 8 reps Incline Dumbell Bench *goal is to select a weight where you fail at 8 reps!
1 set of 12 reps Body Weight Dips *Joint specific warm-up, if you can dip your body weight add plates to a dipping belt and crank out 12 reps!*
2 sets of 6-8 reps Dips with dipping belt
if you want you can finish off with triceps skull crushers 3 sets of 8-10 reps
I had also tried other routines but found that of all the routines that I employed the one above was the best for me. As with anything keeping track of your programs and rountines and quantifying your results go a long way to helping you establish cold hard facts as to what is working in the weight room for you and what is not. If ain’t broke don’t fix it; and if it ain’t workin’ junk it!
AGE QUOD AGIS
– Christopher
Great post..
I try to vary my chest exercises as much as possible just to keep hitting it from different angles.. but I never thought about throwing stuff around.. (i think i’ll try it)
@Hector Cuevas: hit the throws first for power, or right after a heavy press for max results in power
Love your work Z, keep it up.
Chris Reed that is an awesome, yet super simple workout
simplicity often rules, and I notice you kept the volume low, for natural lifters, that works best I have found.
U da man for ur awesome posts as always!
–z–
JC – if ur twisting around, maybe get off the bench and work on the floor press
But, regarding the bench, if you are squirming around then I KNOW you are NOT glued to the bench or set up properly.
I will have a video of this later for you bruddah
For now, these are the few, simple, critical steps I follow:
1) Lie on the bench, eyes under the bar
2) Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width – squeeze the bar tight as hell, AKA Crush Grip!
3) squeeze your shoulder blades and glue them to the bench
4) Press your feet onto the floor aggressively, so that they are actually helping you push into the bar – almost as if the force is transporting from your legs to your upper body
hope this helps bruddah!
–z–
Hector – we throw stuff for power, before a workout.
The wrestlers will sometimes do this for time with light kettlebells or stones and simply power clean the kettlebell or stone and then throw it, run to it and repeat, often for 5 minutes.
Brutal conditioning work!
–z–
My bench press is not what I want it to be. Currently I bench 225lbs for only 2 reps at a body weight of 155lbs. I feel that this is due to the fact that I do not have access to a bench. However my bench did go up because though I do not bench I do military press quite frequently along with weighted dips and pushups.
Sean
at 155, benching 225 x 2 is very good
then again, military presses, dips, push ups are AWESOME for the development of pushing power
you can do floor presses instead of bench press, have a partner deadlift the bar and place it in your hands
awesome exercise!
–z–
You almost got me with that title… I was going to say “How the heck does it suck?” lol.
My all time favorite pressing exercise is the incline dumbbell press. I don’t know what it is… but that gives my chest such a good workout!
I have a similar issue to JC. I don’t feel balanced. I get under the bar and feel like my shoulder blades are all out of whack, one side higher than the other. I try to set up nice and tight: get my arch, tuck shoulder blades, tuck chin, stay tight to unrack, but start the descent and I feel like I need to wiggle around to get things straight. Obviously there is an imbalance somewhere (I do know my pelvis is tilted too). How to address?
@Lucy: You MIGHT be losing tension once the descent occurs. Try going lighter, focus on technique, use low reps and submax effort.
Vids to come!
Hey guys, please see this post on Bench press Tips: https://zacheven-esh.com/15-world-class-bench-press-tips-from-a-beast/