speed off the chest?? video included

[randyw]

to make a long story short....my bench is SLOWWWWWW.....I set up really tight and stay tight on the way down....so basically when I go to "drive" off the chest, everything is already "driven"....so even though I have the body tight etc I think I am still doing basically a chest/arm/delt bench

for instance 2nd attempt from the meet last weekend media.putfile.com/Bench-310-Second-attempt-2-25-06


being so slow makes my sticking point only like 2" off my chest.....I notice that other guys can "throw" the weight off the chest and they only start to strain more like 8-12" off the chest...this is what I need to have happening too, lol


ok, to me, my lats and back have always been one of my strongest bodyparts....so I dont think it is "upper back strength" as everyone always wants to say

somehow it seems more like technique

when people say "use the lats to drive it off the chest".....what does this mean to you??? please be extremely specific if possible, lol. I do try to "pull the bar down" with the lats but I am not understanding how the lats help get the bar off the chest

I have done lots of heavy back work and my lats SHOULD be a strong point for me....if strong lats help get the bar off the chest then I should definitely be popping the bar off the chest a lot more than I am....so to me it has to be some sort of technique issue


what should I try? should I loosen up things a bit to try to be more dynamic?

what about letting the bar sink into the chest some..so that I could sort of get a "running start" on the explosion??

any ideas??


thanks, Randy

[abebesheir]

I have noticed from your posts on the MM forum that your back work is indeed strong. If it's not an issue of strength then it's all about technique.
I found that two things helped me with my technique. Benching against band resistence and benching with a cambered bar.
Benching with bands requires you to stay tight throughout the entire range of motion, also you have to stay within the groove or you'll have a helluva time pressing the bar. You can't help but keep your lats and upper back tight when band benching.
Benching with a cambered bar allows you to descend lower than your chest. This requires a lot more lat involvement to both lower and press the bar. I suggest you try it with lighter weight and a one board on the chest before trying heavier weight and/or a full range of motion.
Also weight releasers might help due to the fact that the closer to maximal weight, the more impeccable your technique must be. If you were to load 265 onto the bar with 25# plates hanging from the releasers, you'd be lowering close to your max (315 versus 322.5) while pressing only 82% (265). This would require you to be super tight on the way down and then your CNS would get the benefit of launching a submaximal weight off the chest.
Try one or all of these methods and find what fits best for you. One is bound to help remedy your deficiency.

[Deleted]

I have found using pauses to be very helpful. I will lower the weight to my chest, pause for 1000-1 1000-2 1000-3 then press it back up. A 3 second pause has really helped me increase my numbers and it helps me prepare for a meet too.

[randyw]

funny, I was just thinking about that today....how people have such a hard time with pauses in meets...complaining about how long the judge made em pause....makes me think they never pause in training....if they paused at least a full 2 seconds in training at least SOME of the time, theyd never have a problem at a meet.....seems most meets today only make you pause very briefly

I remember reading that back in Pat Caseys day it was a full 2 second pause on the chest

[Deleted]

pauses will help you more than touch and go...trust me. I pause for 3 seconds on every rep of every set. it has made me allot stronger and my bench is climbing nicely. I can say with much certainty that I will get 350lbs at my RAW meet in may. I have done pauses the whole time while on my bench routine and it is making a big difference. At most meets, even the one in your video, the pause it maybe 1 second, that 1 second will save allot of energy for me to press the 350lbs up.

[Deleted]

What kind of triceps work do you do? Strong tri's are need for locking out - but they are also important in the initial press. I do close grip benches and also close grip bench off of boards. Make sure to have at least a 2 second pause. Seated tricep extensions work good too. If you're benching around 310, you should at least be able to close grip 250 for about 5 reps. By close grip I mean index fingers about 12 - 18 inches apart.

[bba]

i agree with "bodebldr2000" 2-3 sec pauses seem to help from the bottom. I am starting to use them now. But I heard from several people that paused helped there raw lift even after they tryed speed benching for months on end. Speed benching didnt work for me.

[Deleted]

As far as triceps, I do decline skull crushers, decline CG bench (not really heavy, 185 to 225 usually) i was doing press downs but i dont get much out of it, i use those as a warm up exercise. I will do the decline cg bench one day and the decline skull crushers another day, thats it. nothing more because they get pounded with my benching. I am thinking about heavy lockouts but feel those work better for the shirted guys. I dont think there is anything magical or secret to RAW benching, you just bench with pauses and thats all you can do IMO. But some get more out of lockouts and other tricep moves. I havent really tried them but may one day for fun. What I am doing now is working well, i am starting to hit a sticking point though, my diet is a cut diet so i am starting to get a little weak. I will go down to charlotte on may 12th to weigh in, so i can eat everything in site that night and the next day to help me get some energy for the meet on the 13th. I do have a question though, since the meet is on a saturday, shouldnt i be doing my heavy bench day on a saturday?

[sauble]

speed at bottom
pause reps
illegal wides
palms facing dumbells
mini bands
chains
lats

also remeber to bring bar down fast/pause/explode

tris i keep it simple skulls and close grips

[Deleted]

dont bring the bar down "fast" but CONTROLLED. to fast and you'll lose control and take a chance of cracking your chest open. you have to find the grove that works for you, some go slow, some are a bit quicker but NEVER bring it down FAST.

[randyw]

my tricep strength isnt anything to really brag about....but neither is my front delt strength

frankly, when I look at the numbers I have on some assistance stuff I wonder how I can even do 310 on the bench

but to me the issue is front delt strength right now.....when I look at my bench and compare it to my incline bench and military press I see a pattern

for example....I have benched 322.5 (end of last year)....but my incline press is only around 225 for 4 or 5 last time I checked....standing military press around 185, seated maybe a little bit more

to me that shows a distinct pattern...the steeper the press, the more front delt used, the weaker I get

this is why I asked around in a post about the relative strength of peoples bench to their inclines and their militarys....most people were relatively stronger in their inclines and militarys than me

also of course is the visual inspection, lol...my front delts are obviously lagging

furthermore they tend to hurt a little when I bench....I bring the weight down and everything is fine until about 3 inches off the chest, then I feel the delts hurting a little....sometimes I just have to sort of let the bar collapse down at that point....so to me that is showing where the weak link it

even though my triceps arent SUPER strong, I feel that they are strong enough to bench more than 310 at this point....for instance in my vids you can see that after I get above that low sticking point it is no problem.....as far as doing the short lockouts in the rack I think I have locked 435 for a rep


so what I am doing at the moment is training bench twice per week

one day is basically doing front delt isolation but using compound movements..for example this is what I did Wed

close grip bench (pinkys about an inch inside the rings...I feel this in the front delts)
145x5
175x6
205x3 (2 sets)
235x3 (5 sets)

low rack functional isometrics (set up in the rack with the pin right at chest level...press the bar up about an inch off the pin, hold for 4 secs, lower and repeat)
235x4 (4 sets)

low incline db press, parallel grip, bringing it down very deep, then pressing up about 2inches, then back down, then back up all the way, thats 1 rep...so its just a double pump in the weak low range
80x5 reps (3 sets)

all of that is felt in the front delts...so I am hoping it will strengthen that low range


on the other bench day I am starting to do some speed benching and even some stuff like barbell jerks, lol....probably some delt work on that day also

Also on Monday when I squat I am doing some delt work...usually rainbow press or press behind neck, again, stressing the low position where I need the strength

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on triceps I have never been super strong....for instance I have always sucked at nosecrushers, never really done them much as a matter of fact....on JM presses I am right at 95lbs for around 3 reps...if I go any higher the form sort of breaks down

on decline close grip, which is a lot of triceps IMO, I have done workouts like 285 for 6 sets of triples


when you look at a lot of classic old school raw benchers you see that huge front delt....when I was growing up id see that in the gym on the big benchers...the sort of classic "powerlifter" look..huge front delt, smaller side delt....Tony Conyers has that look....I dont, lol, I have always had smallish front delts

I imagine that even when I do my militarys etc that other muscles are taking some of the load....so perhaps I will need to do some actual isolation work on the front delt (front laterals etc)

[jaynels]

When you say your strong in the back, what can you do for a five count, 3 count or 1 count for a strict barbell row and dumbell row?