Bench press articles

“bringing up low end strength”

By Ian Smalley

Usually when you begin benching you will fall into one of two catergories

1: you are strong off the chest  or you are strong at the lockout. Guys who are naturally strong at the lockout usually have better triceps

2: the guys with the big chests have the great starting strength.

This article is for the tricep guys. If you have both a big chest and large triceps then you probably don’t need to read this article.

If you are slow off of your chest when benching it means that you have a weak chest. There are some specific exercises that can address this problem. The first is Pause Presses. Set up as you normally would to do a full range benchpress, only as you lower the bar instead of a touch and go, pause the bar on your chest for a 2 count. This will be far more difficult than what you used to, so you’ll need to use probably around 80% of your normal working weight for a given set. Make sure that you stay in the same position and have the same bar path as you normally would, just focus on being tight and pressing forcefully out of the bottom without collapsing. A rep range between 3 and 6 is optimal to ensure that your target muscles get the required work.

Another exercise to add into your routine is Isometric Presses. Set up a bench inside a power rack so that the pins are about 4 inches off of your chest. You will need to hold the bar on your lap in front of you, then lay back with it and get into your pressing position. Hold the bar against the pins until your body position is secure and you are tight, then slowly build pressure against the bar until you are exerting maximum force. Take roughly 2 seconds to “load” your body and get to max force, hold it for 3-4 seconds, then taper off and lower the bar back onto your chest and roll up with the bar on your lap. Do 3 to 5 sets and your chest should be fried. This movement is EXTREMELY taxing on your body despite the fact that there’s no weight,  once every 3 to 4 weeks should be plenty.

A final chest movement to add some low end power is good old dumbbell presses. You can vary the position from flat to incline or decline. Make sure that you stay in a higher rep range, between 6 and 10, and keep your form. Stay tight just as you would if you where benching. Too often I see lifters have great form on the bench then go to do accessory movements and get all sloppy. Before you start your set, get your air, plant your feet and stay tight throughout the entire set. Pause briefly at the bottom and press forcefully to lockout.

Working these movements into your existing training regimen should bring about a stronger press out of the bottom and more successful lifts.