I have been taught from a very young age that when I visit a place to leave it in better condition then when I got there, and contribute in some way to those I take from. I think us sources take a lot from these boards, we use the advertising on them to grow our businesses. I feel an obligation to give back to to the board and help continue to provide good positive information to those who seek it.
These tip of the week articles are not meant to bash anyone else's way of training. They are simply meant lend some guidance I've learned over the 15 yrs I've done this. It took me years and years to figure some of these techniques out and fully understand why it was the best, most efficient way of doing things. Please take it for what it is, if the info can help you please use it. If you feel its of no value to you disregard it. If you feel you have something to add please do! I’ll start posting these in hopes we can get a good positive discussion going.
Bench press tip:
Bench press is probably the most popular exercise there is. Unless you are a power lifter you want to read this (even if you are a power lifer this will help you) . When you walk into the gym to train chest you need to think of what you are trying to do when you get into the gym. Are you trying to lift more weight? or are you trying to grow the size of your chest? If the later is your goal your on the correct mind set.
Take out your ego and go throw it in the trunk of your car, you wont be needing it for this one lol. Lay down on the bench, put half of the weight you usually use for your work sets on the bar. . Ok, now grip the bar with your hands about shoulder width apart (there is no correct distance to grip it, just use a grip that feels comfortable) Pick the bar up and move it so its aligned with your chin. So directly below the bar you should have your chin in one straight line. Now when you lower the bar flare your elbows out wide so it feels like your shoulders are up by your ears. Lower the bar to your neck. When the bar is at its lowest point (almost touching your neck) it should appear from above that your arms are one straight line, so elbow to elbow should be straight across. Now when you are at the low point in the exercise and the bar is almost touching your neck I want you to arch your back and thrust your sternum up towards the roof. This will spread every last fiber in there out and wake up the ones you have not been using.
This will cause some discomfort in a lot of you guys shoulders, if it does you will want to work on some rotator cuff stretches before doing the lift this way. Most of my clients are so tight in the shoulder joint it really hinders their ability to train correctly.
Now press the bar back up to the top position. When you are pressing the bar up do it with your elbows. Don't think if pressing with your hands, think of pressing with the elbows and having your elbows force your hands to go up. This will activate your chest to do more work. When you get to the top position do NOT lock out your elbows, keep them just shy of lock out. Now force your elbows even further up so to almost concave your chest and spread apart your shoulder blades on your back. This will really activate those dormant chest fibers. Most of you miss that max contraction point in this exercise because we are so busy doing half reps to come any where even close to max contraction point on this movement. Its one of the most beneficial parts of it and none of us do it.
Then repeat this again for 10 reps.
When ever you are training you want to be in full control over the weight, dont ever let that weight control you. You should be able to stop at any point in the exercise and pause. This is what I mean by 'controlling the weight'. Do not let momentum take over here.
Your chest is going to be very tender after this, like tender to the touch! so make sure you let it heal up properly before you train it again.
Key points to remember:
Negative portion:
Elbows flared out wide
Bring the bar to your neck and arch your back and force the sternum up to the roof
Positive portion of the lift:
Press back up, concentrating on letting your elbows force the hands up. At the top of the exercise don't lock out the elbows, but force them higher up to the ceiling and concave your chest cavity to allow the contraction to be as intense as possible.
In order to do this you have to have very little weight on the bar, your not going to set any PR's doing it like this but I can guarantee your chest will grow more doing it this way then any other way.
I'LL GIVE AWAY A FREE HGH LABS BOTTLE TO ANYONE WHO DOES THIS ON THEIR CHEST ROUTINE FOR 6 WEEKS AND CAN HONESTLY TELL ME IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE IN THE FULLNESS/SIZE OF THEIR CHEST.
This is the style charles glass and some other top trainer gurus teach it, its the best way to stimulate the chest and get the most out of your time while doing the bench press movement.
Cheers!
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