Tips/tricks for making various lifts more effective

[taz]

i was watching one of those videos on MD with a couple of guys doing chest (sorry,cant remember their names now, its been a couple of weeks) and the other night i put into place one of their tips/tricks for making your bench better and added one of my own.

so the one guy was saying that on the way down he squeezes his scapulae together tight then at the bottom as he pushes it out he sort of spreads his lats to flare them forcing more of a squeeze on the pecs.

then as i thought about it i added another twist to that which sort of happens anyway but consciously thinking about it made me squeeze even harder. on the way up while holding the bar tight i would try to squeeze my hands together never letting them actually move. it was like holding tight to the bar and trying to make the insides of my fists touch but using the tightness of my grip to prevent the hands from ever actually moving.

i noticed such an incredible difference in the feel of the lift and the way my chest pumped and flared. i dont go heavy since im training volume right now but the level of soreness in my chest right now feels as if i did 405 again. it is sore from top to bottom in and out.

im curious, what sort of tips or tricks do you guys use to make benches or any other lift more effective?

 

[Emery]

I have shortened up my rep range and don't worry about going full ROM, don't worry about touching the bar to my chest, etc. I concentrate on squeezing my shoulder blades together and never locking out.

Now, I have started incline pressing again, I never bring the bar down to my chest as it causes undue stress and pain on my shoulders.

My chest is starting to respond very nicely to these changes.