Bench
10x45, 10x95, 5x135, 5x185, 3x225, 1x275, 1x295
Fx315
Mark sat on my face as he tried to rescue me. I feel much closer to him now.
Fx315
Got it to about 3" from lockout, which is a few inches higher than my old sticking point, then failed. Very frustrating.
1x315 @ 10
Woohoo! I didn't pause, and my butt came off the bench a bit at my new sticking point, but I got it from A to B back to A. This has been a huge goal (and mental block) for me for a long time.
Cable Row: 2x8 @ 200
Seated Press: 2x8 @ 145
Cable Fly: 2x10 @ 60
Rear Delt Fly: 2x10 @ 100
Dumbbell Curl: 2x6 @ 50
Friday, January 27, 2012
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Congrats Frank. It's very interesting that your sticking point is near lockout. Mine is still a few inches off my chest. I know that the more accomplished benchers also stick near lockout. If you have any thoughts about this difference, I'd love to hear about it. Was your sticking point always closer to lockout? If not, when did it start to move?
ReplyDeleteI think that most people who stall near lockout are using gear (i.e. bench shirt, not steroids, though they probably use that too). The vast majority of raw lifters, even the very good ones, are strong at lockout and weak at the bottom. I'm not 100% sure why this is the case. Part of it is probably due to biomechanics. That is, a quarter bench is easy for the same reason that a quarter squat and rack pull are easy.
ReplyDeleteStalling at the bottom of the bench is usually a chest and shoulder problem. Stalling at the top is primarily a triceps problem. Technique can be a problem anywhere, of course.
I used to stall at the bottom, say 3-4" off my chest -- still the bottom -- which is why for this cycle I focused a lot on overhead presses, dumbbell benching, and flys. To be honest, I'm not certain how much the last two helped since I did them pretty light, but I did do a fairly high amount of volume. That got me from sticking at 3" off my chest to sticking at 3" from lockout, which for me is like a 30" difference.
I think I also have a technique issue which is causing me problems at lockout. When you bench, the bar should follow an arc that keeps the forearms parallel to the ground. This means that the bar follows a roughly diagonal path from the bottom of your chest to the line that runs from the ground through your shoulder joint at lockout. If you push straight up from your lower chest, you'll do OK at the bottom but fail once your forearm angle strays too far form vertical, which could be as little as a few degrees. I still haven't gotten the hang of that.
Next time around, I will probably do a little less pressing and rotate out one chest assistance movement for a triceps assistance movement. For example, something like Bench/Incline Bench (maybe Press)/Lats/Triceps/Random Stuff on one day and Press/Reverse Band Bench/Lats/Chest/Random Stuff.
Maybe that was a bit too much about me. I started off answering your question then started thinking about what I need to work on...
ReplyDeleteStill, weakness at the bottom is likely a chest and shoulder and possibly a technique problem. Without seeing you bench, it's hard for me to say more. The above, and the past few months, are how I dealt with my problem this time.
There's also a chance that some of my increase in strength is a carryover from Sheiko training.