Bench Press Help

[Rebs63]

I am a sophomore with a low bench press. I have an alright squat and power clean. I just need some help developing my upper body. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or exercises I could do to help increase my bench.

[BigRed62]

I dont bench alot either but ballistic push-ups seem to help me. I have been doing them every workout ( mon wed fri) but my coach has told me to cut down on them alittle, to allow more time to heal. So i am going to do them twice a week.

[Longsnapper]

Dips, dumbell benches, and skull crushers and any other tricep exercises are really good like the guy said earlier.

[Justadad]

Everyone who has given suggestions on this post has given good advice. You need to strengthen your triceps to improve your bench, but I also think that you need to do the towel bench. Put a rolled up towel or a foam pad under your shirt, this will decrease how far you have to go down on your bench press. You bring the bar down until it touches the towel or pad, and then you go back up. This will get your body used to the heavier weight, and it will increase you bench over time.

[crazebear]

Coach, the towel bench is a triceps exercise with a bench press name. Much like the board press. You can also do a version of this in a power rack. Just set the pins about six inches off your chest and press the bar from the safety pins. It forces you to move the weight from a dead stop thus eliminating momentum ( you can't bounce this puppy off your chest). It is a strict exercise and will greatly strengthen the lock-out on the bench.

[bosshog1]

I have often heard the quote that "Big bench pressers are big in the back and shoulders." Therefore it would be wise to work this areas diligently also. Military press, dips, incline, shrugs, power pulls, etc. These basic lifts are also critical in injury prevention. Shoulder and back injuries are very common in football players. Work the small muscle groups in these areas as often as possible. Basic shoulder iso's pull ups, all these will help build your bench and prevent future injuries.

[bhsOL]

Push ups, push ups, push ups...etc.

[Rebs63]

Thanks. These are some really good suggestions. I have been doing some towel benches and trying to get used to heavier weight. I'll try to do some of these exercises. Keep the suggestions coming.

[bhsOL]

Rebs63, one thing that will help you is to take a really good protein supplement, along with a balanced diet,not to many sweets. Your muscles are made of protein and protein supplements help to rebuild your muscles after you work out.

If you also want to put on some weight, a good supplement that I would recomend is Body Lean. A lot of people from Blackman take this, I used to also. I put on 10 lbs. in just two weeks and my bench press went up about 15-20 lbs. in just that short amount of time. If you have any questions, you know how to find me on here.

[tlove13]

coutner your bench exercises with a good back routine. First, on your bench check your technique. Good strong grip, don't chicken wing your elbows, they should be at 45 degrees. Touch the bar on your nipples. Bench is a lot mental. always focus on something on the ceiling and "get it in your head" that you are going to "own" the weight. A lot of athletes that are strong in most lifts and weak in the bench can't handle the psych part of it. Every time you bench, have your own routine, nobody has to see it and focus on every rep.

 

-complementary exercises--

lie on the floor(have a spotter), do dumbbell bench from the floor-you can go real heavy due to not being able to go down far(the floor stops you). Handling heavier weight than normal trains your primary muscles(pecs, front delts, triceps) to get used to it.

 

-Bench only twice per week. one heavy day, and one rep day.

Good luck.

[mirrorman]

chains or bungees attached to the bar are great for training. They require you to establish correct bar speed for the heavier lifts and train you to be able to get the lock out once you reach the breaking point. Love this technique for squats as well.

[Rustynail]

Start with having the bench inclined when you do your benching. Keep your reps per set in the 4-6 range, go heavy and give about three days in between chest work. Also dips and close grip bench (elbows in) will help the tris grow.....you can also put some chains on the end of the bar, so that when you are at lock out the chains do not touch the ground, however when you are at the low point half way up they are on the ground, so you are not lifting as much weight. You will notice that you are weaker when you are trying to get the bar to mid point than from mid to lock out. This training allows you to add weight to the top of your bench that training with just weights only prevent.....