A MASSIVE Secret to a MONSTER Press – OVERLOAD your BENCH!

CLICK THE LINK TO SEE MY INSTGRAM POST ON BENCH PRESS!

 Dear Future Self,

THANK YOU so much for what you have done! After successfully implementing the protocol provided by that one newsletter in “Harvesting Strength”, my bench press has gone up TREMENDOUSLY and now I feel I can finally win the heart of my college crush. This day couldn’t get any better!

First of all, I totally understand this fictitious approach is far from the truth, but there is no hurt in having a little fun! But regardless of the narrative and the witty approach to recruit your attention, we all know that the bench press is a huge lift for not just a man…not just a woman…but for a lifter PERIOD. It’s commonly asked amongst the strength community about “how much you bench” and I’ll tell ya, it’s never a bad thing to be able to brag about an impressive bench to earn the respect of your fellow peers. So besides the mainstream tips and practices of the pros, what is another way to add to your bench press?

Let me introduce you to “OVERLOADING” your bench press! But what does that mean?

Imagine you’re able to load a weight heavier than you traditionally lift, but still being able to implement levels of force and acceleration to keep the weight manageable. This idea of an overload is huge for bench pressers, but how we do it can vary so let’s list a few ideas on how to do so…

1. Sling Shot Bench Press

The sling shot is a modified bench press suit that looks to inspire the old school concepts of equipped lifting by placing a strap around your arms that supports your press off the chest. The sling shot comes in many sizes and intensities, so some of them can support you for as little as 20-30 pounds or as heavy as 80-100 pounds. The stronger the sling shot, though, the stronger the responsibility…so I would never ask a new lifter to try to overload their bench by 100 pounds. So make sure you choose wisely for the best results possible. Besides the suit itself, the main component of this lift that aids your performance is the fact that you can initially load a ton of weight in your hands to get used to a peaked max or competition weight. In addition to adjusting to the heavy load, you also learn to bring the bar to your chest while initially lifting a majority of the weight at the top of the lift. Near the bottom, the sling shot tightens and in essences “reduces” the weight’s effect on the bar and it feels lighter and lighter. Then, after the weight has met your chest for a motionless pause, the lightness of the bar allows you to employ tremendous speed and power that can aid you into lockout. The more you can practice this, the better force development occurs with your pressing motion. I would not recommend this type of lifting all year long, however…just perhaps 8-12 weeks before a peak is anticipated in training.

2. Reverse Band Bench Press

Let’s say the budget is tight and you don’t have the capability to spend money on a slingshot. If your gym has lifting bands, it might be wise to take the bands and tie them to the top of the lift and wrap them around the bar to lighten the load. The issue with this is that if you anchor the bands too high, the bar could be too light. Sure, you could bench press with a reverse band around 600 pounds and that would seem impressive BUT if the band is super tight and aiding your lift a ton, you aren’t truly overloading your bench position and you’re just lifting what the bar is worth. No reason to be entertaining these scenarios in training. But be weary of the alternative, because if you have TOO much slack on the bar and the bench press has such a short range of motion, there might not be any point to entertain the idea in the first place. Just make sure you find the perfect set up with the reverse band and more importantly, always use this set up consistently and don’t continuously change your set up. One of the biggest variables for a successful program? CONSISTENCY

3. No Sling Shot and No Reverse Band Set Up? JUST DO NORMAL BAND OR CHAIN BENCH!

In this set up, a normal alternative of bands or chains could still suffice because the idea is that the load is heavier on top but at the bottom, the load lightens and perhaps a ton. The goal with overloading the weight is making sure you experience varying loads with your press and learning to employ forceful contractions for a deadly bench press