What better way to exert your alpha dominance amongst your frat brothers than to load 45’s on the bar and press those bodacious pecs towards glory.
What would you rank the king of all lifts?
I’ve heard many...but I am sure we can all agree that one of the most dominant lifts amongst society would be the bench press. What better way to exert your alpha dominance amongst your frat brothers than to load 45’s on the bar and press those bodacious pecs towards glory. I mean, you go to the gym and the busiest location is the bench press, am I right? I am sure there are many that would argue this point, but like I said…it’s hard to ignore the impact the bench press has had on the world of strength. But besides the admiration we have towards this movement, we also admire those who have had an impact on the history of bench press by conquering this lift with tremendous gains. We see many 300lbs bench pressers…
400lbs bench pressers…
less 500lbs bench pressers…
not many 600lbs bench pressers…
and very few to limited 700lbs bench pressers…
So how do we find our way onto the food chain of bench pressing? How do we “exert our alpha dominance” in order to progressively press more weight than our fellow brethren? Below, lets discuss the top five tips towards improving your bench press…
1. Floor Press: This movement occurs on the floor, as many of you would guess. The fact it occurs at the floor helps us limit the range of motion to embrace the top end of our movement. There are other ways to modify the floor press to add rigor or specificity to our training. One way would be changing your grip. The closer you are, or the wider you are, can have an impact on the emphasis on various components of the press (the pecs, triceps, anterior deltoids, etc). One of my favorite variations of the floor press is to do a close grip paused press. To perform this, you get into a closer grip than you normally press, and when you reach the floor allow your elbows to partially “rest” on the floor for 2-3 seconds, then press quickly afterwards.
2. Banded Bench Press: When you bench press having a band resist you, this will progressively add weight as your press the barbell. So the further you extend, the more weight is added since the tension of the band exceeds its normal tension. This type of movement helps to emphasize the top end strength of your movement, basically your “lock out” portion. Adding this movement with the floor press can help to build your arsenal towards creating a heavy lockout for bigger gains. Another way to approach this movement is by choosing to (a) lift heavy or (b) lift quickly. This can be a type of movement done on a dynamic day, as this could be a good exercise prescribed at a lighter percentage to learn how to be more dynamic and explosive after lifting heavier loads.
3. Isometric Pressing: This type of movement is underrated by many, and some might not even know about it! An isometric press is derived from the mindset of an isometric contraction. This type of contraction is motionless, so to correctly perform the isometric press (when it pertains to bench), you want to set the bar in a position that when you press, it is motionless so you’re applying as much force as possible to elicit a beneficial response. The benefit is that if you perform isometrics in the position you typically “lose” your press, that will help you learn to press THROUGH the sticking point and finish your lift. Many people will superset this type of movement with either a dynamic press, submaximal press, or banded press but all of which shouldn’t be done for high reps, mostly between 1-3 reps at most.
4. Bicep Strength: When the weight gets heavier, most lifters start to show a quicker descent with the bar. Sometimes they find their way to pressing towards glory, but if they can’t control the weight downward, what makes you think the load can progressively increase with time? This eccentric phase of the lift can be controlled by the strength of the pecs and secondary movers, but it’s also through the help of the antagonist muscles like the back and biceps that control the weight downward too. How do you expect to press a heavy load with twig like arms? You have to have some thick ass tree stumps to accept the load and deliver the punch. Work your arms, especially with various grips to help pin point all aspects of the biceps. A personal favorite of mine would be hammer curls. Due to your neutral position, you can incorporate the biceps and forearms to load more weight. The heavier you lift, the thicker those arms are and the harder the gawking will commence at your local commercial gym.
5. Mental Imagery: The thought of “if you can believe it, you can do it” is often seen as an optimistic wives tale, having no truth to it at all. This saying, though, goes a long way especially for anyone who embraces the life of sports performance. When you’re attempting to go for a heavy max, especially a weight you are unfamiliar with, you must constantly think about it…dream about it…and talk about it to make it become a reality to you. That’s why there is so much success towards programming. A lot of lifters at your gym probably show up and just say…
“HEY! Let’s hit biceps, dumbbell press, step ups and some forearm curls before we blast through some scones at the local java taproom”
…there wasn’t much of a thought process behind that mindset, just careless programming to get that temporary “high” from saying you went to the gym. BE goal oriented, BE intentful with your program, and BE mindful of your goals and what you strive to achieve. If you can constantly think and anticipate the loads you strive for, and tap into the common practices of mental imagery, your body will “think” it’s been in that situation before and have much more success than had not prepared for that movement. This isn’t wisdom, this is scientifically proven.
Now it’s time for you to set down that high dose of Beta-Alanine, put some of these ideas into action and be the best lifter you can! Sometimes, it’s not the sharpest sword, but the sharpest mind that wins at war!