10) Do singles - but don't overdo them
One of the biggest benching blunders you can make is to
max out at every chest workout. Seeing how much you can
bench at every chest workout is building your ego, not your
strength. On the other hand, avoiding singles completely
is also a mistake. Maximum singles definitely have their
place, but they must be used wisely.
The reason max singles help you bench more is because they
develop neuromuscular efficiency and prepare your body psychologically
for the "feel" of heavy weights. Here’s
what coach Poliquin says about them:
"The nervous system is the forgotten component of
bodybuilding, and training with maximal weights targets
this area by improving the link between the central nervous
system and the muscular system. By using this method, the
trainee will learn to access a greater percentage of motor
units in a given cross-section of muscle tissue."
Our suggestion is to do maximum singles on the bench press
once a month. On assistance exercises you can use maximal
weights more often, as long as you rotate the exercises
regularly. Never max out on the same exercise week after
week or you're asking for an injury.
11) Use lockouts to get your body used to heavy
loads, to strengthen connective tissue and to smash through
sticking points.
Lockouts are performed for the same reason as singles:
to train your muscles, brain, and central nervous system
to handle super heavy weights. Lockouts also help to develop
tendon and ligament strength. A lockout is simply a bench
press performed with extremely heavy weights in the top
third or quarter of the range of motion. Lockouts will help
build confidence with heavy weights and will help you become
stronger through the final quarter of the movement, where
many people get stuck. For safety, make sure you have a
very strong and competent spotter or do your lockouts is
in a power rack.
Lockouts can be done with near maximal, maximal or even
greater than maximal weights. Because you are using a partial
range of motion, you 'll be able to handle weights greater
than your max. For example, if your max is 315, you could
add 5% and do lockouts with 330 lbs.
The best way to incorporate lockouts into your routine
is to add one or two sets of 3-5 reps at the end of your
regular bench workout. Like singles, lockouts should be
used sparingly. Doing them too frequently can quickly lead
to overtraining and injury.
12) Train your chest once every five to seven days
and train no more than two days in a row.
Overtraining can rear its ugly head in many ways. One way
we already discussed is too many sets. An equally insidious
form of overtraining is training too often. Opinions on
training frequency abound, and there is no single best method
because frequency is a highly individual matter. One thing
is for certain; if you don't allow enough recovery time
between workouts, you simply won't get stronger.
Complete recovery has two components; specific and systemic
recuperation. Specific recuperation is the amount of time
you allow each muscle group to rest between workouts. For
optimal bench press gains, we suggest using a split routine
working your chest once every five to seven days. Some strength
athletes train chest more often - up to twice a week. This
can also be effective, but with this frequency, every workout
should not be heavy; one session is heavy and the other
is lighter, with a minimum of 72 hours between sessions.
Systemic recuperation means allowing your entire body and
nervous system to recuperate by not training too many days
in a row. Individual muscle groups need to rest between
training sessions, but so does your entire body. If you
train too often, it puts excessive demands on your central
nervous system. To ensure complete recovery, two days in
a row is the most you should train without taking a day
off.
13) Apply the law of progressive resistance
You'll amaze yourself at how strong you get when you systematically
apply the law of progressive resistance, but few people
have the patience or discipline to do it consistently. The
law of progressive resistance says that a muscle will only
grow and increase in strength in response to the ever-increasing
demands made upon it.
There are many factors involved in building strength, but
in the long run, the only thing that really matters is that
you progressively overload your muscles. Progressive resistance
is the number one key to gaining strength and muscle mass.
There are many ways to overload a muscle, such as decreasing
rest intervals, increasing volume, slowing rep speed, increasing
time under tension, doing more repetitions, and using stricter
form, but the granddaddy of them all is simply adding weight
on the bar. The more weight you can lift in strict form,
the bigger and stronger the muscle will get, period.
To track your progress, a training journal is an absolute
must. Keeping a training journal allows you to pre plan
every workout in advance and to go to the gym with a goal
for every session.
Constantly adding weight at every session can sometimes
seem like an insurmountable task, but the best way to achieve
this goal is to make tiny, incremental increases consistently
over time. Don't attempt large jumps in weight loads too
quickly. If necessary, aim for adding just 2.5 lbs to 5
lbs with every workout. During a strength phase, you must
make progress in some form at every single workout or you
are wasting your time. You may not be able to increase the
weight at every workout, but you must do at least one more
rep with the same weight. If you’re not going to add
more weight or do more reps, there’s no sense in even
going to the gym - you might as well stay home and watch
TV.
14) Practice your technique with light to moderate
weights until it is perfect.
Did you ever notice yourself starting to squirm, twist,
or lift your butt off the bench when you hit a sticking
point? This might help you get up that last rep, but it
won’t help you get stronger. Using sloppy form or
momentum to lift a weight takes the stress OFF the areas
you’re supposed to be targeting. It also increases
your chances of getting hurt. Sloppy form and cheating will
get you nowhere.
Stay with light to moderate weights until you have mastered
all these techniques. It’s more productive to use
moderate weights with perfect form than heavy weights with
sloppy form. If you have to, unload the bar and start all
over again from scratch with the proper form. Then gradually
build your poundage back up again with your newly acquired
perfect form.
15) Harness the powers of your mind.
Sometimes it's your mindset you need to change, not your
benching technique. Benching is a mental feat as much as
a physical one. Visualization, the practice of mentally
picturing the lift in your mind's eye first, is incredibly
powerful. Your mental pictures always become your physical
reality. Everything you ever achieved had to happen in your
mind first before it happened in the real world. You always
act on your mental pictures and you become the mental pictures
you hold of yourself. If you can see yourself benching a
particular weight in your mind first, your body will soon
follow. If you can’t see yourself benching a certain
weight mentally, you’ll never bench it in reality.
You’re probably familiar with the story of the three-minute
mile: For thousands of years, it was believed that running
a mile in less than four minutes was physiologically impossible.
Roger Bannister didn't set any mental limits and he proved
everyone wrong. But that's not the best part of the story.
The best part is what happened afterwards: Within one year
after Bannister broke the three-minute mile, 37 other runners
did it too! How do you explain this? Nothing changed in
the runner’s bodies; nothing changed in the laws of
physics; there were no new breakthroughs in running techniques.
It was simply the runner’s beliefs of what was possible
that changed - the mental barrier was broken.
Be a no-limit person! Don’t succumb to the awful
habit of setting mental barriers. There are certain thresholds
such as 300, 315, 400, or 405 lbs. where it's all too easy
to tell yourself, "This is HEAVY!" or "I
don't know if I can do this." Have you ever been guilty
of telling your spotter, "Watch me; I’m going
to try for 5 reps?" Never "try" anything
- DO IT! The things you say to yourself before and during
your workouts have a tremendous impact on your performance.
Change your negative self talk to positive self-talk. Instead
of saying "This is heavy," say, "This weight
is child’s play!" Repeat the affirmation; "Light
weight, light weight, easy weight, easy weight!" "I’m
gonna toss this weight around like it’s nothing!"
"I’m gonna destroy this weight!" Then, after
you conquer it say, "That was easy!"
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program
About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified
strength and conditioning specialist, lifetime natural bodybuilder,
and author of the #1 best-selling e-book "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM). Tom has written over
170 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN Magazine,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine,
Olympian’s News (in Italian), Exercise for Men and
Men’s Exercise. For information on Tom's "Burn
The Fa Feed the Musclet" e-book, click
here.
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