Explosive bench press?

Ive heard people say that you can take 50% of your 1rm and do the bench press in an explosive motion. So.. i was thinking about trying it out:p but i dont know how many set/reps and does it really help? or is it just bollocks?
 
I did it when I was doing a powerlifting routine, it said to do 9x3, but changing your grip on each set from wide to normal to close. So a set of 3 wide grip, set of 3 normal grip, set of 3 close grip, then start over till you've done each grip 3 times. I'm sure there are other methods to do it though
 
thanks, anyone knows if this really helps? i was thinking id bench 3 or 2 days a week.. so if i do 2 days a week, should i do one day with normal heavy and slow and one with explosive to get good gains? or can i just do explosive?
also, rest between sets on explosive movements.. is it the same as normal? 3-5 mins for str?
and am i right about the 50% of 1rm? is that the weight to use when doing this?
 
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Go to That's the Westside method; they have a dynamic or speed day and a max day. They have plenty of articles there explaining their methods and why it works. However, since you're benching raw, you can use a slightly higher percentage (~60-65% of 1RM)

You might also google Metal Militia (they're a powerlifting group/method)
 
Karky said:
thanks, anyone knows if this really helps? i was thinking id bench 3 or 2 days a week.. so if i do 2 days a week, should i do one day with normal heavy and slow and one with explosive to get good gains? or can i just do explosive?
also, rest between sets on explosive movements.. is it the same as normal? 3-5 mins for str?
and am i right about the 50% of 1rm? is that the weight to use when doing this?
its says in the article to have a maximal day and an explosive/dynamic day. it also says

Therefore, I always train multiple strength qualities simultaneously.

which is what you'll find on elites site also.

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle...FB57562B2D155692C199.ba08?article=body_133per

The weight used should be non-maximal in the 50% to 75% range. In the text Supertraining, Siff and Verkershonsky state the best range for developing explosive strength in the barbell squat is two-thirds of your best one rep max. Angel Spassov defines this as 50 to 70%. This method isn't used for the development of maximal strength but for the improved rate of force development and explosive force.
 
evolution said:
Go to That's the Westside method; they have a dynamic or speed day and a max day. They have plenty of articles there explaining their methods and why it works. However, since you're benching raw, you can use a slightly higher percentage (~60-65% of 1RM)

You might also google Metal Militia (they're a powerlifting group/method)

bencing raw? what do you mean by that? i think ill just do 2 days explosive:p its more fun:p and ive always wanted explosive force..
 
Karky said:
bencing raw? what do you mean by that? i think ill just do 2 days explosive:p its more fun:p and ive always wanted explosive force..


Karky, they sell "bench shirts" that actually can increase your bench press up to 50 lbs, I believe. Powerlifters use them. Benching raw indicates, for one, you are not wearing one of these shirts that assist your bench press.
 
I saw a rapid increase in my vertical when I started doing explosive lifts, and ballistic lifts. I didn't notice any increase in my normal strength or maximal strength however.

I did roughly 50% with speed lifts 5x3, and ballistic lifts, I'd do 3x10. It did seem to shoot my vert up though, so I was happy.
 
jpc1058 said:
Karky, they sell "bench shirts" that actually can increase your bench press up to 50 lbs, I believe. Powerlifters use them. Benching raw indicates, for one, you are not wearing one of these shirts that assist your bench press.

a shirt? that increeses ur bench that much? how is that possible?:p is it sprayed with weird chemicals?:p

so i wont get any more max strenght from doing explosive bench? ive heard people on this forum say that when they started it they noticed increeses in their max str.. well, maybe ill do one str day and one explosive day.. only on the bench though, since im doing powerlifts atm :D
 
Karky said:
a shirt? that increeses ur bench that much? how is that possible?:p is it sprayed with weird chemicals?:p

so i wont get any more max strenght from doing explosive bench? ive heard people on this forum say that when they started it they noticed increeses in their max str.. well, maybe ill do one str day and one explosive day.. only on the bench though, since im doing powerlifts atm :D

No, no I am not saying you will not gain any strength from doin explosive benching. I was just pointing out what "raw" benching was. By the way they also sell squat siuts that can up your squat by 100 lbs. :eek:
 
the second thing was for Muck:p
have you tried any of these shirts? ever occured to you that it can be Bull****?:p
 
As defined by strength expert Yuri Verkhoshansky, explosive strength consists of three important components: maximum strength, starting strength, and acceleration strength. Maximum strength can be increased by lifting heavy loads for multiple, low-repetition sets. Starting strength is the ability to develop force before the load moves and acceleration strength is the ability to generate maximum force very quickly.

In reference to the bench press, starting strength will help you get the load moving after pausing it on your chest while acceleration strength will help you get the load moving quickly. Pretty simple, huh?

In order to completely understand explosive strength you must also understand the Explosive Strength Deficit (ESD). This is the difference between the maximum force your muscles can produce and the development of maximum force when little time is available.

For example, Lifter A and Lifter B both have the ability to generate 400 pounds of force when bench pressing. Lifter A needs 0.4 seconds to generate this force, whereas Lifter B can generate it in only 0.2 seconds. Therefore, Lifter B has a smaller ESD and would smoke Lifter A in a pressing competition.

Once again I'll refer to the bottom of the bench press. Many lifters have the ability to generate the amount of force required to lift the load; they just can't generate it quickly enough. The result? The load crashes back to their chests. By decreasing the ESD you'll increase the force output in explosive movements. How do we decrease the ESD? Fast, explosive training, of course!

As stated above, speed is the most important component when attempting to increase explosive strength. This type of strength was exemplified by the late Bruce Lee. The guy was extremely powerful. Why was he so powerful? Because he was lightning quick.


i am planning on training in this fashion over the summer
 
ahh, so training this can get you to lift more, since your ESD will be smaller? nice. thanks alot Abear! when you will train in this fashion, will you do 1 explosive and 1 heavy, or will you do all fast?
 
well i wanted to clarify this
with heavy weights you lift slow to increase strength
then as you reduce the weights you increase the reps and increase the speed until you are doing some really fast and explosive sets
if i am not mistaken this was the workout pattern followed by Bruce Lee

can somebody explain the implications of above kind of workout

as i ve known explosive lifts with weights close to 1RM is what made explosive power(olympic lifts)
can explosive power be achieved with say 20 reps done explosively with 50% of 1 RM
also the above workouts seem to train many variables together like strength and explosiveness can this be done in a single workout

also can any exercise be done explosively
like say pull ups or say any of the conventional weight lifting we see in the gym
 
i know with heavy weights you get max str, but read abears post.. if i read it right, getting more explosive can help your 1rm.

"can explosive power be achieved with say 20 reps done explosively with 50% of 1 RM"
what ive been told is that power is best achieved during a short period of time. and if you lift it super fast, i dont think you can do 20 reps at 50%, you get alot more tiered lifting 20 kg up as fast as you can than just lifting it.
 
Karky said:
ahh, so training this can get you to lift more, since your ESD will be smaller? nice. thanks alot Abear! when you will train in this fashion, will you do 1 explosive and 1 heavy, or will you do all fast?
no problem, i'm trying to understand it myself :)

right now i think i'm gonna do a split from joe defranco which has maximal and explosive lower body days and maximal and explosive upper body days, with GPP two other days of the week.
 
Karky said:
the second thing was for Muck:p
have you tried any of these shirts? ever occured to you that it can be Bull****?:p

Bench shirts, squat suits, deadlift suits, etc are used by nearly all PLs to increase their lifts. I had the pleasure (or rather painful displeasure) of working with a bench shirt many months back. It put 30 pounds on my bench immediately and this was without 'working the shirt in' for its max potential. The shirt (it was an Inzer) was to big but still cut me up pretty good. Seeing the increase in my bench with a shirt that was to big leaves me wondering what it could do if I had one that actually fit right.

Of course since I don't really bench much anymore, it really doesn't matter...that and since I'm not a competitive PL, I don't have the need for one. I would suggest anyone wanting to compete start thinking about buying one.
 
evolution said:
Bench shirts, squat suits, deadlift suits, etc are used by nearly all PLs to increase their lifts. I had the pleasure (or rather painful displeasure) of working with a bench shirt many months back. It put 30 pounds on my bench immediately and this was without 'working the shirt in' for its max potential. The shirt (it was an Inzer) was to big but still cut me up pretty good. Seeing the increase in my bench with a shirt that was to big leaves me wondering what it could do if I had one that actually fit right.

Of course since I don't really bench much anymore, it really doesn't matter...that and since I'm not a competitive PL, I don't have the need for one. I would suggest anyone wanting to compete start thinking about buying one.


Thanks evo, I guess they thought I was giving them a bunch of BS
 
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