need a horizontal push to help my bench

K

Karky

2
So, ive tried that pushup with my hands on the smith bar and weight hanging from a belt as an experiment, and i just gotta admit it dident work. Now im looking for something to replace it with. Prefferably something that might help my bench. I get the bar off the chest, but then i stop, its not lockout strenght its before that, i was thinking maybe one or two board press or something like that. My question is, do you have to go heavy on board presses to have them help your max? since i already do heavy benching once a week, i dont really think i would like to go any heavier than 5 reps, but doing like 3x5 is still pretty heavy and strenght specific. My gym doesnt have a board, but it cant be that hard to make one, how tick are usually these boards for board press?

I was thinking either board press, DB bench press, DB swiss ball press, one handed DB bench. Incline BB bench.. currently leaning towards the board press.
 
Board press is a good idea.

You can do reps as well as maxing with the exercise.

You can do a 1 board, 2 board, 3 board, 4 board, 5 board press.

The boards are made out of 2 X 6 material. (I do not know what you have there, must be something comparable) Just screw them together and you are rock and roll. I like to make one of the boards a little longer and cut 2 inches off of each side, for a handle my training partners can hold on to.

The board press is a good way too set the bar in your sticking point and train it specifically.

You could also do floor presses. Set the bar in the power rack, lie on the floor, un-rack the bar, and lower it until your elbows / triceps hit the floor, pause for a moment, and press it back up.

This is cool because it also takes out the leg drive, so you specifically focus on the upper body.

Another idea would be a pin press. Set the pins in the power rack at, just above, or just below your sticking point. Crawl under the Bar and press.

This is a good exercise for a couple reasons.

1. You can specifically train strength at and around your weakest point.

2. You are training strength from a dead stop this will help to teach your body to better recruit muscle fibers in your specific weak point.

Now I a getting kind of excited.

You could start using some accommodating resistance. Attach bands or chains to the bar. This will increase the weight lifted as you move through your ROM. So the weight is heavier at your sticking point and above, than it is on you chest.

Remember your sticking point will get stronger if you get stronger at all of the range of motions around it as well.
 
yeah, thanks alot. My gym doesnt have a power rack :p I think ill go with the board press. 2x6 inches? what about tickenss? Ill find some wooden beams or something, if we dont have one, ill go cut down a tree in the forrest outside the house :D

My gym doesnt have bands either, which is annoying because i would love to cycle band work (you should cycle it right? since its pretty hard on joints and such?) Maybe i can buy myself some bands and bring to the gym, how expensive are they?

and with the board press, do you have to have a partner to hold it? is it hard to balance them on your chest? what about if you put it under your t-shirt so it gets held in place?

i got a plank that is 4.6cm tick thats 1.8 inches. Could i make something of that? its pretty long so i could cut it up and nail it doubble if i have to.
 
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2x6 inches?
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Yea. So a 1 board would just be, umm, 1 board, lying the flat way on your chest. If you want more thickness just nail another board on top of it. Try to set it to where your stick point is.

You have got to have a hardware store of some sort. You can find lumber in the...... lumber section. Here a 9 foot 2 X 6 is like $6. So pretty cheap for a durable, quality, training piece. One 9 footer will make 2 different size boards.

i got a plank that is 4.6cm tick thats 1.8 inches. Could i make something of that? its pretty long so i could cut it up and nail it doubble if i have to.
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I do not know what kind of stuff they have where you live. You may have to get creative.

Maybe i can buy myself some bands and bring to the gym, how expensive are they?
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$25 - $80, depending upon the size of the band. Google, jump stretch bands, you will find something.

and with the board press, do you have to have a partner to hold it? is it hard to balance them on your chest? what about if you put it under your t-shirt so it gets held in place?
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You will need someone to hold it. It will not balance on your chest. You could put it under you shirt I guess, I have never seen it done. We played with using bands to hold them on us, but there really is no substitute for a training partner.

My gym doesnt have a power rack
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HUH, I did not know you could call a gym a gym if it did not have a power rack. :yelrotflmao:
 
well i usually call it a fitness center, and i hate it. But im moving in less than a month to a place where i hopefuly can get a better gym :p

and its just a board to bring the bar down to instead of the chest, right? Ill just make one of what i got, we got quite a bit of lumber around the house, no problem sawing some stuff up to a propper size. Next time i bench heavy ill get someone to see where the sticking point is so i can make a board accordingly.
 
When I was doing board presses I'd wear underarmor shirts. I typically had a training partner where we could remove boards and hold them in place as needed. Other option is to use a belt to strap around you to hold them in place. You don't have to use 2X6s...it's what Diablo, Westside, and most of the other barbell clubs use.

I'm wondering...are you benching for size or numbers? If it's pure numbers, then are you benching like a powerlifter?

If you have someone to spot you, you can do db floor presses.

Something I stumbled onto-
I go through phases where I don't touch bench press for months at a time other than just to test it every once in awhile. I simply spend my time doing heavy push presses and 1 arm db bench pressing. My bench has always seen gains, even if it's only 5-10lbs, without even benching.

p.s. I noticed you don't do any rotator cuff work.
 
yeah, i havent done any rotator cuff work in a while actually.. how many times a week do you think its needed?

Right now, im benching for numbers, size comes with numbers eventually, size has always been a secondary goal for me. Benching like a powerlifter, what do you mean? i dont use the elbows flared bodybuilding technique if thats what you are reffering to :p i tuck my elbows, keep the weight on my upper back, arch my back (not a really big arch though) lower bar to, upper abs i guess, drive with the legs, the butt is always on the bench, but just nearly, theres no weight on it so it speak, the weight is all on the upper back.
 
That sounds about right. However, I like a reallly big arch. I mentioned this to someone before, but you might try the Dan John method. Pick one movement you're having trouble with. It'll be the first movement in every workout. Use your 5RM or so and work up to a 2X2 with it. Increase the weight by 5 or so lbs every week. This is a lot like the Pavel GTG (grease the groove) method.

You might google "Grease the groove" to get an idea. It's some cool stuff.
 
just made two boards! Im gonna bench heavy tomorrow, ill have my GF there to see how many of them i need to hit my weak spot.
 
Some other things to consider:
1. what particular muscle is limiting your progress? I find doing triceps work after my bench routine improves my bench. Or you might find doing flyes helps more depending on your particular body type or development level. You don't need a lot since you have already prestressed those muscles with the heavy compound movement, just 2 sets of 10-12 to failure of an insolation movement can make a big difference. Do you also do an equivalent amount of a pulling movement with approximately the same load?
2. are you fast twitch or slow twitch dominant? In one case you may make better progress with low reps sets, in the other with higher rep sets.
3. try wave loading techiniques - one i have always liked for bench press goes like this (all sets to absolute failure): 1 set 12-15 reps, reduce weight by ~20%, rest 30 seconds, 12-15 reps, go back to original weight, rest 30 seconds, final set (you should get 4-8 reps). Do only these 3 sets 3 times a week for 4 weeks and then return to your normal routine, or do this one day week in place of your normal chest routine.
4. try pre-exhausting your chest with a set of flyes followed by a set of bench presses with little or no rest between. This can be done as 1 set after your heavy benches, 2-3 sets of these inplace of your regular chest routine 1a week or 3 times a week for a 4 week period.

Just some variations I have tried in the past that seemed help.
 
I work my tris, im not an idiot :p I have been thinking about doing some sort of close grip thing latley to improve the triceps, but i think ill have better progress with board press to train the sticking point, since its not exactly at lockout where triceps is dominant.
 
hey karky so you are having problems in the sticking point in the mid range if i understand you right her is a trick some power lifter friends of mine used to get ready for competition you place a paper or styrofoam cup on your chest and lower the bar so it just touches(not smashes)the cup then press this should train the mid range sticking point and it has helped my friends with their competition #'s
 
that would be the same principle as the board press, which im gonna start doing. Limiting the range of motion, pressing from where the sticking point is.
 
yeah except with the cup you have to control the weight not set it on something- touch but don't crush - in my opinion it works a little better at least in that specific point i know with the board you can change the depth you are working
 
Try 1 1/2 reps. For example, on a bench press lower the bar down, then push it up almost to lockout, lower it back down again and this time only go half way. That's one rep. I havn't tried this method yet, but i definitely think that it's worth a go since the first half of the concentric phase in the BP is usually weaker for most people.
 
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yeah, but your not suppose to rest the weight on the board are you? your suppose to stop the weight with your muscles, not the boards, or?
 
yeah, but your not suppose to rest the weight on the board are you? your suppose to stop the weight with your muscles, not the boards, or?
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That is the beauty of using a board, over a cup. You could do both.

1. Stop the bar at the board, focusing on just touching the board, pause for a sec, then press back up.

2. Stop the bar on the board, Let the bar press into the board some. (a short pause) This will act more like a box squat where you are breaking up the concentric and eccentric muscle action.

Here you have to make sure that you do not use you body to give the bar an extra push.

Great results can be had from both. Depending on the type of strength you need.

I Like #2 better because it forces you to recruit muscle from a dead stop (and lower muscular tension) as opposed to an isometric hold at the bottom.

Try 1 1/2 reps.
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The 1 1/2 reps generally do not work because there is no way to measure the ROM. Because you cannot see it, and have no stopping point, people tend to press up to the bottom of the sticking point only, making it worse not better.

The board takes out the guess work and you only have to focus on doing the exercise not ROM.
 
evolution said:
A 2 board press is the same depth as a 2 board press. The only way you change depths is by changing the number of boards used. A cup should never survive a day of board pressing.
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i am talking about different depth boards 2in 4in 6in etc i am not an idiot and as far as a cup surviving if it doesn't you are not doing it right why take a rest at the bottom when all you need to do is take momentum away to force the muscle stretch reflex to disengage (a pause isometric or not)imo it is best to keep constant tension to work the muscles as i said before this was shown to me by competetive power lifters and if you are lifting serious weight you dont EVER just rest in a lift
 
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