Trying to up bench

[anonynmous39596706]

Fucking cramps! lol I get them fairly often in the lower back, quads, hips, hamstrings and I'm always on the verge of getting them when benching. Stretching my legs between sets helps quite a bit.

I was getting cramps in my quads and thought I was doing something wrong.

Today was heavy bench day. I am too embarrassed to post it. I did however learn how to tighten up my tri's by trying to bow the ends of the bar down. I am starting to feel what tight is, now I have to get more body parts involved.

I was attempting 305lbs and it was 1/3 up and moving extremely slow when for some reason my feet kicked out involuntarily. I never had this happen before. As soon as this happened the bar came down. Then I missed 295lbs by not even getting the transition at all. I won't know what hurts more, my tri's or my ego. Hopefully next Saturday is better.

Rocco

 

[Docd187123]

I was getting cramps in my quads and thought I was doing something wrong.

Today was heavy bench day. I am too embarrassed to post it. I did however learn how to tighten up my tri's by trying to bow the ends of the bar down. I am starting to feel what tight is, now I have to get more body parts involved.

I was attempting 305lbs and it was 1/3 up and moving extremely slow when for some reason my feet kicked out involuntarily. I never had this happen before. As soon as this happened the bar came down. Then I missed 295lbs by not even getting the transition at all. I won't know what hurts more, my tri's or my ego. Hopefully next Saturday is better.

Rocco

Bending the bar will externally rotate the shoulders which will bring your chest up and engage the lats more.

 

[lightshift]

Hey, I'm new to the forum. A technique I used in the past to up my bench, was to concentrate muscle contraction during the down movement. I would first do my normal routine of sets and reps at whatever weight I was on and with help with a spotter or two depending on the weight they would re-rack the bar again for me to repeat the downward movement, I did this until I completely exhausted the muscles so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone using keto, other low carb diets or are cutting, because this will deplete glycogen a hell of a lot. This worked for me to get over plateaus and personal bests and can be applied to all sorts of other exercises too. Hope this helps someone out.

 

[anonynmous39596706]

Did not realize it has been so long since I posted. Mostly because everyone was nice enough to answer all my questions allI need now is practice and food. Today was the usual heavy Saturday bench day. Afterba few sets to warm up I was able to hit 310lbs for a single. Dropped to 275lbs for four and then 225 for ten. Next week I will do more heavy singles. Wednesday's light bench day has actually been heavier then usual. Set up could be better and I try to keep it strict as possible. Thanks everyone for tne advice and tips, they are starting to pay off

 

[Masters Power]

Bending the bar will externally rotate the shoulders which will bring your chest up and engage the lats more.

I use a false grip and the bend the bar cue never worked for me. If anyone is having trouble externally rotating their shoulders and engaging the lats try this cue. I slow the bar down the last couple of inches prior to reaching the chest and try to squeeze my lats together as hard as possible while trying to raise my chest up to meet the bar at the same time. In reality all this is doing is exactly what Doc says above ensuring external rotation of the shoulders and full engagement of the lats. Below is 408.5 at 197 a couple of days ago.

 

[anonynmous39596706]

Below is 408.5 at 197 a couple of days ago.

One more thing to think about while trying not to crush myself. Seriously, I will give it a try and hope that it helps me move more weight. @Masters Power , what is your max bench?

 

[Masters Power]

Rocco, definitely something to try on your warm up sets to start with. You don't want to try anything new on max or near max singles.

I got 410 yesterday. Training for a meet next weekend. Hopefully somewhere around 415.

 

[MindlessWork]

Bending the bar will externally rotate the shoulders which will bring your chest up and engage the lats more.

Thanks I'll try this as well.

 

[anonynmous39596706]

Thanks to @Docd187123, @Masters Power and everyone else who offered up advice. I was able to hit 315 on the bench today. It was not pretty but it did go up. Would not have been able to do it without the help. The goal was to hit it by my 54 birthday. I made it 3 months early. Can't wait to see what I get to by my birthday. The video is in the thread 'Dumsta and Rocco hit it hard' , if anyone wants to check it out

 

[rocketbunny]

Good work man, I have the same goal hopefully be hitting it in the next few weeks
Been following this thread and also appreciate the help provided

 

[Masters Power]

Congratulations Rocco. Great work. 350 is right around the corner.

 

[insertnamehere]

Thanks to @Docd187123, @Masters Power and everyone else who offered up advice. I was able to hit 315 on the bench today. It was not pretty but it did go up. Would not have been able to do it without the help. The goal was to hit it by my 54 birthday. I made it 3 months early. Can't wait to see what I get to by my birthday. The video is in the thread 'Dumsta and Rocco hit it hard' , if anyone wants to check it out

Everyone else?? ... LOL JK, Rocco. Congrats on hitting 315 and 3 months early at that!

 

[anonynmous39596706]

Everyone else?? ... LOL JK, Rocco. Congrats on hitting 315 and 3 months early at that!

Just like the CMA's when the star gets his award and then forgets to thank one of the most important people. I'll do it now.... And a special thanks to @insertnamehere who was the person who gave the first advice and started the whole thread....just like my Grand Pappy always said, better late then never, but better never late.

 

[Switcher]

This is a tremendous thread for all lifters. Technique for powerlifting is, or used to be, one of the harder things to learn and was rarely discussed outside those circles. BZ to all of the info providers.

 

[grey]

I was able to hit 315 on the bench today.

Nice! been watching the thread for a bit....

 

[Wreck it Ralph]

Not to hijack a thread but I saw it abandoned here and figured the OP would not mind. I have been following @Docd187123 @Masters Power and of course @insertnamehere advice exactly as the OP. Started doing heavy bench twice a week now. Hit an ugly 315 last Saturday. A nice 315 Wednesday and then a very nice 320 today (new PR). Setup is much better then when I started. I do not have anyone to video it this time. Just wondering if I could get more weight up if I use a belt and should I be wrapping my wrists? Wrists never hurt afterwards

Thanks again for the help. I will keep you posted as I progress and will surely have more questions.

 

[Docd187123]

Not to hijack a thread but I saw it abandoned here and figured the OP would not mind. I have been following @Docd187123 @Masters Power and of course @insertnamehere advice exactly as the OP. Started doing heavy bench twice a week now. Hit an ugly 315 last Saturday. A nice 315 Wednesday and then a very nice 320 today (new PR). Setup is much better then when I started. I do not have anyone to video it this time. Just wondering if I could get more weight up if I use a belt and should I be wrapping my wrists? Wrists never hurt afterwards

Thanks again for the help. I will keep you posted as I progress and will surely have more questions.

A belt for bench is preference. It's not going to do much to help bc your abs don't have to contract as hard to support your upper body like in OHP, squats, deads, etc bc you're laying down on the bench. If you like wearing a belt to bench wear it. If not don't.

Wraps will def help out. Even if you don't feel pain after they'll help keep your wrists straighter. Straight wrists means less torque and less risk of injury as well as less force transfer loss.

 

[MindlessWork]

Not to hijack a thread but I saw it abandoned here and figured the OP would not mind. I have been following @Docd187123 @Masters Power and of course @insertnamehere advice exactly as the OP. Started doing heavy bench twice a week now. Hit an ugly 315 last Saturday. A nice 315 Wednesday and then a very nice 320 today (new PR). Setup is much better then when I started. I do not have anyone to video it this time. Just wondering if I could get more weight up if I use a belt and should I be wrapping my wrists? Wrists never hurt afterwards
Now that's quite a journey and keep it up. How is your overall strength these days?
Thanks again for the help. I will keep you posted as I progress and will surely have more questions.

 

[insertnamehere]

Not to hijack a thread but I saw it abandoned here and figured the OP would not mind. I have been following @Docd187123 @Masters Power and of course @insertnamehere advice exactly as the OP. Started doing heavy bench twice a week now. Hit an ugly 315 last Saturday. A nice 315 Wednesday and then a very nice 320 today (new PR). Setup is much better then when I started. I do not have anyone to video it this time. Just wondering if I could get more weight up if I use a belt and should I be wrapping my wrists? Wrists never hurt afterwards

Thanks again for the help. I will keep you posted as I progress and will surely have more questions.

If wearing a belt will increase your ability to brace your midsection while performing the lift, then it will help you execute the lift more effectively by increasing your efficiency of kinetic energy flow, allowing it to transfer from the floor, through your body, and finally to the weight in your hands - therefore you'll be able to lift more weight. If the bracing effect from wearing the belt is neutral or marginal, then you probably won't notice much difference.

Recently I noticed something was off with my bench - it just didn't feel "right". After some investigation and trial and error, I figured out that I wasn't bracing my midsection hard enough. Once I focused on bracing hard through the entire lift, it immediately felt better. I subsequently and confidently added more weight to the bar and had a great bench session.

I suggest first trying to focus on actively bracing your midsection without a belt to see if it improves your lift. If there's improvement, great, now you know you need to be more active with bracing. After that's established one way or the other, then try wearing a belt and document the results. This little experiment should confirm or reject the use of a belt while benching.

As far as wrist wraps, if you're wrists are bending back "too far" then you're losing some energy that should be transferring to the weight in your hand. Wrist wraps will help with minimizing energy lose and help keep your wrists healthy as you continue to progress. Like with the belt, try it out and see what happens.

 

[Wreck it Ralph]

try it out and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice, as always I will give it a try. When experimenting with things like bracing my midsection, what percentage of my max should I be using?