Dr_Pangloss Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I've always found BB Benching to be a really unnatural movement, I injured my rotator cuff in my late teens doing that movement and haven't gone back since, always dumbells for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 19 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I've been stuck under the bar on a bench press before. Not seriously, I manoeuvred out of it without anyone even noticing. It does scare you a bit though, I can see how people get in trouble by doing it. It's one of the reasons I don't bench anymore (I do DB press instead of BB). Not out of fear, but I find benchpress is one of those lifts where one rep I'll feel fine, and the next rep I'll fail. There's no warning. So without a spotter I find it quite difficult to really push myself on bench because I'm always wary that I might hit that failure rep earlier than expected. Same with me. The only alternative is the Smith Machine but I find the movement so unnatural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I never put the locks on the ends of the barbell when benching, just so if I was to fail and it fell I'd just have to lean to one side and let the weights drop to the floor. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2016 Me too Dante and there are accounts in this very thread of having to do that. Occupational hazard of benching with no spotter. Haven't had to do it in a long time though. I've a much better idea of whether I'll succeed or not now. Unlike Stevo, I do get a warning from one rep to the next. I suspect my first attempt at 80kg on Friday will be touch and go EDIT : It never dawned on me until it happened though, just how fast the bar springs back up once one side has unloaded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 My first use of a Smith Machine I almost got trapped underneath because, as like Stevo said, I got no warning. The rep before felt difficult but OK. I had to slide myself from underneath it because I didn't realise there were adjustable stoppers underneath the last rung for re-racking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I remember reading this for bench press. Made a big difference. Especially the location of the elbows. http://www.builtlean.com/2013/10/24/bench-press-form/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20, 2016 Just now, Dante_Lockhart said: I remember reading this for bench press. Made a big difference. Especially the location of the elbows. http://www.builtlean.com/2013/10/24/bench-press-form/ The elbows is a huge thing. Best thing I ever did for my lifts was start again. So deloaded and worked my way back up using proper form. For bench (DB) the elbows were a huge part of that, along with ensuring the weights come all the way down and that the chest is squeezed hard at the top of the lift. It meant I couldn't lift as heavy as I was before, but I was much better off for it. Weight is just a number. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Weight is definitely just a number. I find that when I do my low weight, high rep days I get a much better pump and feel like I've done 'more' than on my heavier days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20, 2016 I feel like I've made more gains in my most recent bulk than I have in my previous 3 combined. Probably down to lowering the weight slightly and making sure form was spot on on everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I used to struggle with bench press so stopped for awhile and trained my triceps twice a week. Made a huge difference to me and its probably my strongest lift after deadlifts now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 9 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said: Weight is definitely just a number. I find that when I do my low weight, high rep days I get a much better pump and feel like I've done 'more' than on my heavier days. I think there's a good chance you actually will have! Total load shifted is an important consideration. For example, 3 sets of 120kg x 6 = 2160kg lifted. 3 sets of 80kg x 12 = 2880kg lifted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2016 37 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said: I find that when I do my low weight, high rep days I get a much better pump and feel like I've done 'more' than on my heavier days. That is true for me too. The pump is far more with the higher reps but it is temporary. I'm just conscious that you won't get stronger from the lower weight. It doesn't matter, for example, how many times you bicep curl a 10kg dumbbell, it won't help you to lift a 20kg one. To do that easily, you'll eventually have to go and lift the 20kg one. Although it might help with definition somewhat. I invariably prefer going with the higher weight lower reps. Once I'm getting stronger, I figure the rest will follow and I won't be going too far wrong with it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) Depends on your goals. If your goals are to get stronger and lift as much weight as you can, then obviously the numbers matter. Personally, I don't really care about what I can lift. I just care about how I look with my shirt off For example, I don't think my strength has ever been better than it was when I was doing 5x5. I set PRs during that that I still haven't beaten, and it was 2 years ago. But I look a hell of a lot better now than I did then. Edited January 20, 2016 by Stevo985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2016 Well that's obviously a large part of it, but there's definitely a fairly sizeable correlation between the 2 aswell :-) Being able to lift more probably means larger muscles which probably means more muscle mass with the old shirt off. Whereas the other way you'll have to arrange your workout for just before you're scheduled to have the shirt off just so that you've got your pump on But we're heading into dangerous territory here ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 23 minutes ago, BOF said: That is true for me too. The pump is far more with the higher reps but it is temporary. I'm just conscious that you won't get stronger from the lower weight. It doesn't matter, for example, how many times you bicep curl a 10kg dumbbell, it won't help you to lift a 20kg one. To do that easily, you'll eventually have to go and lift the 20kg one. Although it might help with definition somewhat. I invariably prefer going with the higher weight lower reps. Once I'm getting stronger, I figure the rest will follow and I won't be going too far wrong with it. The two are by no means mutually exclusive. Train some exercises for strength and then follow them up with higher volume accessory movements. I always have a variety of rep ranges in my programs, ranging from sets of 1-3 to sets of 20+. So for example, I'm just about to go and train my back and will do something resembling the following: 1A Wide/neutral grip pull-up +30kg 4 x 3-5 1B Band pull-aparts 4 x as many as possible 2 DB row 55kg 4 x 8-10 3A Incline EZ bar row 70kg 3 x 12-15 3B Plate isometric hold 40kg 3 x as long as possible 4 Cable face pulls 32.5kg 3 x 20-25 By no means flawless but a decent rule of thumb to bear in mind. It can also be periodised in blocks of individual days, weeks, months etc. There's loads of science-y stuff about fast and slow twitch fibres and which each muscle group is primarily made up of that tends to have an impact on the ideal rep range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 11 minutes ago, BOF said: Well that's obviously a large part of it, but there's definitely a fairly sizeable correlation between the 2 aswell :-) Being able to lift more probably means larger muscles which probably means more muscle mass with the old shirt off. Whereas the other way you'll have to arrange your workout for just before you're scheduled to have the shirt off just so that you've got your pump on But we're heading into dangerous territory here ... That's definitely true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) 22 minutes ago, BOF said: Well that's obviously a large part of it, but there's definitely a fairly sizeable correlation between the 2 aswell :-) Being able to lift more probably means larger muscles which probably means more muscle mass with the old shirt off. Whereas the other way you'll have to arrange your workout for just before you're scheduled to have the shirt off just so that you've got your pump on But we're heading into dangerous territory here ... Of course the two aren't mutually exclusive. And I wasn't suggesting just getting a pump on before you go to the beach In general progression is going to build muscle, of course. The point I was trying to make, albeit evidently badly, was that lifting slightly lower weight and nailing your form is going to be more beneficial to how you look than using poor form and lifting an extra 10kg. I'm not saying you do that, but I think I did previously. I'd push myself to bench that extra 10kg by flaring my elbows and lifting my butt off the bench. It would get it up there, but since then I've concentrated much more on form and contraction etc and less on the number on the dumbbells. it means I can't claim to have a 110kg bench press anymore, but I look better for it. Strength workouts don't necessarily concentrate on size and "looks". You'll get some as a result of course, but not as much as other regimes. Edited January 20, 2016 by Stevo985 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2016 1 minute ago, Stevo985 said: The point I was trying to make, albeit evidently badly, was that lifting slightly lower weight and nailing your form is going to be more beneficial to how you look than using poor form and lifting an extra 10kg. I'm not saying you do that, but I think I did previously. Yep, no argument there if it was a form discussion. I was purely on about reps versus weight. Although as JB points out, there is a science to the benefit of both approaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20, 2016 Just now, BOF said: Yep, no argument there if it was a form discussion. I was purely on about reps versus weight. Although as JB points out, there is a science to the benefit of both approaches. Yeah I wasn't really talking about reps, although it's a valid discussion. For example, the GVT I've just finished has definitely given me noticeable gains in size (not just a temporary pump). But having switched back to my usual split since then, my strength has actually dropped off slightly on various lifts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 25, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 25, 2016 Succeeded first time at 5x5x80kg bench which was a slight surprise. 82.5 will be tricky on Wednesday because I was all-but done by the end of it. Think I might also see if I can do a 1x90kg too as I'm now definitely approaching where I was at my peak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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