Learning how to improve your bench press is a tricky and often over complicated affair for most gym members. Many of them spend time focusing on endless sets of cable crossovers and other assistance exercises in a bid to pack on more poundage when they hit the bench but, as you will discover in today's article, the answers to getting bigger compound lifts are actually quite simple.
While having a big bench press or squat is not inherently important to the overall results you can achieve with your physique in the gym, it remains a hotly discussed topic in most gyms and is used by most men as a barometer of how well their training is going.
Increasing the three big lifts (chest press, deadlift and back squat) is often a game of working muscles that most guys neglect, such a forearms. The following three techniques will help you to get maximum results in minimum time:
1. Work on your grip strength with assistance exercises focusing on forearms.
2. Perform a reverse warm-up to better prepare your muscles for a heavy set.
3. Negative reps allow you to focus on a portion of the exercise where the biggest strength gains can be obtained from.
The first rule is perhaps the most important of all. Without a firm grip you will be unable to increase many of your compound lifts, especially your deadlift. That's because your lift will be limited to the strength of your forearms, which will easily give out before your back or your legs. This means priority number one simply has to be incorporating more grip-based strength work into your routine around those big lifts.
Exercises such as plate grips, wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and reverse curls with an EZ bar will prove to be huge assets in improving your grip.
Of course, your grip also plays a hugely underestimated role on exercises like chest press. Learn how to focus on 'pulling the bar apart' as you do the exercise and you will begin to notice how much more you can derive from every repetition.
A Hulk warm-up, or reverse warm-up as it is also known, is a great technique which you rarely see in commercial gyms. That's largely due to the fact that it often requires a spotter, but there is nothing stopping you from using this technique if you have a regular training partner who shares the same goals as you. It gets it's name from bodybuilder Lour Ferrigno, who used this technique during the 1970's and went on to play the Hulk in the TV series. It consists of using a slightly heavier weight for your final warm-up set than you plan to use in your working sets. So, if your goal is to squat with 120 kg today, get yourself warmed up and then perform a set with, for example, 140 kg for a few reps with the aid of a spotter. Your body will recruit much more fibers in the muscle due to the unexpected load, suddenly making your upcoming 120 kg lift feel somewhat light.
Providing you use it safely and sparingly, you can increase any big compound lift using this technique.
The final compound improving technique is eccentric reps, or 'negatives' as they are more commonly known. A negative rep involves a spotter or training partner helping you to perform the lifting (concentric) phase of the exercise before leaving you to slowly perform the lowering (eccentric) portion by yourself. Around half the muscle building results in compound lifts are hidden away in the negative portion of the exercise, so it makes sense to focus on this aspect from time to time.
Again, as with Hulk warm-ups, try to go heavier than you usually would because this only involves you working solo during the lowering phase.
If you adopt the three techniques in today's article you will undoubtedly see an increase in any big lift on the gym floor. If you have been wondering how to improve your bench press and were performing endless assistance exercises such as dumbbell flyes and cable crossovers, you may be surprised to find that the techniques today involve simple things such as grip and reverse warm-up sets. However, each of the methods is proven and very, very effective.
While having a big bench press or squat is not inherently important to the overall results you can achieve with your physique in the gym, it remains a hotly discussed topic in most gyms and is used by most men as a barometer of how well their training is going.
Increasing the three big lifts (chest press, deadlift and back squat) is often a game of working muscles that most guys neglect, such a forearms. The following three techniques will help you to get maximum results in minimum time:
1. Work on your grip strength with assistance exercises focusing on forearms.
2. Perform a reverse warm-up to better prepare your muscles for a heavy set.
3. Negative reps allow you to focus on a portion of the exercise where the biggest strength gains can be obtained from.
The first rule is perhaps the most important of all. Without a firm grip you will be unable to increase many of your compound lifts, especially your deadlift. That's because your lift will be limited to the strength of your forearms, which will easily give out before your back or your legs. This means priority number one simply has to be incorporating more grip-based strength work into your routine around those big lifts.
Exercises such as plate grips, wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and reverse curls with an EZ bar will prove to be huge assets in improving your grip.
Of course, your grip also plays a hugely underestimated role on exercises like chest press. Learn how to focus on 'pulling the bar apart' as you do the exercise and you will begin to notice how much more you can derive from every repetition.
A Hulk warm-up, or reverse warm-up as it is also known, is a great technique which you rarely see in commercial gyms. That's largely due to the fact that it often requires a spotter, but there is nothing stopping you from using this technique if you have a regular training partner who shares the same goals as you. It gets it's name from bodybuilder Lour Ferrigno, who used this technique during the 1970's and went on to play the Hulk in the TV series. It consists of using a slightly heavier weight for your final warm-up set than you plan to use in your working sets. So, if your goal is to squat with 120 kg today, get yourself warmed up and then perform a set with, for example, 140 kg for a few reps with the aid of a spotter. Your body will recruit much more fibers in the muscle due to the unexpected load, suddenly making your upcoming 120 kg lift feel somewhat light.
Providing you use it safely and sparingly, you can increase any big compound lift using this technique.
The final compound improving technique is eccentric reps, or 'negatives' as they are more commonly known. A negative rep involves a spotter or training partner helping you to perform the lifting (concentric) phase of the exercise before leaving you to slowly perform the lowering (eccentric) portion by yourself. Around half the muscle building results in compound lifts are hidden away in the negative portion of the exercise, so it makes sense to focus on this aspect from time to time.
The importance of diet is just one of the five rules touched upon in the video guide on how to build muscle accompanying today's article.
Again, as with Hulk warm-ups, try to go heavier than you usually would because this only involves you working solo during the lowering phase.
If you adopt the three techniques in today's article you will undoubtedly see an increase in any big lift on the gym floor. If you have been wondering how to improve your bench press and were performing endless assistance exercises such as dumbbell flyes and cable crossovers, you may be surprised to find that the techniques today involve simple things such as grip and reverse warm-up sets. However, each of the methods is proven and very, very effective.
About the Author:
Further details: Successful personal trainer Russ Howe PTI teaches you how to improve your bench press with these cutting edge tips. Discover how to build muscle with the great tips on his workout and nutrition website today.
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