Under:
Norman Stanway,
130 pound holder of the
Canadian featherweight press record.
I have never bothered much with the "assistance exercises" when training to break records. However, when training and specializing on the Olympic Press, I incorporated a movement in my routine that I believe was directly responsible for increasing my limit press considerably. Coupled with this fact is that I also could overcome staleness in the press by performing this assistance exercise for short periods of time and discontinue the standing press completely.
I also found to my surprise that when I returned to the Olympic Press, I could actually lift more than before the onset of the staleness. I experimented with this assistance movement and discontinued Olympic pressing completely for a period of six weeks. At the end of this time I attempted a limit press and did more than I had ever done before. I was so impressed with this that I designed a routine that was so arranged that this assistance movement formed the greater portion of my pressing period in the workout.
The assistance exercise I used was the two hands bench press with a dead stop at the chest. I spaced my hands on the bar exactly as I would do when performing the standing press. This in itself will develop exceptional locking out ability as the press is completed almost completely with the arms.
Note the shoulder-width grip . . .
Except in rare cases, poundages in excess of what can be lifted in the standing press are used although the position of the arms when locking out is almost identical. From this you can readily see the assistance value of this movement as you are pressing and locking out with a poundage quite a bit in excess of your limit standing press.
After trying this type of bench press you will realize the concentration involved with this pressing movement. By referring to "concentration" I mean that all the body energy can be channeled into the press as the rest of the body is relieved of the strain of standing and supporting a heavy weight at the shoulders. Along with this is the fact that it is impossible to backbend while pressing on the bench if you perform the movement appropriately for our purposes. In many ways this is more a test of unadulterated pressing strength than even the Olympic Press itself.
Almost all advanced lifters have heard of the expression "starting power." This term is usually used in reference to the strength and reflex used to quickly accelerate the bar from its stationary position with the most possible speed. The power is of prime importance when pressing, for the faster the bar moves from its resting point, the more chance there is of succeeding in the lift.
Many lifters are sadly lacking in this ability to drive the bar off the shoulders at the commencement of the press. Without exception all champion pressers possess this starting power. This came naturally to many of these men as I know for a fact that they did nothing but the Olympic Press itself. I feel that these men could have done more in their limit press if they had included the above mentioned assistance exercise.
Correct Technique in the Assistance Bench Press Movement
Position the bar over the chest, arms completely extended. Be sure that the spacing of the hands is identical to that of your standing press. Inhale, filling the chest to capacity and commence lowering the bar in a controlled manner so that it will contact the chest at a point slightly below the nipples.
Allow the chest to take the full weight of the bar so that it is stationary for a full two seconds. Drive the bar off the chest with as much speed as possible and concentrate on maintaining this speed throughout the entire press movement. Exhale when the bar reaches the halfway point of the pressing distance, that is from where the bar rests on the chest to the point when the arms are completely locked out.
It is imperative that the hips remain in contact with the bench at all times, for if the hips are raised during the pressing movement, the benefit of the lift is lost. A good method to use that assures that the hips will remain in contact with the bench is to completely extend the legs just before lowering the bar to the chest. As long as the legs remain in this position the back cannot be arched.
You will find that when bench pressing in the above manner, the poundage lifted will be considerably reduced as compared to what you can lift when bench pressing in the regular fashion. This is due to the close hand spacing and allowing the bar to stop completely at the chest. The gains will also be slower, for I have discovered that when bench pressing in the normal manner, I could make gains of 20 to 30 pounds on my limit press in a period of two to three months when specializing, as compared to only a 15 pound increase over the same time when concentrating on the assistance bench press.
As I stated previously, the assistance bench press is a highly concentrated form of pressing. I have been able to do five single repetitions with 460 pounds in this movement. This would lead one to believe that a limit attempt would be a great deal more, at least 30 to 40 pounds more. I was surprised to find that at that time my best effort was only 15 pounds more, so do not be discouraged if you have a similar experience.
Warm up with a poundage you can comfortably perform 5 repetitions with, allowing the bar to come to a complete stop at the chest with a full 2-second pause each repetition.
Next, do 3 single repetitions, increasing the weight each time so that on the third single a near limit poundage is reached. Perform a minimum of 5 repetitions and stay with this weight until 8 singles can be done.
If you can increase by one single rep each succeeding training period you are making good gains. Don't expect to do more. After you have succeeded doing the required 8 singles increase the poundage, go back to 5 singles and work up to 8, etc., etc.
After you have completed the single repetition portion of your routine, reduce the weight so that a minimum of 3 CONSECUTIVE reps can be done and then perform 3 sets of 3 reps. Do not increase the poundage until 3 sets of 5 can be done. Increase the weight again so that 3 sets of 3 can be performed and work up to 3 sets of 5. Then, increase the weight again so that 3 sets of 3 can be performed and work up to 3 x 5 reps in your succeeding workouts. Increase weight, etc., etc.
Don't push yourself too hard on the heavy single repetitions as this could bring on staleness. You might find that when training for a period of time on this routine you will experience a mild staleness. This will first be noticed when performing the heavy singles. This is a natural occurrence and is experienced by top lifters as well as others.
To overcome this, eliminate the singles from your routine for two or three weeks and continue on with the sets of repetitions. If you wish, you can increase these from 3 sets to 5.
Normally this method will completely overcome the staleness and in a short time you will be lifting more than ever; so after this layoff from the singles, again include them in your routine. If the staleness still persists, eliminate the singles again and continue on with the repetitions for two more weeks. This second rest will, except in extremely rare cases, completely overcome the stale condition.
I feel that performing the standing press in the same training period with your assistance bench press movement is not necessary as the muscles will be overtaxed.
Every third training period substitute the pressing routine you are doing now in place of this bench press routine.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
No comments:
Post a Comment