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.
It is important to understand that while you may consider the figure you can bench or squat to be of huge importance, you can still build a great physique without ever notching up a world record of Olympic standards.
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. Focus on bettering your grip strength.
2. Perform a reverse warm-up to better prepare your muscles for a heavy set.
3. Perform negative reps with a spotter on any lift you wish to increase.
Not many people understand the true importance of grip strength when it comes to your big lifts. But make no mistake about it, a good grip makes for a more impressive move. In fact, you are generally doing something wrong if you don't feel your forearms giving way before you legs and back on an exercise such as the deadlift. Given that it is a significantly smaller and less powerful muscle than the others which are involved in the exercise, it is easy to understand why it is usually the first one to go.
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 reverse warm-up, otherwise known as a Hulk warm-up due to the fact Lou Ferrigno used the technique frequently, is another great way to boost any big lift. This involves using your warm-up set to go heavier than you plan to go in your working sets, thus tricking the body into recruiting more muscle fibers in the build up to your proper sets. While this might sound odd, it is a time-served technique adopted by many power lifters the world over. For example, if you plan on lifting 100 kg in a squat, try performing a set consisting of fewer reps with 110 kg (with a spotter, of course). Suddenly, that 100 kg lift seems remarkably easier than it normally would. This is because the body has reacted to your reverse warm-up by recruiting many more muscle fibers in the areas you are hitting, allowing you to push past things which were previously difficult.
If you use this particular technique quite sparingly, you will notice it becomes a very valuable tool when you reach sticking points on your journey to building the type of body you want.
The final technique for increasing your compound lifts in the gym comes in the form of negative repetitions. The negative section of a repetition is the portion where your muscle isn't working, i.e. the phase of a bench press where you are lowering the bar towards your chest. Believe it or not, that is the phase which most people have the greatest difficulty with, not the lifting phase. It is also the phase where most people go wrong, lowering the bar too quickly. At least 50% of the benefits to a compound move can be found in correctly performing the negative phase of the move, so stop dropping down so fast on your squats and deadlifts.
Focus on using a weight heavier than you would usually go and have a spotter to help you do the concentric portion of the exercise before leaving you to do the negative phase on your own. Take your time on each rep.
While there is certainly no 'quick fix' in the gym, utilizing time tested techniques such as the three you have picked up today is a sure-fire way to boost any flagging compound lifts in the gym. Learning how to improve your bench press or squat is often a case of learning how to strengthen your brute strength rather than spending hours blasting the muscle in the hope of spurring new growth.
It is important to understand that while you may consider the figure you can bench or squat to be of huge importance, you can still build a great physique without ever notching up a world record of Olympic standards.
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. Focus on bettering your grip strength.
2. Perform a reverse warm-up to better prepare your muscles for a heavy set.
3. Perform negative reps with a spotter on any lift you wish to increase.
Not many people understand the true importance of grip strength when it comes to your big lifts. But make no mistake about it, a good grip makes for a more impressive move. In fact, you are generally doing something wrong if you don't feel your forearms giving way before you legs and back on an exercise such as the deadlift. Given that it is a significantly smaller and less powerful muscle than the others which are involved in the exercise, it is easy to understand why it is usually the first one to go.
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 reverse warm-up, otherwise known as a Hulk warm-up due to the fact Lou Ferrigno used the technique frequently, is another great way to boost any big lift. This involves using your warm-up set to go heavier than you plan to go in your working sets, thus tricking the body into recruiting more muscle fibers in the build up to your proper sets. While this might sound odd, it is a time-served technique adopted by many power lifters the world over. For example, if you plan on lifting 100 kg in a squat, try performing a set consisting of fewer reps with 110 kg (with a spotter, of course). Suddenly, that 100 kg lift seems remarkably easier than it normally would. This is because the body has reacted to your reverse warm-up by recruiting many more muscle fibers in the areas you are hitting, allowing you to push past things which were previously difficult.
If you use this particular technique quite sparingly, you will notice it becomes a very valuable tool when you reach sticking points on your journey to building the type of body you want.
The final technique for increasing your compound lifts in the gym comes in the form of negative repetitions. The negative section of a repetition is the portion where your muscle isn't working, i.e. the phase of a bench press where you are lowering the bar towards your chest. Believe it or not, that is the phase which most people have the greatest difficulty with, not the lifting phase. It is also the phase where most people go wrong, lowering the bar too quickly. At least 50% of the benefits to a compound move can be found in correctly performing the negative phase of the move, so stop dropping down so fast on your squats and deadlifts.
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.
Focus on using a weight heavier than you would usually go and have a spotter to help you do the concentric portion of the exercise before leaving you to do the negative phase on your own. Take your time on each rep.
While there is certainly no 'quick fix' in the gym, utilizing time tested techniques such as the three you have picked up today is a sure-fire way to boost any flagging compound lifts in the gym. Learning how to improve your bench press or squat is often a case of learning how to strengthen your brute strength rather than spending hours blasting the muscle in the hope of spurring new growth.
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 expert knowledge on his fitness and dieting website today.
