[Nick912]

Carlon Colker is pretty darn smart when it comes to this sport. He has his own thread on another board. You guys should go check it out

[guyfromkop2]

i know a bunch of guys that have HUGE benches, and not one of them puts their feet up on the bench. if you want to get rid of leg drive then do floor presses.

[kwyckemynd00]

Originally Posted by Basso

What has happened is that you have fallen into a "school of thought" I'm simply avoiding fixed movements for core movements. By using the smith, you avoid building the anchilleries for that movement, which in turn raise your chance for injury. Sounds like you needed to adjust your work out not quit it. I'm not trying to start an argument, I just hate seeing someone being misguided by the "Smith gods" Anyway you do what works for you, I'm just passing on some experience. (former smithy)

Eh, nobody convinced me to use a smith machine...I just did it. I'm not saying that flat bench may not work better for growth (although, I don't do flat smith, I only do incline smith), I'm just saying that to me the saftey to growth ratio is just right

My warmup on the flat bench (usually 3 sets) and my one heavy working set is plenty enough for me...and my shoulders feel much better now, so I"ll stick to it

[Gettinpumped]

Good job brol Keep on training harn and soon u'll be posting that u h it 315

[peterson24]

Just in my personal expieriance, I always had trouble with bench until about 7 years ago. At that point, I couldn't even get 185. Then I met a good buddy of mine. He introduced me to a 3 day 5 sets of 5 powerlifting routine. It concentrated on the big three muscle groups with a heavy medium and light day. The concept has been around for a long time and bill starr wrote a book about it "Only the strong shall survive" a long time ago. When I started on this program, I shot through that plateau so quick, it was ridiculous. That program with the proper eating was the best gains I ever saw, though I was still like 19-20 at that point so there was a ton of room to grow. Just keep eating, training hard and watch your form and you'll be fine. Good job on the max. After I was done at the program, I was hitting 205x5 for my last set. Still wasn't great for weighing 170 at the time but a hell of a lot better than where I use to be.

[Poobah]

Yeep shut up and lift...

well actually I've expereince the most explosive growth of late, hitting chest 2 times a week with periodization... swinging from a high end of 3 x 12's down to a low end of 4 x 4's... with occasional maxing out.

But whatever your doing make sure your eating, sleeping and recovering before you lift more....

OH and don't forget the importance of DB's... The ability to control and press Heavy ass dumbells is the ability to control a really heavy ass barbell.

Other then have fun.. lol

--

I'm about to under go some serious powerlifting training though, so I may feel different about somethings shortly.. I'm fairly sure I'll be working in the world of 1-4 reps for the forseeable future....

[Spartan117]

OH and don't forget the importance of DB's... The ability to control and press Heavy ass dumbells is the ability to control a really heavy ass barbell.

Poohbah, my db press and my barbell press don't correlate like that. If I work db's for a while my flat bench usually goes down and vice versa. I usually just do db presses now anyways, but I was just wandering do your flats go up after working heavy db?

[Poobah]

Originally Posted by Spartan117

OH and don't forget the importance of DB's... The ability to control and press Heavy ass dumbells is the ability to control a really heavy ass barbell.

Poohbah, my db press and my barbell press don't correlate like that. If I work db's for a while my flat bench usually goes down and vice versa. I usually just do db presses now anyways, but I was just wandering do your flats go up after working heavy db?

Absolutely they have...

During my twice a week chest routine... one day I'd hit BB flat and the next day I'd hit the DB flat.. and almost without fail I'd add considerable weight or reps to each.

Perhaps its your db form? When I do db presses now a days, I try to keep my elbows tucked toward my body, arch my back, pinch my shoulder blades and fire my lats just like I would during a max BB press... I'm still working on form of course.. but more or less db has become a supplemental support e xercise to bb bench. here's a vid of me hitting 112.5 x 7.

http://www.mightysworld.com/Member_V.../dbpresses.wmv

The following week, I hit 8 8 and 9.. and the week after that, I hit 122.5 for 3 sets of 5. During which time of course I maxed out a 340 flat bench.

There must be a reason, why your flat would get weaker, cause it doesn't really make to much sense. Hmmm.

[guyfromkop2]

Originally Posted by Poobah

swinging from a high end of 3 x 12's down to a low end of 4 x 4's...

you wont be doing that anymore

[Spartan117]

Poobah, thanks my elbows are not tucked that much. I always keep them more perpendicular to my body which thinking about it now probably places more emphasis on the front delts.

[GettingSwole]

Originally Posted by Spartan117

Poobah, thanks my elbows are not tucked that much. I always keep them more perpendicular to my body which thinking about it now probably places more emphasis on the front delts.

It also puts way more stress on your rotator cuffs, tuck your elbows unless you want shoulder problems. Also, put your feet on the ground as you will have more stability thus being able to control the weight better. The less you injure yourself the better.

[Blesum]

1-year later Update:

Broke my collarbone twice since the 185 personal best bench. First time was during the bike portion while racing in a triathlon. Second time was 4 months later while splitting lanes on my motorcycle (legal) and some guy hit me seemingly on purpose (couldn't be proven but insurance company removed me from blame based on eyewitness accounts).

I am back at the 185 pound mark again in my last two chest workouts. 3 unassisted reps last week at 185, 2 unassisted reps this week at 185. Not quite sure why I lost one rep but...

Photo comparisons show my chest to be more well-rounded this year than last year though. Still annoyingly flat looking though. Doing more compound movements, push-ups and about 2% BF leaner now.

190 next month!

-Blesum