Bench Press over 400lbs?

MrSkullCrusher said:
MY best raw lift in competition is 529lbs. I will put a vid up of it soon. What seems to help my lifts is doing a heavy day and then a light day and also some really heave skullcrusher and pushdowns and also reverse cable One-arm pulldowns.Some band work too.
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Impressive raw bench! What class/division do you compete in?
 
My best in competition is 440 raw and 650 shirted. Tips... stick to a few basic exercises. Your main exercise is your meat and potatoes. I think sometimes we forget that some rep work will help the strength. I train most of my accessory movements (pushdowns, skull crushers, etc) with light weight and very high reps (around 20).

Exercises that helped my raw bench the most were feet up on bench (like a floor press but full range of motion), incline, and regular grip bench (paused). I did a lot of 1 and 2 board work for reps as a second exercise.

Deload every now and then to stop the pec problems, I'm just coming out of a partial tear. Good times.

Obviously form is huge. It really is worthwhile to learn to retract your shoulder blades and tuck the elbows while you bench. Once you learn how to use your lats to lower the weight you are on your way. This takes a while so be patient. I do some sort of upper back work a minimum of 3x per week. Scapular retraction is massive! Staying tight is just as important, you really should be very uncomfortable when you're set up.
 
jcp2 said:
You lift in CT?
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I live in Southern Maine but have trained in CT with Matt Rhodes and Vincent Dizenzo. Actually I think Vin is doing a bench seminar at TPS in MA sometime in July. He has probably had the biggest influence on my bench.
 
CJPopovich said:
I live in Southern Maine but have trained in CT with Matt Rhodes and Vincent Dizenzo. Actually I think Vin is doing a bench seminar at TPS in MA sometime in July. He has probably had the biggest influence on my bench.
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I thought your name looked familiar, and the "good times" gave it away. I train with Joel Toranzo in Jersey.
 
CJPopovich said:
My best in competition is 440 raw and 650 shirted. Tips... stick to a few basic exercises. Your main exercise is your meat and potatoes. I think sometimes we forget that some rep work will help the strength. I train most of my accessory movements (pushdowns, skull crushers, etc) with light weight and very high reps (around 20).

Exercises that helped my raw bench the most were feet up on bench (like a floor press but full range of motion), incline, and regular grip bench (paused). I did a lot of 1 and 2 board work for reps as a second exercise.

Deload every now and then to stop the pec problems, I'm just coming out of a partial tear. Good times.

Obviously form is huge. It really is worthwhile to learn to retract your shoulder blades and tuck the elbows while you bench. Once you learn how to use your lats to lower the weight you are on your way. This takes a while so be patient. I do some sort of upper back work a minimum of 3x per week. Scapular retraction is massive! Staying tight is just as important, you really should be very uncomfortable when you're set up.
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I've just started working back in the last couple months. I do a form of bent over row, which consists of stratelling the bar while bent over and pulling the bar up to chest with 140lbs or so 4x12. This seems to work pretty good but I could probably do another lift, any suggestions?
 
Hard Knox said:
I've just started working back in the last couple months. I do a form of bent over row, which consists of stratelling the bar while bent over and pulling the bar up to chest with 140lbs or so 4x12. This seems to work pretty good but I could probably do another lift, any suggestions?
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Bent over rows are great and they obviously work for a huge number of people, but I personally don't get a whole lot out of them, so I don't really do them all that often -I'll cycle them in from time to time. I really prefer these:

-chest supported rows
-pullups,
-standing lat pulls to belly (touch in the same spot you touch when benching, arch back and with your shoulder blades pinched, tuck on the way down and flare on the way up)
-standing seated cable rows (stand over the bench on a seated cable row, lean back, pinch the shoulders and pull)

For upper back, scapula retraction, I do these:
-cable crossovers scapular retraction (see Kelso's Shrug book)
-Kelso's (same thing on a chest supported row)
-Face Pulls
-Strict high bar rows (sit up close on a seated cable machine, knees on the foot pad sitting up straight, row the bar high, elbows out and up)


I think one of the better tips I got was to just get the work done. I do some upper back and/or lat work usually 3x per week. One day is heavy, the other days I just lift a weight a bunch of times, getting work done.

A worthwhile investment is Kelso's Shrug Book. Paul Kelso goes over a lot of useful lat/upper back/trap movements. It has made a significant difference for me. The book is pretty cheap too.
 
CJPopovich said:
Bent over rows are great and they obviously work for a huge number of people, but I personally don't get a whole lot out of them, so I don't really do them all that often -I'll cycle them in from time to time. I really prefer these:

-chest supported rows
-pullups,
-standing lat pulls to belly (touch in the same spot you touch when benching, arch back and with your shoulder blades pinched, tuck on the way down and flare on the way up)
-standing seated cable rows (stand over the bench on a seated cable row, lean back, pinch the shoulders and pull)

For upper back, scapula retraction, I do these:
-cable crossovers scapular retraction (see Kelso's Shrug book)
-Kelso's (same thing on a chest supported row)
-Face Pulls
-Strict high bar rows (sit up close on a seated cable machine, knees on the foot pad sitting up straight, row the bar high, elbows out and up)


I think one of the better tips I got was to just get the work done. I do some upper back and/or lat work usually 3x per week. One day is heavy, the other days I just lift a weight a bunch of times, getting work done.

A worthwhile investment is Kelso's Shrug Book. Paul Kelso goes over a lot of useful lat/upper back/trap movements. It has made a significant difference for me. The book is pretty cheap too.
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Good info, I'll have to check this book out. Does it have good illustrations?
 
jcp2 said:
I hung around 400 for years as i was lifting in a shirt that time. I started to lift for my raw for a few months and put about 20 or 30 lbs on it with a comp pause. I can tell you westside did not work at all. the best thing i did for it was a program i got from a Canadian national thrower. it was basically you start low and do 8 singles that either have to stay at the same weight or increase so my first workout was this 345, 345, 345, 345, 350, 350, 350, 350. Then next week you have to start where you left off, so it was 350. After your 8 singles you do 5x5 at 80% of your last rep. I did these touch and go and the singles paused. I am 6'3 with long arms. My problem is i keep tweaking my pec at the bottom. I was lifting flat footed, but am going back to arching with tucked feet to see if i can take some strain of my pec.


I did that workout for 8 weeks or so and it worked well, i think my last workout i hit 8 singles at 385, 390, 390, 395, 395, 400, 405, 410 and they were all pretty good. thery were all paused.


Well, today was my third day on this routine and I hit 335, 335, 335, 335, 340, 340, 340, 340, then 5x5 with 270, so I would say it's working so far, just bumped to 30mgs of Havoc three days ago so that makes a total of 10 days I've been on (first week was @ 20mgs). I plan on bumping at least 5lbs a week if not 10. I'll keep you guys posted.
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jcp2 said:
I hung around 400 for years as i was lifting in a shirt that time. I started to lift for my raw for a few months and put about 20 or 30 lbs on it with a comp pause. I can tell you westside did not work at all. the best thing i did for it was a program i got from a Canadian national thrower. it was basically you start low and do 8 singles that either have to stay at the same weight or increase so my first workout was this 345, 345, 345, 345, 350, 350, 350, 350. Then next week you have to start where you left off, so it was 350. After your 8 singles you do 5x5 at 80% of your last rep. I did these touch and go and the singles paused. I am 6'3 with long arms. My problem is i keep tweaking my pec at the bottom. I was lifting flat footed, but am going back to arching with tucked feet to see if i can take some strain of my pec.

I did that workout for 8 weeks or so and it worked well, i think my last workout i hit 8 singles at 385, 390, 390, 395, 395, 400, 405, 410 and they were all pretty good. thery were all paused.


Accessory work that always helped was pin presses of a few inches off my chest bottom up for sets of 5-8.
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Same as above with correct Quote, not quite sure what happened but here it is. Well, today was my third day on this routine and I hit 335, 335, 335, 335, 340, 340, 340, 340, then 5x5 with 270, so I would say it's working so far, just bumped to 30mgs of Havoc three days ago so that makes a total of 10 days I've been on (first week was @ 20mgs). I plan on bumping at least 5lbs a week if not 10. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
Well yesterdays workout went great! 340, 340, 340, 340, 345, 345, 345, 345 then 4x5 with 280 and they were going up so easy that I had to add weight so I bumped to 295 for the last set of five and they were all smooth and steady. Movin' on up!!
 
thats great man. just be careful and take care of yourself. im 21 and had a max bench of 430...and then i tore my labrum and did some structural damage while benching. just take care of yourself.
 
Over benching is one of the most destructive things you can do to your shoulders. have you thought about moving to incline for a while?
 
Genetic79 said:
Over benching is one of the most destructive things you can do to your shoulders. have you thought about moving to incline for a while?
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yeah i usually do inclines anyways during my chest workout. i tried going with dumbbells for a while but still had pain with both. i recently got checked out and am scheduled for surgery august 20th...and then no more weights until after New Years.
 
bigpapa said:
thats great man. just be careful and take care of yourself. im 21 and had a max bench of 430...and then i tore my labrum and did some structural damage while benching. just take care of yourself.
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Thanks man, I'm definitely concentrating on proper form. I noticed some joint pain in my left shoulder last week and threw in some Omega-3 and I'm almost 100% now, feeling good. I've always taken Glucosamine but it just wasn't cutting it for this routine.
 
It depends on where you place the bar, I do inclines to my chin/neck area. the reason I switched bench totally fugged up my shoulders. Stop benching pain went away. Started incline pain never came back....simple choice for me. When I try bench now my right shoulder feel unstable. If I was you I would try different arcs or angles to your press. Or try different depths, you don't have to go all the way down....it's not a golden rule. Bottom is mostly front delts until about 2 - 3 inches off your chest. You gotta do what works for you.
 
A lot of "pain" when benching is due to form. If you're benching elbows out, with little to no scapular retraction you can expect lots of shoulder problems. This is 99% of the guys in the gym. Most people I've worked with who can't bench b/c of pain can actually press just fine once they learn how to tuck the elbows the right amount, and work on the scapular retraction bit. There are exceptions, some guys just can't bench b/c they have serous shoulder problems, but I've never seen a guy who could incline with no pain but couldn't bench once the form was squared away.

You have to work the **** out of your upper back; rear delts, anything that retracts the scapulae, traps help too, and work your lats in the same pattern as you bench. Rebuild the foundation from which you press. Hope it helps.
 
form is definately the key. when i first started working out, for the first couple of months my dad had me just concentrate on form before any weight was put on. great form will yield greater results rather than bad form and alot of weight.
 
I retracted my scapula from day 1....my problem was I benched damn near everyday. I was under the impression that more was better, well it was for a while got 510 before I stopped. But I also payed the price also.
 
I've noticed on cycle I can rest about 1 day less, assuming sleep is up to par.

Right now I'm resting 4 days. Off cycle, maybe closer to 5. Depends on volume.

My volume is about 5-6 very intense sets. Rep ranges 6-8, 10-12, 4-6.


I'm in a 1500 caloric deficet with T3, and I'm slowly gaining strength....


That being said, I'm not a 400 LB bencher or even close. I doubt I have the genetics to do it with my medium build and 82 inch reach.
 
CryingEmo said:
I've noticed on cycle I can rest about 1 day less, assuming sleep is up to par.

Right now I'm resting 4 days. Off cycle, maybe closer to 5. Depends on volume.

My volume is about 5-6 very intense sets. Rep ranges 6-8, 10-12, 4-6.


I'm in a 1500 caloric deficet with T3, and I'm slowly gaining strength....


That being said, I'm not a 400 LB bencher or even close. I doubt I have the genetics to do it with my medium build and 82 inch reach.
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82 inch reach??? Can you say GO GO Gadget Arms? Ha Ha, I thought that my 77 inch reach was huge. It definitely makes the old bench press tougher, without a doubt.
 
Hard Knox said:
82 inch reach??? Can you say GO GO Gadget Arms? Ha Ha, I thought that my 77 inch reach was huge. It definitely makes the old bench press tougher, without a doubt.
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I'm about 6'6 ish though. Plus my shoulder width is medium. Not very narrow, or very wide, but medium, which would probably be the same as most guys that are 6'1 but have shorter arms. This is why I suck at pressing.


Although I can deadlift ALOT naturally.
 
CryingEmo said:
I'm about 6'6 ish though. Plus my shoulder width is medium. Not very narrow, or very wide, but medium, which would probably be the same as most guys that are 6'1 but have shorter arms. This is why I suck at pressing.


Although I can deadlift ALOT naturally.
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I see, yeah at 6 and a half feet your normal reach would be 78 inches, but your still long armed even for that height. Have you tried an extremely wide grip? I go a full hand width outside the lines.
 
Hard Knox said:
I see, yeah at 6 and a half feet your normal reach would be 78 inches, but your still long armed even for that height. Have you tried an extremely wide grip? I go a full hand width outside the lines.
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I'm stronger wider, yes. I haven't tried that wide though. I think your pressing strength also depends on your shoulder width. You could have 82 inch arms, but a very wide build, which is a larger foundation, more surface area, and easier to press the same weight.


Going closer goes a long way to strengthening the normal / wide grip I've noticed.


Maybe try the alternative approach. Heavy wide/normal one day. The next time you lift go heavier and closer. And back and forth.
 
Hmm, 6'6'', 82'' reach? Crying Emo = Tim Sylvia? An elongated Jared Leto?

How much do you DL CE and what do you weigh?
 
Chains are a great way to improve your bench, what you need to do is break down the lift. You should focus on the two sticking points the one is right off your chest and the other is the lock out.....also rather than just working the back I would focus on the rear delts and triceps make sure you are tucking your elbows in and bring the bar to your lower chest/ upper stomach

Max BP= 536.5
 
pushpull24 said:
Chains are a great way to improve your bench, what you need to do is break down the lift. You should focus on the two sticking points the one is right off your chest and the other is the lock out.....also rather than just working the back I would focus on the rear delts and triceps make sure you are tucking your elbows in and bring the bar to your lower chest/ upper stomach

Max BP= 536.5
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Nice!! Yeah I've been focusing on that very bar placement lately and moving up nicely.
 
Well today's workout went good. Not as good as I would have liked because I mowed all day yesterday and was a little sore from that. All that aside I still bumped ten lbs. It went like this: 350, 350, 350, 350, 355, 355, 355, 355 then a 5x5 with 295, alll reps were done without assistance, but I just didn't feel as explosive from working my a** off yesterday. Still movin' on up!!!
 
best in a comp was 375 at 230lbs. If it is not in a comp, it is not a true max I feel. I hope to hit 405 b4 the end of this year, but there won't be a comp for a while around here.
 
Hard Knox said:
Well today's workout went good. Not as good as I would have liked because I mowed all day yesterday and was a little sore from that. All that aside I still bumped ten lbs. It went like this: 350, 350, 350, 350, 355, 355, 355, 355 then a 5x5 with 295, alll reps were done without assistance, but I just didn't feel as explosive from working my a** off yesterday. Still movin' on up!!!
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Nice workout. They all aren't great, but as long as you get through them its all good.
 
Well todays workout was a little rough. I had a very taxing day yesterday and was not at 100% but I still lifted anyway. It went something like this; 360, 360, 360, 360, then on number 5 I got stalled out so I went directly into my 5x5 and since my arms were sore as a Beeaatch I stayed with 295 for these. Another rough one but I got through everything else just fine and still got my PUMP on. Next Monday should be better with 360 and 365, don't worry I'll be sure to let you guys know. Until then Keep on Keepin' on BABY:thumbsup:
 
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