An article I wrote for benching for an Online magazine/site...

[thewickedtruth]

article is here...there's a link missing in the patch to a setup section but this is the jist of it..what would you have done differently? Thoughts? Ideas? I wished I could have included "cluster" sets before I submitted it to further give it some depth. Let's hear your opinions guys.


This article is dedicated to all the tiny tits out there dreaming of that big bench. I don’t care who you are, where you come from, whether or not you bang your mother, it doesn’t matter. ANYONE can have a big bench if they dedicate themselves to having one. The only limit to your training is the ones you set for yourself. The iron doesn’t give two shits. If this article sounds like a rather hardcore and obscene one, that’s because it is. I’m writing this for those that are going to leave everything on the gym floor and take nothing back home with them. If you’re not willing to give a little blood to better yourself, get the hell out of this article and make some bandwidth for those that are willing to do more than just take up time and space in the gym. I’m going to break it off to you straight. You’re either going to have what it takes or you’re going to be a whimpering pool of nothingness by the time you’re done reading this article. I’ve also geared this up to cover MOST aspects of the bench for people who have access to a gym and it’s proper equipment. If you don’t, read it, take from it what you can use, and go from there. It’ll be a harder road for you but, if this shit were easy, everyone would be boasting a 300lb bench in places other than the Internet. No one single thing makes a big bencher a big bencher. It takes the RIGHT training, setup, techniques, dedication, and a pair that drags the ground to make it to the end of your goal depending on how high you set it. I’ll do my best to cover anything and everything here with enough clout to make sure you will leave with the confidence and knowledge to achieve a cup size larger than your 10 year old sister.

First things first, your setup. Below is an article that should be written in as the 11th commandment on the twin stone tablets as far as I’m concerned. The proper setup will show IMMEDIATE gains on your numbers. Don’t be surprised if your bench goes up 10,15, and with some work, 50lbs once you learn how to get your body setup properly for the bench press.

Read it and practice it. I can’t stress this enough. Having this down will not only give you great success in this lift of lifts but will also ensure you don’t break off more than a few knuckles and some teeth in the process. Injury will not only set you back but could cost you more than you realize. A good setup is paramount in all things just like everything else when it comes to lifting.

The Set-Up
When most people set up for the bench they usually don’t think that what they are doing is the most important part of the lift. They are focused on the weight and maybe the excitement of the meet or training session. What they don’t know is that the game is won or lost in the setup. I don’t think that many local gym rats even think about it at all. Judging by most of what I have seen working in the gym business for 15 odd years most people just lay down and push the bar up in whatever way possible. This is fine if you are a flat back benching gym rat, but when you are looking to do some damage to the state, national, or world record books you will need to pay more attention to your setup. I have personally seen lifters add 50 to 100lbs to their bench in one or two training sessions just by improving their setup. That’s right, 50 to 100lbs!! Most lifters would say only a bench shirt could cause an increase like that. Well I will try to convey in writing the proper way to set up your bench press so you to can enjoy an increase like that.

Lets start with feet position your feet should be spread wide. A good rule of thumb here is to always spread your feet a little wider than you think they should be. If you keep that in your head over time you will be able to get them pretty wide if you are not flexible enough to do so in the beginning. Now lets look at foot placement. The way we will do this is to look at the foot in relation to the knee. The feet should be tucked behind your knees more towards your head, and the angle of your leg from a side view should look like this (<). There are a few reasons for this foot placement the first being the ability to drive hard from your legs without your ass coming up off the bench. The second is stability. The wide stance will provide the base needed to steer heavy weight with a bench shirt on. The actual way you place your feet is also important. We have found that it is best to put the full force of your push onto the balls of your feet, but at the same time pressing the heel to the floor. Pushing the heel to the floor can be used as a fine adjustment knob for getting weight to touch your chest with your shirt on. When you push your heel down this will cause your stomach to rise and will allow the bar to touch.

Now lets move beyond the feet to the hip joint. It is here that we create the angle of the upper leg (<) we are looking for to get the feet in the proper position. This is accomplished by flexing your gluteus as much as possible and rotating your crotch towards the bench (Balls to the bench if you will). If you follow all the steps up till here we have solved the problems of getting max stability with max leg drive, without raising your ass off the bench. For most lifters this would seem impossible but with some time and a lot of effort you will get the position right. If your ass is still coming off the bench then your feet will have to go wider or farther back or both.

Next is the lower back, obviously this will determine most of your arch and you will need to really push yourself to get your arch up if you are not flexible enough to do so already. I cannot say enough how important it is that you try really hard to get better at arching it is almost the biggest piece of the shirt bench puzzle. There are a few ways, I have seen over the years, to try to help you arch, everything from placing various balls and boards under your back to crazy stretching exercises. My opinion here is that if you think it works then try it. I personally have never used anything except trying to arch higher and higher every single set and I have been told that my arch is one of the best save for a few girls who can just bend in half.

Now lets move to arching the upper back. Most people think that only the lower back arches but this is not so and this is very important if you want to get the most out of your shirt, this is accomplished by putting your upper trap on the bench and pushing your chest out as far as possible. To see what I am saying sit up straight in a chair and place your finger on the highest point on your trap you will see that this is not behind you but rather on top. This is what you are trying to get on the bench.

Now that we have made it this far lets talk about the final piece and perhaps the most important. Shoulder blade retraction, the best way to explain this is to stand straight up and put your arms up like you are about to bench. Now have someone put his or her finger in the middle of your upper back on your spine. Pull your shoulders together and try to squeeze that person’s finger. Notice your bench stroke will shorten a few inches from doing this. This will also aid in touching weight with a tight shirt on. The reason for it in the setup will be to hold your shirt in place while you are arching.

Now that we have broken down each area of the proper setup lets put it all together into one motion because it must become one fluid motion that does not require lots of valuable energy needed for the lift.

Start by sitting on the end of the bench retracting your shoulder blades keeping your shirt where you have placed it for the lift. Lying back on the bench and grabbing the bar with an underhand grip, next move your head and upper body through the bench towards your handoff spotter all while holding yourself up with your underhand grip. Keeping your shoulders retracted, pull your feet back farther than where you would normally place them, almost where they are touching the cross member of the bench. Keep them there and start moving your body back toward the front of the bench without moving your feet. Once you feel a great stretch in your hip flexors, anchor your hips to the bench and start rotating your crotch downward toward the bench. Your feet remain in the extremely flexed position at this time. Shoulders still together chest and stomach pushed up real high, this is where you must focus on the upper back arch. You can also use your head to hold your upper back off the bench while you are trying to get the upper trap on the bench. When you feel you have enough of an arch to put your traps down, slam them down hard and dig in. Be aware of your shirt and arm position. Keep pushing your ass and your traps closer together using your feet at one end and pushing into the arch with your hands on the bar with the other. The whole time you are doing this you will need to be aware of your bench shirt and the position of your arms, I cannot stress this enough. Now that you are in position slide your feet forward (not too far) until you can get a solid base on the balls of your feet now push your heels to the floor. If you can do so easily you went too far. It should be hard to get them to touch the floor. Without moving your shirt turn your hands around push together a little more take a deep breath and take the weight.

I hope you will incorporate some or all of these things into your bench setup.

The Warm-Up
Let’s talk warm-up. Those that have been there usually have their own stories to tell. Injuries can and will happen. The best you can do is take every precaution to prevent them entirely. You’re about to push your body to its limits and beyond. The best thing you can do is prep yourself for the challenge ahead. STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH! If you don’t think it’s important or feel that you don’t really need a warm-up before you work out. Quit. I don’t feel like someone should be bitching about this being a load of shit, because they can’t follow standard training protocol or follow it out like you should. You get what you put in. Half ass is half ass and you’ll be left in the back eating dust while everyone else is making numbers you would only dream of. Don’t just stretch in the beginning of each workout but between sets too, to make sure your muscles are good and ready each time your ass hits the canvas. Do some really light dumbbell or use just the bar to get the blood moving and concentrate on feeling your chest working, etc. The more you learn and know about your body, the easier it will become to control it and get the results you’re so hoping this will bring you. Remember the words spoken here as if they were gospel for they will ALWAYS apply in everything you do in the gym.




Next thing I would like to stress before I continue on towards the training portions of it grip position. BEFORE EVER LOADING ANYTHING EVEN RESEMBLING A WEIGHT ON THE BAR...play with hand position. Find a location on the bar that gives you the most comfortable feel throughout the movement and allows you to easily repeat it. The wrong kind of grip could not only switch this movement from a chest to a shoulder/triceps exercise but could also lead to injury and slow down your gains. I prefer a very WIDE grip to hit my pecs hard and give me a good stretch at the bottom. Most would suggest a neutral grip. One that is shoulder’s width apart or just a tiny bit wider, that way you incorporate ALL the muscles used in benching to their greatest degree without one overwhelming the other.

Now that most of you are paying attention while the others are still trying to figure out what a bench even is, we’ll move onto the part everyone wants to know about. The holy grail of the D-CUP…the WICKED TRUTH ABOUT TRAINING FOR A BIG ASS BENCH!

If you feel like you understand the setup of the bench press, now it’s time to train. If you’re still perfecting your setup, keep working at it, you will see the fastest gains in your life when you’ve pegged it. You will KNOW when you’ve got it too because it’ll be as if your typical numbers lift themselves. One thing I also feel the need to further explain is the whole squeezing of the shoulder blades together when on the bench. Most people get this WRONG even when they do everything else right. Imagine you’re trying to pinch a grape between you shoulder blades. It’s as if someone grabs you by your shoulders and starts to rotate them back. Learning to do this will properly support your spine and expand your chest, prepping the body to sit under some serious poundage. IT’S TIME TO TRAIN!!!

I know I know. I’ve fed ya’ll a bunch of bullshit and made you waste your day wading through what you feel is pointless Internet banter to get to the good stuff. It’s time to take a look at training for a big bench and what is involved in it. Let’s ponder for a minute. Even though it’s early and pondering is something I should be doing on the shitter instead of the PC sharing my secrets with you midgets, we’re going to keep going with it. What are the major muscles involved in the bench press? OBVIOUSLY your pecs are apart of this cluster f*ck. What most people fail to remember is there’s a lot more going on than just chest muscles in this mix. You shoulders and triceps are other key points to remember when training for a big bench. Without one of these three, you’re doomed for failure. If you can’t incorporate the proper training into your routine, you’re doomed for failure...

BASICALLY IF YOU’RE LAZY AND AREN’T GOING TO PUT FORTH THE EFFORT...YOU’RE DOOMED TO FAIL!!!!!

So now I’ll quit flapping my yap and give you the good stuff! If you want a big bench you’re going to TRAIN in the bench press. Not the incline. Not the dumbbell bench. NOT the decline. THE FLAT BENCH PRESS. Train how you compete. You don’t see 300lb gorillas humping dumbbells or hossing on the inclines in meets do you? Of course not. If you want to get good at one particular thing, you TRAIN for it. There’s no point, contrary to popular belief, in training with the incline, decline, or dumbbells for the barbell flat bench. It is it’s own exercise for a reason and that’s what we’re addressing. If you think I’m full of it and don’t believe my methods or ideas are solid, too bad. If you knew your stuff and if your shit didn’t stink, you wouldn’t be reading this article now would you? Now we’re going to divide your bench pressing into two different days. One day for strength work and another day for speed. Each has their place and will provide your chest with the stimulus needed to blow the hell up. What you need to do before you start is to find out what kind of numbers you’re moving and have a base on which to grow on. Find a weight you can move easily for 15 reps as your warm-up. This will apply to both days. Find the weight you can do for a HARD 4,6,8,10,15 rep range to use as a guide for what I’m about to post up. Your first chest day, or your heavy day, is going to be nothing but a strength-building day for you. SUCK THAT LIP IN SOLDIER! With big weight comes a big chest. You’ve got to move it before you can use it effectively. It’s all progressive. Here is an example of a heavy day.

Warm-up: 135x15x1 (weight, reps, sets)
Set 1: your 8 rep range weight x 1 set
Sets 2 and 3: your 4 rep weight range weight x 2
Set 4: now for this set you’re going to bump the weight up a tiny bit. About 5-10lbs over your rep weight range limit and go for a double. When I start using the terms singles, doubles, and triples. It means just that. 1,2, and 3 reps respectively. All of this should be performed with a spotter to make sure you can push yourself to your limits without having to worry about making the lift just incase. Do a set for a double with this weight. Your last rep should be a kick in the corn hole if you’re doing it right. BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET

[thewickedtruth]

ALL of your lifts up to this point should be full range. None of this 90 degree bullshit. I admit I was an 90 degree addict for a very long time but in the end feel as if this is one of the reasons why I ended up with a nasty injury that’s still nagging me to this day after making a 500lb bench attempt. Your body is designed to work in a full range of motion. Your arms, etc. don’t ONLY move down to 90 degree so throw that idea from your head for now. Partials or partial reps have their place but most of your benching, as with every exercise, should be done from top to bottom. If your body is setup the way it should be for the bench press, it will naturally stop on it’s own. Normally 1-3" above your chest. When performing your bench presses too, don’t lock out your elbows but stop just an inch or so BEFORE lockout to prevent elbow wear and tear and looking like some patchwork doll covered with sleeves and patches of all shapes and sizes because you tore yourself up unnecessarily.

NOW let’s address partials. Here’s my theory on partials. I LOVE THEM! The number one thing they do is BUILD CONFIDENCE. Moving an un-thought-of amount of weight, even for an inch, is one step closer you are to your goals. Now the weight seems real and not some unholy spire of a mountain. And you know you can move it, let’s fucking move it already! THIS portion of your training is going to require a power rack or squat cage. THIS is where your little bitch range of motion will finally do more for you than just look like a fucking tool bag in the gym. Set your bench up inside the rack or cage and get it situated accordingly. This time I want you to pull the rack pins or stops to where the bar bottoms out on them at 90 degree or a little lower. THIS part won’t be done full range because your weakling ass can’t handle that kind of work just yet. We’re just getting your body used to the idea that there’s more out there than just 135lbs to ever be had on a barbell.

Sets 5 and 6: will be performed this way EVERY heavy day. It’s a necessary evil but one you’ll come to enjoy and cuddle with on your heavy days. Pick a weight you didn’t use before. I go with my 4 rep range weight or you can go with your 2 or even 3 rep range weight, it doesn’t matter, we’re just going to start pushing. Because you’re range of motion (ROM) isn’t as exaggerated as it was the first 4 sets, you should have more pushing power than you would normally have at this time. Take that weight you use for 4 full reps, rack it, get setup, and start pressing. You should NOW be able to move this weight 6 to 10 total times before you gas. This will not only help you with your mental confidence but will prep your body to be able to do more than just 4 pussy reps with this weight. SET 6! Your final set should be the “coup de gras”. You should still be in the cage and still spitting blood after all the hell you’ve been through. Tuck it back and dust it off. You’re mine for one more set. Whatever weight you used on the bar for set 5, add 10 more lbs to it. Yeah not much but you should already be WELL over your usual max at this point. Get in it and get it done. This last set, you should just try to move it as many times as you can until failure. Don’t worry about reps. Just start pressing. If you bottom out or get stuck, that’s what the spotter and safety rack is there for. Don’t worry about that. Just push. That’s the easy part. When you’re done with this last set, your body should be thoroughly racked and you should feel like you’re hammered on a Friday night. It’s okay to feel like you just came off a 5 day drinking binge. It means you busted your ass and gave it all you had.

After you’ve completed your heavy day. Take a few off from chest work. I would recommend 3-4 days. My typical routine looks like this.

Monday: chest and bi’s
Tuesday: back and tri’s
Wednesday: legs and shoulders
Thursday: off
Friday: chest and bi’s
Saturday: back and tri’s
Sunday: legs and shoulders

You get the idea…in that order. Just rotating 3 days with one day off no matter what day they happen to fall on. Because of the rotation, your DAY itself that you don your benching will typically change. For your second bench day we’re just doing speed work. Building up your stamina and rigidity of your muscle structure to aid in your heavy days! Everything said here applies to some other part of your training to some degree. Read it and take notes. Speed day is just that. You’re working on putting up x-amount of weight for x-amount of reps. On your speed day you should never go below 12 reps on ANYTHING! If you do, you’re just moving too much weight. Never thought I’d say THAT did you? Training in this way, for both speed and strength, will make sure you’ve humped both types of muscle fibers. Those fast twitch fibers made to do ALOT of work for short spans of time and those fibers used for stamina and prolonged muscle usage. Endurance from your speed/high rep day will turn into MORE reps with x-amount of weight on your heavy day, which means PROGRESS! Everyone loves progress as much as they love skanks! There’s always room for more progress! Today is going to SEEM easier but it’s not. It’s still going to require good form, focus, and concentration. I’ll give you another example. The key here is speed boys and girls, as fast as you can PROPERLY perform each rep today.

Warm-up: 15 rep range weight x 15x1
Set 1: 25 reps of your WARMUP weight. Yeah you think it’s easy fluff muffin. Get to pushing. FULL RANGE, FULL DEPTH, GOOD FORM, 25 REPS AS FAST AS YOU CAN GET THEM OUT.
Set 2: add about 20lbs to your warm-up weight range and press out another 20 or so reps. If you fall short, that’s okay. As long as you give it all you have, that’s all you should care about.
Set 3: same as set 2
Set 4: Find a weight that’s your HARD 15 rep range weight and use it. 15 reps as fast as you can. You should either be turning yourself inside out or losing all feeling in your chest from the ridiculous pump I know you’ll have. Always remember to have a spotter to help maintain your focus on moving the weight and nothing else. Safety first. 225lbs will fuck your world up just as quickly as 500 if you’re not doing it properly.
Set 5: same as set 4. By now you should be feeling just as bad as you did at the end of your heavy day and won’t really feel like doing much else for your chest. I don’t advocate a particular REST time between sets. That’s your choice and up to you to know your body. If you sit too long you’ll know it. You’ll cool down and won’t be ready for the next set. If you DON’T rest enough between them, you’ll know THAT too. You won’t be completely rested enough to complete your next set and when you’ve still got a few more to go, your day is going to get really shitty really fast. Learn to time your eating, and get enough sleep. I’m not bringing up such things more than I already have because you should know this by now. This isn’t an article on eating or sleeping, etc. I’m not wasting anymore of your time with that at the moment.

The more I read on this the more I feel like there’s always something I’ve left out, some small part that could make or break this whole damn situation. If I find what that thing is or remember something out of the blue, I’ll toss it back in the mix and tell you where it belongs in relation to everything else we’ve already discussed. Going off of what was said before. You CAN do your dumbbell work and inclines, etc. AFTER you’ve done your flat benching. HOWEVER if you’ve done your benching right, you shouldn’t be able to do more than pop a squat in a chair and hang out to spot your buddies. If you feel like your chest is lacking something or you’re not feeling complete in this or that. Go ahead and do your thing. This isn’t an article written for the body builder in mind. It’s geared for a power lifter. IF you feel like you can assimilate this into some routine to fit you better DO IT! No one single person is the same and neither is their training. I’m giving you a platform from which to build off of. I’ve put a few younger individuals into regionals and state in their high school competitions and have achieved my own personal best bench of 470lbs @ 238lbs of body weight. What most people didn’t’ realize is, my max, not 10 months prior to lifting 470, was only 275. I gained 195lbs on my bench press in what amounts to NOTHING when it comes to training time all by doing this form of benching.

Now that you know what you should be asking from your chest, let’s talk tri’s and shoulders. The other key elements to your luscious-lady-lumps.

Train them to be big bench pressers too. Move lots of weight with your KEY mass and strength building exercises. For triceps I would consider those your press downs, close grip bench-presses WITH partials, and your French presses. Everything else seems like more of a shaping exercise to me and feels like they lack a certain power aspect to them; close grip benches especially. These should be done EVERY tricep day. They will both build up massive tri’s to help with your flat bench numbers AND give you more lockout power! I train my closed grip bench just like I do my flat bench when working my tri’s, one day heavy and another day for speed. The heavy day has partials included on the last set. My typical close grip routine looks like this...

Set 1: 135x15x1 warm-up
Set 2: 225x10x1
Set 3: 315x10x1
Set 4: 365x6x1
Set 5: partials with 385 to whatever I can get rep wise
Set 6: partials with whatever I can get with say 400. Just moving the weight and getting a feel for it.

After doing my close grip work you can follow it up with whatever exercises you like. The second day should be speed work just like your 2nd bench day. Yes it’s a lot of work and you’re going to have to keep your nutrition and rest in check. At anytime you feel like you’re EVER over-training ANY part of your body. Reassess everything and look to find the problems and adjust to them. If your bench stops going up, look to where you could have problems. IF you’re doing too much tricep work and your not able to bench as heavily as you were the week before, back off the triceps, etc. USE YOUR HEAD. Lifting is as much as science and thinking man’s game as it is a meathead’s extravaganza.

Approach your shoulders in the same fashion. Do your big compound shoulder movements to help with your bench. Laterals are NOT compound strength builders. Your seated military presses, upright rows, and power-cleans will do the job. HOWEVER since this is a bench-pressing spot light, the best exercise I feel for helping more so than any other is the seated military press or seated overhead press with a BARBELL. Train it just like you train your triceps and chest. One shoulder day go heavy with it and on the next shoulder day go for speed. All this work is prep. If you do all this properly, you should have no problems with adding 50-200lbs to your bench in no time. Remember it’s all in progress; you won’t see as big of jumps in weight as you do when you initially learn how to properly setup your body but every couple few weeks, your 6 rep range weights should be your 8 or even 10 if you’re moving along well. Your max lifts should go up easily 10lbs or so every month or a little more. Look for progress everywhere. Eventually it will all add up to you hitting the highest of highs with bench-pressing more than you ever deemed humanly possible.

[thewickedtruth]

the setup portion of it was actually hyperlinked from an article you can find here from the originators website. No article explains it better than that one did in regards to setup so that's what I suggested people to use so I don't get called on taking credit for other people's publishings.

[thewickedtruth]

The only other thing I would incorporate into this article, as stated before, is cluster sets. For those looking to benefit from the writeup, I'll type it here so you can pull from it and use it. A cluster set is a triple, double, 4, or even 5 rep set, usually on the higher end of your weight range done in rest pause fashion. These sets are tailor made for those looking to compete. The only difference between a cluster and a regular set is with a cluster. You rerack and RESET after each rep. In competition you train for one big push instead of trying to rep out the weight. In cluster pressing, you give it all you have EACH rep with a 15 second rest between the reps. For example. I would use it for say 395-405lbs....

1st rep 405, 15 pause, 2nd rep, 15 second pause, etc. There is no constant motion save what is done during each rep. I wish I would have known about these sooner. They're really helping me in the low 400's and getting maximum output each press.

[!@#$%]

When I keep my legs spread wide and feed back, like you said to do, I get cramps in my hips everytime.

[thewickedtruth]

When I keep my legs spread wide and feed back, like you said to do, I get cramps in my hips everytime.

adjust your feet to what feels the best...If mine aren't right I cramp in my hams.