Reply With QuoteHow hard are you driving with your legs? It's not clear in the video, but it didn't look like your back arch fell when you lifted your feet, and that might suggest a lack of leg drive. Also, paused triples won't compare to most guys' touch and go.
Member
Bench press form check - my worst lift
My bench press is by far my weakest lift compared to the other two. It's always lagged far behind and although it's most certainly to some degree programming related, I wanted to see if there was anything that immediately stood out, technique-wise, that might be hindering my progress.
This was from today; I did some triples at around 80%, and a single at 94%.
Any and all criticism is welcome, the more the better.
Member
How hard are you driving with your legs? It's not clear in the video, but it didn't look like your back arch fell when you lifted your feet, and that might suggest a lack of leg drive. Also, paused triples won't compare to most guys' touch and go.
Member
I wouldn't say I'm very conscious of how much leg drive I'm utilizing; definitely something I can work on. Any tips on how to do it more effectively?
I'm lifting in my first meet in a few months and wanted to ingrain the pause since judging is IPF rules and I never used to bench with a proper pause. Are you saying I would benefit more from touch and go at this point?
✓ Member
Agreed. More leg drive. Push against the floor as if you're trying to slide yourself through the uprights on the bench throughout the entire lift. You may need to play with foot position and knee position to get it dialed in. I keep my feet a little wider and will usually drive my knees out.
Make sure that you're tucking your shoulder blades back, and don't let them untuck when you take the bar out of the rack.
Your elbows flare just a little bit on the way up. Don't let them do that.
Member
Poster above gives good direction on leg drive. I had a big improvement when I figured out pushing horizontally rather than isometrically/vertically into the floor.Originally Posted by peanuts-nuts
Practicing pause is definitely a good idea for a meet (practice waiting for “rack” too, I learned that the hard way), and I pause all singles leading up to a meet per Andy Baker - I was just reacting to your dissatisfaction with your numbers. Anyone you compare to is likely doing triples TnG.
Member
Good information - thank you both for the help. I'll look into leg drive and start implementing it and re-post videos in time to see if it's looking right.
Posting Permissions