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Thread: Bench Press

  1. #1
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    Default Bench Press

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    Hey all,

    Here is my bench press from last Friday.

    Set 1: Set 1 - Album on Imgur
    Set 2: Set 2 - Album on Imgur
    Set 3: Set 3 - Album on Imgur

    The first video didn't let you see my legs very well but the later ones do.

    Please let me know what you think.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    I only watched the third set.

    Speed up the descent a little more, and don't pop at the top.

    Press your feet into the ground to shove your butt into your shoulders. This will create a lot of rigidity which is helpful.

    Don't pause when you touch your chest. Just bounce softly off your chest.
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewLewis View Post
    I only watched the third set.

    Speed up the descent a little more, and don't pop at the top.

    Press your feet into the ground to shove your butt into your shoulders. This will create a lot of rigidity which is helpful.

    Don't pause when you touch your chest. Just bounce softly off your chest.
    Thanks for the reply!

    I've heard from others previously to speed up the descent. I think it's largely a confidence issue. If I descend slowly, I feel less likely to be "overwhelmed" going back up. Not sure if that makes sense but basically I'm scared to go down too fast for fear that I won't be able to bring it back up. I'll definitely work on this!

    Also, never heard the "shove your butt into your shoulder" cue, I think that will be helpful since I've only really been clenching my glutes when I bench.

    Can you explain "don't pop at the top" a bit more?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by meowmeow View Post
    Also, never heard the "shove your butt into your shoulder" cue, I think that will be helpful since I've only really been clenching my glutes when I bench.
    This is called "leg drive." A few videos have been done about.
    Don't clench your butt.

    Quote Originally Posted by meowmeow View Post
    Can you explain "don't pop at the top" a bit more?
    You're accelerating into the top unnecessarily. Does that make more sense?
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewLewis View Post
    This is called "leg drive." A few videos have been done about.
    Don't clench your butt.
    Ah, I had this wrong. Cool, I'll play around with that and post a follow-up. Should I create a different thread or use this one?

    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewLewis View Post
    You're accelerating into the top unnecessarily. Does that make more sense?
    It definitely looks that way on the videos. I'm not intentionally speeding up at the top but I think I just slow down significantly at my "sticking point", continue applying the same force and it gets easier closer to the top. Should I intentionally try to slow it down near the top of the ascent?

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    Quote Originally Posted by meowmeow View Post
    Ah, I had this wrong. Cool, I'll play around with that and post a follow-up. Should I create a different thread or use this one?
    You can just keep it in this thread if you like. Unless you wait like a month in which case it might get buried, and you should just start a new thread and link to this one. I'm not entirely familiar with how all of the forum functions work, so Rip might recommend something different.

    Quote Originally Posted by meowmeow View Post
    It definitely looks that way on the videos. I'm not intentionally speeding up at the top but I think I just slow down significantly at my "sticking point", continue applying the same force and it gets easier closer to the top. Should I intentionally try to slow it down near the top of the ascent?
    It's probably not the biggest deal, but you certainly don't want to accidentally flex and extend your wrists and drop the bar on yourself. It probably won't happen, but if you're intentionally accelerating into the top, stop focusing on that.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewLewis View Post
    You can just keep it in this thread if you like. Unless you wait like a month in which case it might get buried, and you should just start a new thread and link to this one. I'm not entirely familiar with how all of the forum functions work, so Rip might recommend something different.


    It's probably not the biggest deal, but you certainly don't want to accidentally flex and extend your wrists and drop the bar on yourself. It probably won't happen, but if you're intentionally accelerating into the top, stop focusing on that.
    I gave the leg drive a try yesterday at the gym and it certainly felt a lot stronger. I didn't get any videos since I was still just experimenting with the technique but I will have one up shortly. Thanks

    Definitely not intentionally accelerating. I'm curious to see how it'll look with the leg drive incorporated.

    Thanks

  8. #8
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    You're welcome.
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  9. #9
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    Here is the last set of yesterday's session. My apologies, I don't think the video angle was great and I would have preferred landscape to portrait but that wasn't obvious to the person I asked to film me. It definitely feels a lot stronger than my previous bench press form. It also took about half as long.

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  10. #10
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    This is better. Keep working on pushing your butt into your shoulders using your legs. I can see it's a little loose by your knees wiggling.
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