Comments on: Increasing Bench Press Numbers By Planting Your Feet

By: Dom

Dom — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:41:42 +0000

I like this post, its touches on a basic but extremely important point for anyone wanting to get their bench numbers up.

Also try to pause your benches properly at the bottom is hard but will help u push out of the bottom powerfully, and learning/training to press with force/speed even thou it obviously going to be mega slow when the weight is heavy but still press with max force/speed from the bottom
and yes its true u can build heaps of solid , dense muscle from powerlifting, it definately yields plenty of hypertrophy esp if u get plentiful calories in

By: Brucie

Brucie — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:04:27 +0000

Darrin, it’s all relative to what you wanna accomplish. Being a powerlifter and not a gay bodybuilder, I do it the correct way with a high arch, planted feet, tight scapula retraction and all the good stuff that makes what people like to consider me as a “bench queen”.

Now, if you do go the bodybuilder route and are shoooting for hypertrophy, high rep schemes are important. But the light weight will eventually stop working for you which means that the weight will have to increase. If that is done with bad form, you’ll hurt yourself and never achieve your gay dream of posing in a speedo on stage with a bunch of oiled up dudes. All in all, do it the powerlifter way. More weight and less chance of injury.

By: Caleb Lee

Caleb Lee — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:32:13 +0000

@ Darren: hmmm… well, if you can lift 150 pounds x 10 then can lift 180 pounds x 10 — all else being equal — you’ll get a greater hypertrophy effect — so these techniques have their place in building muscle as well (greatly simplified example of course)

As long as the butt stays on the bench, I’m not TOOOOO worried about arching the back — although I must say I didn’t start out doing it

Always glad for your feedback bro!

By: Darrin

Darrin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:17:03 +0000

Hey Caleb – this is interesting. I’m guessing these are pure strength-training techniques, as opposed to hypertrophy techniques? In other words, a lot of this is about leverage (to put it simply) which doesn’t always lead to larger muscles. But technique is critical if you want to lift heavy stuff, for sure. I do worry about beginners arching their back…