Ideas for improving bench/ohp?

CaptJohnLukeDiscard · 2018-08-18T08:28:30+00:00

For bench set up:

First, pick the widest bench in the room if your gym is like mine where you have to slide a mobile bench into a squat rack to bench. 2in can be a big difference here. Girth over length but I digress.

Second, warm up just a bit. I bench in the mid 3s and always start with just the bar. Focus on explosive yet controlled movements.

Third, your positioning is key. It should UNCOMFORTABLE. Get under the bar and roll your shoulders back and down like you are bowing your chest up. Then pinch your scaps HARD like you are holding a small pen or pencil between them and don’t want to drop it. This should cause your lats to flare like a fat guy with Invisible Lat Syndrome (serious disease that).

The flared lats form the platform you press from. That’s your main contact with the bench. It should NOT be comfortable. After you unrack, the bar path should be slightly diagonal tracking down to touch BELOW the nipple area even though at the top the bar should be above the shoulders. This may all vary a bit with the anatomical structure of your shoulders.

Your elbows track by your sides and may even brush your rib cage. They should not flare out to the side.

Tense your core by sucking in and bracing (google bracing by Chris Duffin or someone like that for a full explanation) and planting very firmly with your feet. Lower the bar slightly slower than you accelerate up on higher rep count sets and DON’T bounce it on your chest.

CNS training:

Finally, train your nervous system to accept heavier weights by simply unracking heavier weights and holding at the top position to get used to it. You may just be getting freaked out by the weight. Get a good spotter you trust.

Training Weaknesses:

If you have a significant weakness, and I suspect it is your triceps, train that directly with higher weight lower rep sets. You should be working to full body weight dips in full ROM and then go to adding weight via a belt.

OHP:

OHP is basically the same as bench just standing. Make sure you stay braced during reps and keep the scaps pulled like you are holding the pencil in place. Elbows track forward in front of you is most comfortable to me.

Best advice of the thread:

Check out So You Think You Can Bench on YT by EliteFTS who has an excellent line of videos for powerlifting.

EDIT:

Do you get stuck at the bottom, middle, or top of the lift?

red-sfpplus · 2018-08-18T12:38:36+00:00

Once you get to two plates on bench the single, most important thing you need to have to continue to progress on bench:

Is a lifting partner.

My bench went up 50# in six weeks once I started working out with a bro. No more searching for spotters. No more fear of death.

You can push out the reps and you will skyrocket your bench.

lololasaurus · 2018-08-18T08:12:38+00:00

You said you're down 45 lbs - if you're still cutting, you should know that typically bench is more sensitive than other lifts to body mass, so it follows that it's not going to grow as fast, if at all, in a deficit. If you're still getting newbie gains then maybe you're lucky and can still make some progress on a cut.

Also, frequency and volume are your friends here. Most rapid improvement I've seen was when benching 3x/week.

Lastly, make sure you're doing a full powerlifting style bench, not just casually lying down and unracking. Tight arch, scapula retracted (squeeze shoulderblades back and down). You want your body so tight it's almost exhausting in the setup. Loss of tightness equals loss of power. And did I mention, retract the fucking scapula?

Reach180 · 2018-08-18T14:56:25+00:00

Do dips for triceps accessory. Rope pulls and fine for show, but it's not the same pushing pattern you get with dips. Dips make you stronger.

ParaXilo · 2018-08-18T09:58:58+00:00

All good options another can be switching from bench to dumbbells for 4-6 weeks.

I've been using reverse pyramid training (RPT) currently at 160lbsx6 reps on my last workout and just planning to keep going up on the weight till I stalls. I have also stalled on OHP and tried deloading from my working set to get back up. Might try some of the tips here as well. Was stuck at 115lbsx5 reps.

Overload training seems to be a good option but you could try RPT as well. Leangains should have some info.

John9249 · 2018-08-18T16:57:05+00:00

There was an awesome (recent) article that looked at about 10 studies that compared high frequency training (2-4x wk) vs once a week for upper body pressing with the same volume for both groups.

Basically you are better off doing 6 sets of chest broken down into 3 days a week (2 sets each day) than doing all 6 sets in one day. Lower body did not show improvement in these studies

I think the key is spreading out your volume and maybe increasing it slightly throughout the week but not over doing it to were you can't recover.

Also based on your OHP your shoulders seem weak which is probably holding you back on the bench.

Tldr bench 2-3 days a week.

boy_named_su · 2018-08-18T08:08:00+00:00

How's your protein intake? Creatine, zinc, magnesium, cholesterol?

How's your form?

screechhater · 2018-08-18T09:33:43+00:00

Squat and deadlift What are your numbers ?

Keep losing weight.

Row. - wide grip to wide stance to chest and close grip close stance to stomach

Bench- shoulder grip - feet firmly planted, 2 warm up sets. Bench work out. 6 sets @ 8 max reps. Load 5 pound weekly until max out not able to get past 5 reps with good form.
Work off that plateau. Conquer it to 8 reps. Then add again

It takes time. Sleep. Don’t deprive yourself

Edit- quit the 1 rep shit. Life is not once. It’s over and over again at your most or worst taxed moment. Like a shit test

Cloudsurf89 · 2018-08-18T13:55:53+00:00

Might be worth spreading asking r/Fitness or r/Fitness30plus because this isn't exactly an MRP topic

paterfamilias78 · 2018-08-18T20:53:56+00:00

I have been grinding my bench up for a long time now, and the two things that seem to work are the old cliches:

VOLUME and FOOD.

ReddJive · 2018-08-20T18:19:07+00:00

Bench is the hardest to improve. Shoulders are damn tough.

Form. I would start there. Research teh fuck out of it. Take a class that focuses on bench. Guarantee there is one.

Accessories. DB rows 3x8 will help. wide arm lat pulldowns. I would stop with all that other benching. Maybe keep incline but work at 80% of your weekly max lift. You could be just plain wearing yourself out in your pursuit. If you want to work accessory focus them. What you are doing is just rehashing major lifts.

once a week do a 1second pause bench. 2x6. Each rep pause for one second on you chest. Work with 80% of your max lift.

mindfulbutgutless · 2018-08-18T07:48:30+00:00

5/3/1 lacks volume, and that's what you need to get those numbers up. They will climb but slowly. I personally have been training those two lifts 3x a week minimum for the last month and have seen a significant jump. I stalled at 205x5 on bench so I switched to 6 sets of 3 and just hit 240 earlier this week. OHP is a bitch. I dropped from 135x5x3 to 115x10x3 then do heavy singles. Yesterday put up 155x1x5. Also make sure to train chest and shoulder prior to squats and deads. A heavy bench or ohp will not nearly effect your squat and deadlift as much as the squat and do will effect your bench. Play with reps and sets to add more volume based on what your goals. Also time your eating based on training.

Title	Ideas for improving bench/ohp?
Author	lololasaurus
Upvotes	9
Comments	49
Date	August 18, 2018 7:20 AM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askMRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/askMRP/comments/989x9v/ideas_for_improving_benchohp/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askMRP/ideas-for-improving-benchohp.204094 https://theredarchive.com/post/204094