In-Depth Bench Technique: The Setup, Descent, Pause, and Press – CLICK HERE

The bench press has multiple phases within the movement, and in my latest YouTube video I break down every aspect of each phase to create the optimal bench press technique.

During the setup, I show how we should grip the bar to create better force transfer from the forearm through the wrist to the bar. I look at how elevation creates depression, and how cueing excessive depression can be of detriment. And unlike how we brace on squat and deadlift, I cover how we inhale to expand the ribcage on the bench press to create a “barrel chest” position. There’s even more with the setup though, and that includes the importance of the obliques and how they control the ribcage and increase serratus activation. As well as why you actually can lock your elbows no matter how much you say you can’t, and how over-retracting is leading to your soft elbow position.

For the descent, I break down how the bottom outside of our palm is the “mid foot” of our bench press, and how to control the bar through the proper center of gravity. I bust the myth of “bending the bar” and how we should keep a stacked forearm position under the bar instead through cues such as “break at the elbows” and “drop the elbows to the floor”. As well as explain why we want to bias away from the anterior deltoid as much as possible.

As we come to the pause, I explain how to use leg drive to elevate the rib cage and chest to “stop the bar”, rather than pulling the bar down to you. Soft touch vs. a sink method pause is a debate between many powerlifters, and I detail why I prefer a soft touch bench press and how that will lead to more control and faster press commands come competition time. And lastly, I explain how 3 of my lifters have torn their pecs prior to working with me, and how all 3 of these linked back to the sink and heave method on bench press.

We finish with the press, and honestly that is fairly simple. If everything prior was correct and we loaded tension on the primary movers, the press is just an expression of that built up tension. But, what about “pressing the bar back”? Unfortunately I think your coach yelling back, back, back, back during your 3rd attempt at a meet probably isn’t doing much, and rather you should fix the setup, descent, and pause instead.

And lastly, I cover some universal quick tips for bench press training that I believe will benefit any lifter in improving their training for the better.

Needless to say, I packed a lot of info into this video and hope to make you all better bench pressers because of it! Click the link above to watch!

Programming Series Part 3: Optimizing The Program Based on Lifter Psychology – CLICK HERE

After finishing part 2 of the programming series, I realized after discussing those videos with a couple people that I couldn’t stop there, and that I was missing a very important topic. This topic is how lifter psychology plays into optimizing the program for an individual. You can have the greatest program ever on paper, but if it doesn’t play into a lifter’s psychological strengths and weaknesses, it can completely miss the boat. In my latest YouTube video, I break down the mental factors that can affect programming and how we can make adjustments to best suit a lifter’s needs. Lifter adrenaline/intensity, confidence, focus, motivation, stress, and habits all play into how a lifter executes what is written down. Take the same program and apply it to 4 lifters who greatly differ based on psychological traits, and you’ll see 4 different ways that program is interpreted and played out. Click the above to watch!

Squat Technique: Drive The Knees Forward and STOP “Sitting Back” – CLICK HERE

Drive the knees forward for some of you may sound obvious, but the “sit back and drive the knees out” cue is still widely used today, and by many coaches universally with their athletes. In my latest Youtube video, I break down the issues with the  “sit back and drive the knees out” cue, why it does not have the same carry over to raw lifting, and what the majority of lifters should most likely be doing instead. I take a look at what is actually happening bio-mechanically in the squat and what muscles are the prime movers during different phases of the concentric. I break down why sitting back more and switching to flats isn’t going to fix your knee pain. I give a detailed analysis of the 3 main cues I recommend and how to implement those. I then take a look at the BEST raw squatters in the world and what they are doing. Hint: 85% of the 24 best male squatters in the world drive their knees forward and do not rely on the “sit back” cue. And lastly, I break down the form of 2 of my lifters, as well as highlight the lifter who I think may have one the best looking squats in all of the USAPL/USPA. Click the link above to watch!

Mobility Work Within Powerlifting – Where It’s Applicable

The post-quarantine block for Brandon was a success, and in particular was very productive in his switch from conventional to sumo deadlift. Here is just a 2-week difference (CLICK HERE), with a comparison of 451×3 to 501×3. While there was bound to be improvement from the natural progression of a new movement and not having done sumo deadlifts before, the main difference can be seen in his hip mobility and then positioning on that final rep. 451lbs. wasn’t necessarily heavy, but it became a grinder quickly on that 3rd rep due to positioning. He got stuck right at that mid thigh position, where as with 501lbs. he was able to have an easier time pulling through that, albeit heavier weight that was just naturally harder. As for why he got stuck, I break that down fully in my deadlift tutorial video on Youtube. But for how we fixed this, it came down to mobility, which as of recent times has become somewhat of a taboo word after the fad where everything was about “mobility”. But there is a time and a place for everything. While fads can get overdone, they usually have merit in some aspect, and in the case of Brandon let’s dig deeper and understand why.

When I program mobility work for an athlete, it is not to necessarily increase joint range of motion, it’s to access the range of motion they already have. Every person has a genetic capability for their joint range of motion, and for the most part we can’t change that barring long term bone remodeling from forced high exertion stretching. What we are trying to achieve is that end range that someone already has, but struggles to find access too. So for someone who is performing sumo deadlifts for the same time, there is a good chance they have higher perceived tightness in this wider stance that requires increased abduction. To Brandon, it seemed very hard to be able to open up his hips much more on the 451×3 video than he already was. And looking at the 2 videos, thats probably the striking difference. After 2 weeks of dedicated sumo mobility work, Brandon was able to achieve a much better position due to not having that same perceived tightness, allowing him to be able to get closer to the end range of his joint mobility.

My point in bringing this up is that when we start or come back to a movement such as sumo deadlift or low bar squat, we may have this new perceived tightness from a lack of accessing that end range joint movement for a certain time frame. I see this often with low bar squatting, that if we take a period of time away and come back, athletes will have increased flare ups of low bar related shoulder, bicep, and elbow pain from the demands for higher degrees of external rotation. I also see this on low bar squats at times when the load starts to build up after periods of not being as heavy.  During these instances, I’ll try to be mindful to be proactive in having an athlete increase their pre-lift mobility work. Or in the case of Brandon and never before sumo deadlifting, he needed some type of mobility work to allow him to access end range joint range of motion that he hadn’t before. And then generally after those first couple weeks it’s less about finding more, and more about maintaining. As mentioned, our goal isn’t to increase our joint range of motion per se, its just to find our genetic capability that is blocked from some form of tightness.

And one last point with low bar squats in particular that I find very important and too often neglected, is that as powerlifters we bench a lot. Benching promotes internal rotation of the shoulder, as that is one of the primary functions of the pectoral muscle. We are constantly battling this internal rotation for benching compared to external rotation for low bar squatting, so I often see athletes needing year round dedicated shoulder mobility work to combat this. This is an example of where you might need dedicated mobility work year round if this is an issue you struggle with. The previous examples are more for times of introduction or reintroduction of a movement, but there are also times mobility work may just need to be a staple within your pre-lift routine.

Fix Your Form!! – Subscriber Technique Reviews – CLICK HERE

This week I had subscribers submit their squat, bench press, or deadlift videos for review. Within these videos I break down their lifts from the side and front to show their movements faults and the adjustments they can make to improve their technique. These were great examples, as some were very nuanced with just slight fixes that can make a big difference! If you struggle with technique on the squat or bench press, hopefully one of the videos shown can have carry over to helping you improve your form as well! Click the link above to view!