Week A7, Day 7

15mins

Kettlebell Complex – single 16kg
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
Swing x 10/10
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
Clean & Press x 5/5
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
Turkish Get-Up x 5/5
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
Snatch x 10/10
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
12:55mins

Week A7, Day 6

40mins

Kettlebell Complex – single 16kg
Swing x 10/10
Clean & Press x 5/5
Swing x 10/10
Clean & Front Squat x 5/5
Swing x 10/10
Turkish Get-Up x 5/5
Swing x 10/10
Snatch x 10/10
Swing x 10/10
10:15mins

Kettlebell Complex - double 16kg’s
Clean & Press x 5
Swing x 20
Clean & Press x 5
Clean & Front Squat x 5
Clean & Press x 5
Turkish Get-Up x 5/5
Clean & Press x 5
Snatch x 20
Clean & Press x 5
17:55mins

KettleBear Program

There are countless ways to gain "functional" bulk with kettlebells, usually involving Cleans & Presses and Squats, performed with two kettlebells, otherwise known as doubles. This program was designed for my personal training clients who only had approximately 30mins per session and 2 days per week to train, on top of their other training.

It's common for my clients to compete in one or more sports or martial arts, then yoga for 1-2 days per week, then other strength/boxing/ma/swimming work for 1-2days per week, on top of their busy professional careers - so the program had to be minimal and efficient.

Enter the KettleBear - a narrow focus of Double Cleans & Presses and Double Front Squats to efficiently morph a busy cub into daddy bear. Everyone who has done it gained a minimum of 5kg’s in less than 3 months. I personally gained 5-6kg in approximately 6-7weeks.

KettleBear
To begin with, perform DCP x (1,2,3) + DFSQ x 3-5 for 8 rounds, with 60-120sec rest between sets.

DCP + DFSQ	LADDERS + STRAIGHT SET: (1,2,3)reps + 3-5reps
Rest	60-120sec
Repeat	8-20 rounds
Duration	30-60mins

So, perform your Double Cleans & Presses, and immediately upon completion, perform your Double Front Squat set, then rest. Also, each comma represents a clean before the number of press reps eg. one press, one clean, two presses, one clean, three presses…

Goal: DCP x (1,2,3,4,5) + DFSQ x 8 for 10 or more rounds within 30-60mins, twice per week.

Background
This program is fairly straightforward, and based on sound, popular concepts found among hardstyle lifters, so this program may have been done before without my knowledge. I first used it just over a year ago, with great success, which prompted me to write this up.

I also realise there are other programs out there with the same title, but I feel that my program is a truer and more accurate representation of the spirit of Pavel's original Bear program, so don't mind me for going with KettleBear.

I named it KettleBear in honour of Pavel’s Power to the People “Bear” program, only utilising kettlebells instead of barbells. The original Bear from PTTP calls for 10-20 sets of 5 reps in two lifts - a push and a pull. KettleBear has a push/pull combined, and a squat! If you’re familiar with Pavel’s works, you’ll notice the lifts are not-so-strangely dissimilar to those found in another of his excellent works, Return of the Kettlebell.

Explanation
I went with Double Cleans and Presses because they will work the upper body thoroughly.

I chose Cleans instead of Snatches because my clients couldn't learn them quickly enough, or perform them safely under fatigue. If you are competent with Snatches, then maybe try one session with snatching before pressing and the other session with cleans before presses.

Double Front Squats will take care of the lower body.

Before the shit hits the fan
You must have a solid technique that allows you to work hard whilst fatigued without injury, so, this is not for beginners. It is designed for active clients requiring a kettlebell program for bulking, or “functional” hypertrophy, who either have a solid base of kettlebell or lifting technique, or, are lifting under the guidance of a knowledgeable coach.

However, you can use kettlebells, strongman log, barbell or even sandbags - as the weight stays fairly much the same throughout the cycle, the key variable will be sets and reps. Also, let me know how you go if you try the KettleBear with something other than kettlebells.

For an in-depth explanation of technique and instruction on the lifts, consult Sergio Merino’s article at t-nation.com.

Expansion
Sets & reps; use ladders for presses, and straight sets for squats. For more info why, consult ROTK by Pavel. Ladders of (2,3,5), (3,3,3), (3,5,3) are also acceptable – basically, get to 10-15reps total per set. Add reps when you can.

Duration; usually with clients I’ll have them work 8 sets in 35mins, so a round every 4mins. If you have more time, then go for it.

Rest; take 60-120sec between sets. Anymore, and you're going too heavy. You will be breathing hard.

Frequency; twice per week, sessions 3-4 days apart.

You can use load variability if you're really strong and you're finding it difficult to progress.
Mon - hard out 100%, eg. (1,2,3,4) + 6 x 5 rounds, and (1,2,3) + 5 x 3 rounds.
Thurs – approx. half to two-thirds of Monday’s session, eg. (2,3) + 3 for 8 rounds.

Otherwise, 100% effort is expected on both days.

Programming;
Monday - KettleBear
Wed - sports practice
Thurs - KettleBear
Sat- sports competition

Tues/Fri works well too, also Wed/Sat.

Slot KettleBear sessions between your busiest days or where sufficient rest is allowed. You get the idea.

Duration; follow for 6-12 weeks, then move into a more strength orientated program.

Insights
-Eat a lot; lots of meat, lots of protein, lots of eggs, dairy, and lots of fruits, veges, and ingest a lot of water. Your urine will tell you how much fluids you need. Surplus calories will be your motto. Don’t be caught without food in your paws. Or else.
-Rest a lot. Expect to be tired. Even though you're active you're gonna want to hit the hay a couple hours earlier than your usual bedtime.
-Try to get your training in first thing in the day. It's a matter of prioritising.
-Any size weights will do, even light ones - although it may take a while to notice any gains, as you need to push your body to notice results.
-You may experience a delayed response, that is, until your strength catches up with your conditioning. You may go for a month with no sign of progress and then in a couple of weeks gain 5kgs of bodyweight. Trust the process.

Any questions, feel free to ask, and report your progress if you give it a shot.

Happy lifting!

Week A1-A3 review

I introduced Fatigue Cycling with signs of success; increased work-rate; efficiency in training. Obviously the greatest benefits can only be reaped with continual use, which I am not doing, because I needed a slightly more flexible program, due to a change in my schedule. To fit in the required work, I can now use multiple 5-15min sessions throughout the day, rather than committing to a single session. In light of this last condition, I also felt it necessary to step up from 5 days of training to 6 days. Do note that I have kept the same lifts, and that varying reps, sets, frequency, rest or load is a legitimately successful way to train.

Snatch times have been gradually improving. I can now consistently achieve 8/8 snatches with the 24kg in 50sec without any undue strain on my elbows or grip. As a result the 24kg feels lighter than it did a few weeks ago.

The pulse pull-ups have also showed promise, and are evolving into an isometric component of my training, and hopefully rehab for my elbows. I will post a lengthy segment on isometric training in the coming weeks, with a review of my progress also.

Alexander Zass – The Amazing Samson

One of the earliest proponents of isometric training developed amazing strength, obviously.

Murder Your Darlings

I love trees

 

"Murder you darlings", is a phrase attributed to Quiller-Couch, (a gent of sorts from a century ago), and basically means one needs to take an objective view on their personal work (in this context anyway), or at least gain some emotional distance so as to accurately judge their own work, to see what’s really there, as opposed to what they want to see. My affinity for Steve Justa’s work, as mentioned previously, led me to experiment with my training program. Well, that kind of failed, but also resulted in some valuable insights. I say kind of failed because whilst I was getting stronger overall, my press was lagging. Heavier kettlebells were genuinely feeling lighter, but the overall volume, or lack of, saw little progress in pressing. True, it takes more than a month and a bit to appraise a system, but my press hadn’t improved, and at worst felt more difficult.

Further reasoning as to change of plan is that it took me away from my goals of wanting to eventually certify as an SFG. There, a half dozen lifts are taught and honed to perfection. Me practicing dozens of random lifts was a distraction. Remember, one of my all-time favourite quotes belongs to Saint-Exupery, “Perfection is finally attained not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”. Makes sense. In training, specific stimulus produces specific adaptation, thus, I need to focus on the core lifts of the SFG, if I want to really excel at them, and nought else. This is also my approach with my clients, and I was leading away from that.

To rectify, I shall practice the necessary lifts. They are;
-Double Swing
-Get-Up
-Double Clean
-Double Press
-Double Front Squat
-Snatch

As you can see, quite bare. In addition, five pullups are required to pass the entry test, so those will be trained also.

I have settled into a 5 x days per week frequency nicely, so I’ll keep that. The basic outline will be revealed over the coming weeks when I post my weekly sessions.

Masterpiece

I am further experimenting with my training template (because it’s in my nature to constantly improve). This time, I want to try Fatigue Cycling, as outlined in Pavel’s masterpiece, Beyond Bodybuilding. This is another one of my favourites. There is so much training knowledge in here that most people will never truly absorb its total contents. Anyways, I won’t do too much talking about it as I’d rather just get stuck in and then analyse the results, whether favourable or not. I am using the principles with kettlebells so it’s definitely something new.

So that’s that. My snatch training, on the other hand, has been progressing well. Details will be revealed further on. I also need to clarify that I also have chronic issues with my arms. I have hypertonic muscles in both arms, which basically means I have very tense muscles as a result of insufficient restoration. I experience pins and needles sensation in both hands constantly. If I went to a doctor I would in all likelihood be diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Continual self-massage has helped enormously, so I’ll keep that up and see how that turns out. On the other hand (get it?), current treatments are corticosteroids, wrist splints, and if those fail then surgery.

 

F**k that.

If anyone thinks I am dismissive of medical intervention then they’re right- for myself, I am, and only for myself. For clients, my professional recommendation is to listen to the doctors. There is no double-standard here, I simply take responsibility for my own health. I now realise the musculature in both my arms have been chronically stressed for over a decade, and with the increase in training my arms have now had enough. It means just as it took a long time to arrive at my current condition, it will probably also take a long time to rectify it. Surgery and splints, also anti-inflammatories, in my opinion, are treating the symptoms and not the cause, and is reflective of the medical/pharmaceutical community in general. The cause is the hypertonicity of the muscles, as evidenced when I “release” the muscles via self-massage, resulting in a feeling of ease of movement and disappearance of symptoms.

To sum up;
-  My initial Justa Singles/kettlebell adaptation wasn’t quite as successful as I had envisioned; it works, just not what I was after
-  I will experiment implementing Fatigue Cycling with kettlebells
-  I’m hammering my arms, as they suck

Rock, Iron, Steel - The Book of Strength, and my personal approach

This is one of my favourite books of all time. In it, Steve Justa lays bare his training methodology- which is so far removed from the pump and preening routines going about nowadays that it is iconoclastic in many ways.

Forget about “intervals” and going for the burn, or any other “functional” training you know about. He espouses sensible and intelligent hard work, and diligent application of one’s self to mastering strength, rather than simply getting owned by a workout.

His definition of functional training is unlike most people’s or trainer’s definition. Today, most people understand it to mean any movement or lift which mimics what used to be manual labour only decades ago or, performing a function of some sort (and somehow heavy barbell lifting or bodyweight lifting is not functional?). Dragging, odd-angle lifts, hammers, tyre flips, throws, or sadly, rehab exercises used as primary exercises, are all deemed functional. Those that approach movements that might be used on a farm are getting closer to the man’s approach. The idea is sound, and there is some anecdotal evidence to back up farming manual labour as a viable mode of strength development. Athletes that are of a rural background are often more injury resistant and respond physically to strength and conditioning programs more effectively than those of a more urban upbringing.

Steve Justa’s methods lie just beyond the farmboy manual labour mimicry, by adding a more mature and manly approach to developing strength.

I am not going to reveal much more about the contents of his work, as I would rather the reader pursue this on their own and open their perspective to what it truly means to be “functional” and strong. To my understanding the book is now out of print, but there are copies available through amazon.com. Again, it’s well worth the effort of tracking it down and getting your hands on it.

I mention the book as I am taking a different approach to my own training.

I am going to follow his Singles Workout Strategy No.6, except with slight twists to make it more effective for kettlebell implementation. It does mean a number of kettlebell sizes will be required, which may put this outside the realm of some enthusiasts, but it gives you a decent idea as to his approach.

30-40 kettlebell lifts

1.       Perform all 30-40 lifts every second or third day. For myself, that will be M-W-F template.
2.       Perform 1 single in each lift, with 30-90sec rest between lifts.
3.       Use kettlebells that are challenging enough to limit you to a couple of reps or less, without psyching up for the lift or too much of a warmup.
4.       Max out each lift once a month.

Don’t need to max all lifts in the same session, kettlebells aren’t heavy enough. If you feel you can get a double in a lift you could only get a single with previously, then go for it. Just stay away from lifting “on the nerve”. In other words, leave a rep or two in reserve.

Occassionally, try a heavier kettlebell, if it goes up smoothly, then stay with it. If you’re feeling in the dumps, lift lighter kettlebells or choose easier variations.

One possible way to structure this session would be incorporating a; Push, Pull, Hip Hinge, Squat, and a movement for the Core. Then perform as many circuits as you like. I would limit each session to 60mins or less, so you’re moving at a decent pace. 

Place more complex or demanding lifts earlier in the session. This goes for unstable movements before stable, and ballistics before grinds.

I will also be doing additional training on top of this, but I will reveal that later on, once I have some results.

If anybody tries this, let me know how you went. I will post up progress every month or so.

Week 11, Day 4

ROP (V)

Morning Weighted Recharge
Perform as a circuit, meaning one exercise after the other, with little or no rest.
All lifts are performed with a single 16kg kettlebell

Deadlift x 5 > Swings x 5 > Goblet Squat x 5 > One-leg Deadlift x 3/3 > Suitcase Deadlift x 3/3
Rest briefly
RKC Arm Bar > Floor Press > Half-kneeling Press > Turkish Get-up > Bent Press x 3 each side

Dragon Flags x 4 (partials)
Floor crawls on back using shoulder blades for shoulder mobility
Downward Dog into Cobra
V-Sit and 16kg press
Glute stretches
Neck Bridges/Rolls

Week 1, Day 4

Loosened up with some Deadlifts and Goblet Squats with the 32kg, and Double Military Presses with 12kg’s.

A1 Double Kettlebell Clean & Press, 20kg’s x (1,2,3) x 1
                                                                                            (1,2) x 2
A2 Double Kettlebell Front Squat, 20kg’s x 2 x 3

Perform A1 and A2 as a superset, every 8 mins for 3 Rounds.

To clarify, first round was (1,2,3), second and third rounds were (1,2).

B One-hand Swing, 32kg x 18/18 (L)

Handle was too slippery- my grip was weak. Form had improved though. Starting to power the bell out of the hole nice and strong.

Week 1, Day 3

Morning Weighted Recharge

Perform as a circuit, meaning one exercise after the other, with little or no rest.

Hulahoops

The rest is performed with a single 16kg kettlebell- recall My Self-Repair Kit?

Deadlift x 5
Swings x 5
Goblet Squat x 5
Suitcase Deadlift x 5
One-leg Deadlift x 5
RKC Arm Bar > Floor Press > Turkish Get-up > Half-kneeling Press > Bent Press x 1
Halos x 5/5
Para Press x 3/3
Bottoms-up Walk x 30sec/30sec
Standing Batwings x 5 holds


One-Hand Swing 32kg x 12/12 (A)

It's never too late...

The holiday season is almost upon us. With only a couple of weeks left to get all the gifts sorted and final holiday preparations being decided, the added stress of getting into shape or worrying about getting out of shape can leave most cramming in as much training in what’s left of the year or at worst, delaying any training or diet plans. You can worry about that after the holidays, right?

It’s easy to overindulge during the holidays, and there ought to be no guilt associated with this, as everyone deserves a break, but the new year rolls around quickly and resolutions will require pondering, then action. Most will only act for a couple of weeks and then quit. The holidays then turn into another round of expectation of change and yet, is almost always followed with failure.

But that’s about to change. Start envisioning your desired goals for next year, write them down, maybe even make a plan or two, and then start now. That’s right, start now.

Why would I start now when there’s only a couple of weeks left until the new year? I’m stressed enough as it is, and I’m not too out of shape. I just want to relax. It can wait.

I hear you. But there’s no such thing as waiting for the right time. Start now with what resources you have. The majority of people simply want to look great and fit into their old clothes, and you know what? You can. It’s a matter of habits. Small changes made on a consistent basis will yield the desired results. Take a walk couple times a week. Replace a couple of meals with healthier alternatives, or simply add a nutritious meal when you would normally skip a meal. Do you need to overhaul your diet? No. Can you make one or two changes? I’m pretty sure you can. Easy steps.

Getting started is the most difficult part. If you have the momentum now, why wait? Use it now.

I want you to realize it is never too late to start making positive changes in your diet and life, even if you will be tested during the holidays. When the new year rolls around, you can pick up where you left off, rather than having to start at the beginning. Keep your vision, believe, expect you will manifest your vision and keep going.

If you would like some suggestions as to what you can do now to get started, or if you have any questions, then please get in touch with me.

70%

Ever wondered how sometimes you put in more than 100% and you seemingly get nowhere in your training, and you plateau? Or when every other person in the gym isn’t training as hard as you do but they seem to make more progress?

Let’s take a look at stress and recovery. The result you want from your training is to trigger a physiological adaptation in response to specific stress you imposed upon your body.

So what is stress and what does recovery mean? Stress can be the load you lifted, the energy you expended during your run, the mental and emotional energy you invested in a thought or event. Basically, anything that produces tension and/or strain in your body. As mentioned previously, you should be stressing your body in a specific way to produce a specific adaptation, which is also why you need specific goals for your training. Saying you want to get stronger is not enough. Adding 20kg to a squat in 6 weeks is specific. Back on track, every time you impose stress on your body, it needs to recover. Think of your body digging a hole into your recovery resources- the more and greater the stress the deeper the hole and your body has only finite resources from which to recover with. Sleep and nutrition are your main forms of recovery. There are also active recovery- exercise somewhat unrelated to what you were focusing on. If you did a heavy session at the gym lifting weights, going for a brisk walk for 15-20 mins is active recovery. Going for an hour long run is not. Active recovery is also performing the same movement but with considerable less stress, that is, with a lighter weight or effort.

So what it comes down to is managing stress and recovery. As the great weightlifting authority Vladimir Zatsiorsky says, “Train as heavy as possible, as often as possible, as fresh as possible…” and to do this there are several methods which you can use to your advantage.

The most important method you can use is training to 70% of your ability. This figure seems to be a recurring theme in many widely varied approaches. Steve Justa calls it the target zone, where he feels most strength is gained, at 70% intensity, or 70% of your 1 rep max. Who is Steve Justa? Only some guy who wrote the book on functional and endurance strength over a decade it became trendy. Look up his feats of strength, his words literally carry weight.

Most powerlifting programmes on average train at approximately 70% also. Though there are a lot of lifts performed from 50-90%, and on occasions at 95% intensity, you will find the intensity averages around 70%.

Training by some marathoners also revolve around the figure of 70%, although in this case, intensity refers not to 1 rep max but a percentage of the time it takes to a run a race distance. So if you can run 10km in a certain time, 70% for your training equals 7km of your race time.

Other methods include auto-regulation. You basically regulate yourself. This is done by creating rules for your lifting. If your rep speed starts slowing down, you’re starting to push into your recovery-ability. Or if your form starts getting sloppy, again, you’re pushing into fatigue. Three bad slips of form when you usually have perfect form means it is time to quit your session and come back another day. To maintain perfect reps is training within your recovery means. Otherwise you might be pushing into mild overtraining. If you do this every session, you are digging a massive hole in your recovery. Injury and compromised immune function are around the corner, all which eat into your training time and derail your training efforts. Productive training is consistent training.

So how can these methods be utilised in training? Try limiting yourself to 70% of your best efforts.

If you can lift a certain weight for 10 reps, only lift it for 7. Next session add a tiny amount of weight, like 5% or 2.5kg, whichever is smaller. Then hit 7 reps again. If that was easy next session add a tiny amount of weight. If 7 reps went up, add weight in the next session. If you don’t hit 7 reps then it’s too heavy. Either back track and use a lighter weight, or try again another day, but your training for the day is done. Every month or so try for a max attempt. See how many reps you can get. If you happened to lift it for 14 reps, this is now your new 100%. Here you have two options. Either calculate your 70% reps from this, which will roughly be 9 or 10 reps, or you can increase the weight that limits you to 10 reps.

This applies for other sports also. Distance orientated sports? Sure, in training cover only 70% of your race distance, or only do 70% of your best time. If your time is 2 hours, only go for an hour and twenty mins or so. The 70% figure doesn’t just apply to a once only training event. You could have two training sessions in the week, one with 60% intensity and the other performed at 80% intensity, to arrive at an average training intensity of 70%. Over the weeks or months, try to cover 70% distance in a shorter time, or cover a longer distance in the same time.

Again, this approach can be applied to any sport or event. Adapt it to your needs as you see fit, and let me know how you go. 70% training is optimal training. This is what the turn of the century strongmen called ‘reserve strength’. I guarantee that your training will be much more enjoyable, and most importantly, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results you produce when it matters.

Core Training

Almost everyone whether they’re training or not desires abs and a core sculpted of bronze and possess godly strength, but seems that there aren’t many who have an actual clue how to go about it. Going by the general consensus you would assume a healthy dose of situps and crunches will harden the guts, but things aren’t always what they seem.

The good news is that you can expect to develop abs of steel. The bad news is that you gotta change how you think about training the core. I say bad news because most people are very defensive about changing dearly held beliefs, irrespective if they’re right or wrong.

Training the core correctly will increase your usable strength and physical capacity for work. In old muscle speak, it builds great muscle coordination, that is, movement quality. Also, I won’t go into it here, but trust that quality core training is supremely beneficial for preventing injuries also.

The basic function of the core in movement terms is, in conjunction with the spine, to serve as a solid foundation for the arms and legs to propel the body or to propel an object. It becomes apparent that situps and crunches involve flexing the torso, hence become unsuitable. They still train the core, just not in the most beneficial way. The torso needs to act as a stabilizer, not as a prime mover, which is how most people train their core.

Then which exercises fulfil this function? Basically, the exercise or movement that we’re looking for involves force acting off-centre to the body’s centre of mass, whether the force is external resistance or body leverages. A one arm press will work your obliques and QL’s better than twisting situps. Why? Since the weight is off-centre, you’ll find that if you don’t stabilize with your core, the weight will topple you. Try a one arm dumbbell bench press. Now perform a regular bench press with a barbell. A lot easier to balance yourself with the bar isn’t it? Your torso also doesn’t move, rather you are moving the weight.

Here’s a list of movements that will train the torso efficiently;

Unilateral or single-handed exercises
Farmer’s walks
Suitcase-style deadlifting
Turkish Getups
Goblet Squats holding the weight or kettlebell arm’s length in front of you
Walking whilst holding a weight overhead
Squats
Deadlifts
Use kettlebells instead of barbells or dumbbells

Or if you’re real tough, push or pull a car with one arm only, then alternate hands.

Effective ways of programming core training is to alternate your main lift with a core-challenging movement. You could also leave it for the very end. It doesn’t really matter, just practice these movements by not going to failure. You want quality.

Feel free to use your own movements, as long as your torso isn’t moving, and the resistance forces your limbs to adjust to keep your balance.

It seems excessively simple, but that’s pretty much all you need for an iron core.

The Functional Bench Press

Some people are divided as to the benefits of bench pressing. They say the regular flat bench is;

·         Not “functional”, as you are lying down, and you normally don’t encounter this position in sports and in most life situations, and therefore has little carryover.

·         Also, due to the scapula- or shoulder blades, being essentially trapped against the bench, they can’t maintain the normal movement they exhibit during pressing movements.

·         The real clincher is the evidence that points to the excessive numbers who injure themselves whilst bench pressing. The amount of trainees suffering pec and shoulder injuries on the bench press makes it seem inevitable that if you bench, then at some stage you will be injured.

Let’s address some of these concerns.

·         The bench press is as functional as any other exercise or lift. If you are trying to isolate your pecs by curling up on the bench like a dying cockroach then you won’t find much carryover to any other useful activity. Plant your feet. I’ll explain how to bench properly in a moment.

·         You are supposed to fix your scapula with the upper back muscles. Even on mundane push ups your upper back needs to stay rigid. You need to press from a firm base; including strong activation of the lats. If not, your pressing power will diminish and can lead your shoulders into an unsafe position. Connect your arms to your body. Balance your upper body strength development with good technique and don’t neglect working on your upper back strength.

·         Most trainees injure themselves on the bench due to overly ambitious weight selection and poor technique. How many times do we see the buddy doing barbell rows while the bloke on the bench is pressing? Or another trainee squirming under the bar as they struggle to put up their eleventh rep?

Seems the common theme here is technique, and usually the absence of good technique. This is also what separates the powerlifter from the usual gym rat. How else do these lifters put up several times their bodyweight on the bench, and suffer fewer injuries? Powerlifters also use more sensible rep and set schemes, and cycle the weights. More on that another time.

Let’s review the technique.

·         Lie down on the bench, expand your chest, draw the shoulder blades together, pull the shoulders toward your feet, and plant your feet.

·         Brace your whole body, force your feet into the floor, as if you are doing a bridge, and unrack the bar. Your choice on the grip; close grip forces more work onto the triceps, whilst a wider grip forces more work on the pecs.

·         Pull the bar down to your sternum with the lats. Think of a barbell row.

·         Pause the bar on your chest for a second. Don’t relax with the bar on your chest, but stay tight.

·         Flex the lats, glutes and your abs hard, and squeeze the weight of your chest. Imagine the bar is stationary and you’re pushing yourself into the bench.

·         Imagine the bar is connected to your elbows, push from your elbows until lockout.

A couple of tips;

·         Be aware of the suicide grip. What’s a suicide grip? You’ve seen them, trust me. It’s the thumbless grip, where the bar kind of rests on the palms. It does nothing for your power, and can be really hazardous to your health. Grip the bar like you mean it. The proprioceptors in your hands let your body know to increase the tension elsewhere, therefore lifting more and increasing safety.

·         Keep your wrist in neutral position. Don’t let them hyperextend. Project the force of the barbell straight down your forearm. Position the bar over the heel of your palm.

·         If you are having trouble connecting the lats, tighten your grip, and imagine you are trying to bend the bar.

For those worried the bench press overly develops the lower pecs, therefore giving the appearance of sagging breasts, switch from the regular flat bench to an incline bench press. You might not be able to lift as heavy, but your pecs will have a more aesthetic look, that of a greek statue of antiquity. Or supplement your bench routine with lots of incline dumbbell presses. This has the benefit of upping your regular flat bench numbers in the process.

Think of performing a standing military press, only lying on a flat bench. The military press demands full body tension, for safe and effective pressing. When benching, apply the same full body tension.

It’s easy to knock something as having little benefit if it is applied incorrectly- take the squat as another example. Learn, and master the technique, develop your skill, and you will earn your rewards of increased upper body pressing strength and increased performance in your sport.