This is advice. Follow it at your own risk.
So now you're thinking okay smart guy you talk a good game but can you put your money where your mouth is. The answer is yes.
My bench press workout routine.
Sunday early afternoon no later than eleven am.
One hour before working out, I eat a decent sized breakfast. Something with eggs and meat and carbohydrates in the form of something like pancakes.
Thirty minutes after eating, I eat a chewable three gram creatine tablet and I swallow another 3 gram beta alanine tablet. The creatine should only be taken three grams per day and three grams per day for the beta alanine. Creatine is stored in muscles as a form of energy. Beta alanine is stored in the muscle as a ph buffer to prevent your muscles from being loaded with lactic acid. Lactic acid production in your muscle is what's commonly known as the burn and beta alanine blocks that and reduces muscle fatigue.
The combination of creatine and beta alanine before a workout has a moderate anabolic effect on your muscles. Your muscles will feel tighter and harder and fuller after you take creatine and beta alanine which may translate to a strength gain.
The workout
Pause bench press. I work up to a pause bench press personal best record. What I mean by working up to is first I stretch my chest and shoulders by standing in front of a squat rack and place my hands shoulder high and lean forward thus stretching my chest. I tend to rock back and forth each time going a little deeper into the stretch. When I stretch, I'm looking for that release point of tension. I take it slowly and gently rock back and forth until my shoulder blades can touch each other with relative ease. This can also be performed in a narrow doorway if you don't have a squat rack.
My next step is to circulate blood into my muscles. I start off with 45 lb plates on either side of a barbell and I start putting reps in. I'll do sets of three or two. Each time I do a set, I'll add twenty lbs and do a set of three or two reps. I'll keep doing that until I am within fifty lbs of my max out record. I know my max out weight because I keep a journal. You should too.
Once I get within fifty pounds, I start doing single rep sets while adding more weight until I can't press any more. That's you're first max out. Mark it down in your journal.
The form for the pause bench press is identical to the regular bench press. The barbell is positioned equidistant between the upright bar holders. I like to use a squat rack when bench pressing because I can position the bar closer to my body because the bar holders are adjustable whereas on a regular bench press with fixed upright holders you're limited in how close you can position the bar when you set the bar above you into position. Also when the bar is closer to me, it's easier to stay in a nice and tight position which gives me a better lift. Of course if you have someone to spot you and help you lift the bar out then use a bench press with the fixed uprights. This will help you to keep a fixed tight position as well.
Now lay back on the bench. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath your back by sweeping the fronts of your shoulders towards the floor. This should also thrust your chest upward to the ceiling. While doing this put a severe upward arch in your lower back. The only things touching the bench should be your glutes and shoulder blades and the back of your head. Now take in a big breath of air and hold it until you finished the rep. The taking of air into your lungs will cause you to further arch your lower back and chest to the ceiling, and it will freeze your upper body into a tight position which is crucial to having a successful lift. Feet placement should be wide as possible to give a stable base to lift from and the feet should be pulled in close enough to the body where you can feel a noticeable pull in your thighs but while still allowing you to lay the feet flat on the floor. Also I don't wear any shoes when I bench press. It allows me to feel out the floor with my feet and get in a comfortable position, and it also helps me to incorporate leg and toe drive into all my lifts.
Now lift the bar out above you with your arms perpendicular to the floor. Bear in mind you should be still holding your breath. It's uncomfortable but you'll get used to it and it will keep your upper body locked into position. Now while still holding that breath, close your eyes and lower the bar to your chest while keeping your elbows tucked in. You close your eyes to focus on the internal gyroscope in your head that keeps you balanced. Do not look at the bar. Feel the bar barely touch your chest somewhere in between your rib cage and upper abdomen. Pause two seconds. Now drive your toes and feet into the ground and squeeze your glutes while trying to spread the floor with your feet and use the upper back and the shoulder blades as a leverage point while pushing up the bar off the chest while still tucking the elbows in towards the midsection of your body. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. If you lift them off it will put a significant arch in your lower back and make you susceptible to injury. If you spread your elbows away from the body, your shoulders will round out and be put into a compromised position that is susceptible to shoulder injury. You should be actively trying to spread the bar apart with your hands. This will help activate your wrist, forearm, and tricep muscles which will help you to push the bar to a lockout. I can't stress enough how you must maintain holding that breath of air in your lungs until you lock your elbows out at the top. This will help you to maintain that tight position and will help you press more weight. I also can't stress enough keeping your eyes closed until the lockout. This will help you to concentrate which muscles to activate and when to activate them rather than being stressed about the 300 lb weight suspended in air above your chest.
When you lower the bar to your chest, you jam your feet into the ground and spread the floor with your feet and squeeze your glutes. This will cause cause your lower back and mid section to arch upward. Don't over arch your back because it will compress the vertebrae in your back and make you susceptible to back injury.
The slight over arching of your back will shift the barbell weight onto your shoulder blades and upper back muscles. It will also tilt your forearms and the barbell towards your head. Pause two seconds. Pop the bar upwards into a lockout position with your arms almost as if you were performing a standing overhead press. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. Also keep squeezing and contracting the glutes to a rock hard position. This will help in clearing the bar off the chest. When you drive your feet into the ground, there's a tendency for the glutes to wander off the bench. This could put a more severe arch in your lower back which could lead to injury.
Notice how the pause at the bottom of the pause bench press cancels out that downward momentum and reflexive rebound from lowering the bar to the chest. You will feel the fatigue in your chest, triceps, wrists and forearms after doing a workout of pause bench presses and those are the primary muscles which we are trying to get to adapt and become stronger.
The single rep set is the set that causes your body to adapt. You hear about guys doing sets of ten or five but there is not a strong enough resistance to trigger an adaptive response in the muscle when doing any kind of multi-rep set. To cause an adaptive response, you must lift as much weight as you can one time. Basically perform a single rep set which is what I call the max out set.
Now after your first max out bench press, take about fifty or so pounds off or just enough that will enable you to put a set of three reps in. Why three? I don't know. It's arbitrary. It's a preference. You might differ and need five reps or two reps. The main purpose is to put reps in.
The putting in of reps is a necessity. As you continue into the training, you will notice that the body and your joints become warmer and more fluid as they are performing their ranges of motion. When you first started warming up on the bench press, the first press you took was stiff. The second was easier and the third was easier still. You're circulating blood into the muscles and lubricating the elbow and shoulder joints by pushing reps in a set. That is the only purpose of reps in a set: to help achieve what I call maximal lifting efficiency.
Maximal lifting efficiency is where your body reaches an optimal operating temperature, your joints are fluid and moving in such a way where you can noticeably perform your bench presses or other lifts in an optimal way with no glitches or hiccups in their respective ranges of motion.
I've done my first max out weight alternated with sets of three and another max out press, and after I had achieved maximal lifting efficiency I was able to max out with more weight on my third max out try than on my first max out.
It seems counterintuitve. You would think since you're completing your first max out that your body is at optimum operating condition. True. The energy reserves in your muscles are at their greatest at the first max out lift. What's also true is that your body doesn't achieve maximal lifting efficiency until after a couple max out tries and a couple sets of three reps are put in. Sometimes but not always you might achieve a greater max out weight on your third try than on your first try.
So to break it down for you, here's the pause bench press workout:
Warm up and stretch
Start light and progressively get heavier until you reach your first max out record.
Mark the weight in your journal
Take fifty or more or less pounds off the barbell and put a set of three reps in. It's almost impossible to hold your breath in between reps, so after elbow lockout take a couple breaths but keep in mind you'll lose tightness in your chest and lower back arch.
Put weight back onto the bar where it's just enough so you can do one rep
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
That's it.
Warm up
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
Notice how we stop at four max out tries. Any more lifting past that is the point of no return. The adaptive response is negligible even non existent and to do any more lifting would be a waist of time.
Also this is the workout routine for any lift you do. Whether it be squats, deadlifts, bench presses, or anything else you should not do any more than this. Also if you put too much weight on the max out set and can't perform the rep, lower the weight ten pounds or more to a point where you can perform the max out. Remember the single max out rep is where you'll yield the greatest adaptive response. On the other hand, if you can only put in one rep of your three rep set don't worry about it. The three rep set is performed to achieve maximal lifting efficiency so add more weight to the bar and move on to the next max out set
and then lower the weight to something you can get some reps in.
I forgot to mention the intake of protein while I workout. Before I perform max out sets, I take a generous swig of protein drink. Any kind of whey protein shake will do. Just make sure it has thirty five or more grams per drink If you're drinking a premixed drink. If you use protein powder, make sure it has twenty five or more grams per serving but don't go over 80 grams per workout. The protein gives an anabolic effect to the muscles and this will help you lift more weight. On the three rep
sets I'll drink protein occasionally but if the protein is causing me an upset stomach I'll lay off it and wait until my next max out set.
Tuesday no later than three in the afternoon.
This is my test day. I am actively trying to set personal records. The test day always follows a workout of pause bench press sets.
We set personal records on the bench press by performing a reflexive bench press. The form for it is the same as the pause bench press but when the bar touches the chest, there is no pause. Lower the bar at a faster rate than on a pause bench press. Now while closing your eyes, feel the bar barely glance your chest and rapidly thrust the bar away from the chest. In effect you're bouncing the bar off your chest.
Thursday night no earlier than ten p.m.
Again I do pause bench presses. The days do not correspond to any particular exercises. All that matters is that you alternate pause bench presses on one day with reflexive rebound bench presses on another day. Also my pre- workout routine is the same before any workout. I'm eating and taking supplements. Also before any sets I warm up and the sequence of sets is the same. Four max out sets and three sets of three reps.
now that I've put you into this predicament, I guess I gotta put you out of it as well so here's my post workout recovery phase
also check out my squat routine
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