Progress Report: Scapular Retraction

This guy knows what scapular retraction is:

And so does this guy:

A lot of people say to do it while bench pressing, and I have to agree with that.

Here I am attempting a dead press of 235 lbs trying to do some scapular retracting:

As you can see I didn't get that far. Maybe a little more than an inch off the crossbars.

The reason I bring up scapular retraction is that when I'm deadpressing there is very little clearance between the bar and my chest in order for me to properly scapular retract. The more I try to pull my shoulders back the more my chest rises and the bar ends up digging into my ribcage which by the way is very painful.

Who cares you ask? If I did have enough clearance I then would be able to properly pack my shoulders and lats into the bench padding.

Who cares you ask? Well you see, what a lot of people seem to miss and not understand about bench pressing and scapular retraction is that the more you can swing your shoulders back and behind you, the tenser the stretch reflex can be imparted into your front deltoids.

You see when I was using the leverage chest press machine I was able to get 370 lbs up for an inch. The reason that was is the machine enables you to adjust the handles so they can be set behind the vertical plane of your chest. See the video below:

So what I would do is get the handles about three inches behind my chest and this would put a serious stretch reflex on my front deltoids. I would actually stand up and then slam my butt down into the seat and wedge my body between the back pad and the handles which allowed me to move heavy weight.

I always knew this was happening but I underestimated this stretch reflex effect so when I went to bench press my pressing strength was severely lagging.

Enter the dead press. As you can see I can't even lift 235 lbs. So how do I go up? I train without the stretch reflex caused by scapular retraction. Like I said the bar stops that when dead pressing. My theory is that by dead pressing without scapular retraction you're recruiting more muscle fibers in the front deltoids, triceps, and pecs. This should in turn should lead to an increased touch and go bench press when the shoulders and lats are properly set into a scapular retracted position.

Does it work? I don't know yet. I have been making small micro gains in my dead press though. A couple weeks ago I could barely get 225 lbs off the crossbars:

Anyways here's my numbers. 

Gym Thursday 11:20 a.m. 8/21/14
Shoulder press seated 285-1, 285-1, 305-0
Stiff legged one legged deadlift
Left 235-0, 235-1
Right 235-1, 235-1
One hand rack pull
Left 325-0
Right 325-1
Decline press free motion cable machine 200-2
Life fitness seated leg press machine wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 405-0, 405-1
Bicep curl free motion cable machine 150-2
Romanian deadlift without straps 275-0, 275-0
Romanian deadlift with straps 295-4, 345-0, 315-1
Incline press Precor machine 220-0

Gym Monday 11 am 8/25/14
Conventional deadlift on 45 lb plates 525-0
Stiff legged deadlift on 45 lb plates 515-0
Dead chest press 235-1, 245-0
Dead chest press legs in the air 245-0
Life fitness seated leg press machine wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves
405-1
Lat row seated life fitness machine 305-1
Life fitness Tricep extension rope attachment cable machine 130-1
Pec fly dumbbells pair of 55's-2

Workout notes:

As you can see, I've been resting for 96 hours and it's been a positive experience. My lifts are going up and I feel a lot more explosive. The only problem is my joints and spine fall out of alignment with the extended rest and I have to remember to do spinal stretches to straighten my spine out before attempting heavy deadlifting. I did have a slight vertebra disc slippage when I pulled up 415 lbs because my hips and lower back were slightly misaligned.  It was painful but I stood with my back to a wall and bent over backwards to pop my spine back into place. No big deal. Problem solved and I finished the training session albeit with a slight pain in my lower spine.

Also notice my inclusion of the Romanian deadlift on 8/21. It definitely has great carryover effect to the conventional deadlift. My bar speed coming off the ground is very easy and fluid thanks to the Romanian deadlift, and it works the low back without the heavy load placed on it when conventional deadlifting.

Also you can see my incline press on the Precor machine severely decreased. On 8/13 it was 300 lbs for a "1".  8/21 it was 220 lbs for a "0". The reason was that I set the handles on the machine right at chest level thereby reducing any chance for stretch reflex along the front deltoids.

Also notice on 8/25 I cycled the pec fly back into my workout. I'm also going to put a reverse fly to work the rear deltoids. My reasoning is that if I attack the muscles involved in scapular retraction and front deltoid stretch reflex, my touch and go bench press should go up.