Bench press alternate accessory movement

There is no question you need to mix up your movements to avoid repetitive movement injury.  The problem is finding the right accessory movements that will have carryover to your bench press that will lead to making strength gains in your chest press.

I was experimenting with dips in my last workout sessions, and I was noticing definite progress and increase in my bench press strength.

The way I would do dips is I would get on the dip machine at the gym and go all the way down with elbows bent at a severely sharp angle with my forearms hinging at the elbow and not stopping until I hit the the bicep with my forearms and then I would push myself up.

The use of the above machine allows you to acquire that severe acute angle in your elbow joint which is necessary to mock the angle joint your elbows take on while bench pressing.  That's the movement that needs to be accomplished if you expect strength gain carryover to the bench press.

If you want to add more resistance to the exercise once you master a severe bent angle elbow position dips with both hands, switch to a one handed dip.  You can accomplish this because the knee pad on the machine will support your weight.

After you master the one arm dip, experiment with added resistance provided by a weight belt.







If you don't have access to a dip machine, then recruit somebody to hold your ankles and tell them to raise you while you're pushing up.

Appetite Control post workout

If you're aiming for an aesthetic look for your body, you have to severely curtail and measure calorie intake.

Probably the worst times for disciplining yourself not to eat is right after the workout.  Your body is craving glycogen and to a smaller extent, protein.

How do you satisfy that hunger?

Eat. Simple.


But what if you don't want to eat because you're trying to maintain a lean body?

The solution is simple.  Take the fish oil multivitamin cocktail of pills that I recommended in my previous posts.


So right after you workout, eat approximately 100 grams of fast absorbing sucrose in the form of candies so you can mainline glycogen to your liver and replenish its glycogen stores.

About an hour later, you'll feel hungry again.  Now take the fish oil multivitamin cocktail:  four 1000 mg fish oil pills and one multivitamin.

If you feel hungry again after this concentrate on eating salads without any carbohydrate or protein and a maybe a hint of salad dressing to satisfy any cravings for fats.

If you follow my advice for drinking a protein shake during a workout, then you shouldn't need to eat any protein until the next day because the protein in the shake should more than compensate for your protein needs for building muscle.  Although the next day you're definitely going to have to consume red meat and chicken and keeping consuming them for the next 48 hours to build and repair muscle fibers.


After 48 hours post workout, your body is probably in a positive nitrogen balance because of all the protein you have been eating, so slack off on the protein and consume more carbohydrates, fiber and fats and supplement as need to stave off hunger with the fish oil multivitamin cocktail as a meal replacement.

When you choose to skip a meal and replace with fish oil is up to you.

Skipping dinner is probably easiest because all you have to do is sleep afterwards.

Forgoing lunch is probably the hardest because you have to fast and survive on the 80 calories supplied via the fish oil pills for a solid twelve hours between breakfast and dinner.  I usually take an afternoon nap when I opt for this method because of the enervation I endure while I'm fasting.

You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you find you get what you need

A little raccoon climbed on top of my roof and took a crap.

From that minute action, life has given me a second chance.

I don't know why he left his turds up there.  The cynic in me says he did it because he's a dumb animal and he could give a damn where he leaves his droppings.

The optimist dreamer in me says that because I held this blog for ransom, somehow the universe listened upon my cries for help and decided to give it to me.

So I have decided to release my strength training without steroids back onto the internet.  Whether it gives you any help or seriously injures your body is up for you to decide.