Posts Tagged ‘bench press’
Overhead Pressing for Serious Strength
Have you ever seen an pictures of old school strongmen?
Almost every picture is of them them pressing something over their heads. Back then, the real test of strength was how much you could put over your skull.
Guys like Tony Kono and Doug Hepburn were the norm, not the exception. They routinely pressed more over their heads than most folks can squat.
There was no need for any fancy equipment to get results. These guys just picked up heavy sh*t and pushed it toward the sky.
I wonder how many more beasts there would be if the overhead press were as popular as the bench press? I bet there would be more than a few stronger folks walking around today.
Here are a few tips to a stronger overhead press:
1. Practice, practice, pratice. Overheard pressing is not just a lift, it’s a skill.
2. Go heavy and be aggressive. You won’t get any stronger without a little effort!
3. Keep the volume low. I’ve had the greatest success keeping total reps limited to about 15 or so. A few more or few less sometimes but generally about 15. Your rep scheme may looking something like this 5-4-3-2-1.
I love starting off my training week with some heavy pressing. Today was a good day. I hit a 5rep PR.
Bottom line, if you want to be strong you MUST include overhead pressing consistently into your training.
Now go grab a bar, grunt a little, and put it over you head!
Back to Basics…Again!
Last week I read this great post from Jason Ferruggia about the keys for beginners to make consistent gains.
I got me thinking about going back to basics again. Over the last couple months I’ve incorporated a lot of olympic and combo lifts.
Although I never really stray too far from the basics, I think it’s time to really get back to the basics. It will be a steady diet of heavy pressing, pulling, squatting, and tons of bodyweight work.
Like I said, not really too different from what I’ve been doing over the last few months but in order to reach my goals it’s time to get busy! I’ve always had the best results with keeping it basic so let’s see what happens!
Back to Basics Wk 1 – Day 1
1 – Clean/Press 3×8,6,4,4 (ascending)
2 – Bench Press ( max reps w/90% of BW) x5
3a – Chins 3xsubmax
3b – Pushups 3xsubmax
Conditioning – 5rds for time
4a – Burpee x10
4b – Thick Rope Slams x20
4c – Box Jump x5
4d – Sledge Swings x20
Great session after a week of deloading!
Upper Body Training and Deadlift Madness!
I have two quick training updates for you today.
My lifts are getting stronger albeit, little by little. Hey progress is progress right?
I’ve identified two weaknesses as my strength increases. First, I need more drive off the chest on the bench. I tend to get a little stuck at the beginning and it costs me during the course of a set.
Second, as my deadlift increases, I’ve noticed my grip fails before anything else. Now this can be cause by one of two factors. Deadlifts are my last big lift of the weak and I’ve already attacked my grip with tons or pullups and other movements or my grip just sucks!
I tend to think it’s not one over the other but rather a little bit of both. I’m sure as hell not going to go easy on the pullups and such so I’ll be adding in some extra grip work.
Being able to identify your weaknesses during the course of a training cycle is paramount to continued progress. You must constantly assess yourself!
Get Stronger Wk 6 – Day 3
1 – Hang Snatch + Squat + Back Thruster 5×5
2 – Bench Press 5×8,8,6,6,5
3a – Mixed Grip Pullups w/ Towel 5xsubmax
3b – Pushups 5xsubmax
Get Stronger Wk 6 – Day 4
1 – Deadlift 7×10,8,6,6,4,3,3
2 – DB Reverse Lunges 5×20
Five Rds for Time
3a – Burpees x10
3b – SB Shoulder x3(L/R)
3c – Sledge Hammer Swings x10 (L/R)
This was a great finisher to the week!
I’ve started keeping my lower body days short, sweet, and intense since on the other training days I’m getting some kind of squat or hill sprint during a session.
That’s right I’m hitting my lower body roughly 5 days per week. A little unconventional I know but my recovery is theret and my strength continues to go up.
Sometimes you have to forget the conventional rules and take a different path.
Get Strong(er) Week 5 – Day3
I can't wait to see this movie. I hear it's pretty bad ass!
My legs were still busted up from Tuesday’s session.
So, before I got going today I spent a lot of time hitting the foam roller. If you’re really going after it with your training, a good foam roller is something you simply cannot live without!
Soreness is a part of training. Some sessions leave you sore for a couple days, others don’t. It’s how you recover, which will in part determine your training success. Do not hesitate to take extra time to get on the roller, do mobility work, and go through a thorough dynamic warmup.
Today my warmup took about 2o minutes. Your warmup doesn’t always have to be that long but today I had some extra time and took advantage of it.
Once I worked the kinks out it was time to tear it up!
Get Strong(er) Wk 5 – Day 3
1 – Hang Snatch + Back Squat + Back Thruster 4×6
2 – Bench Press 5×7,6,6,5,5
3a – Recline Row 100 reps (as few sets as possible)
3b – Pushups 100 reps (as few sets as possible)
Bodyweight Brutality and a Challenge
One of the biggest problem areas I see with young athletes and adults alike is a lack of strength with bodyweight movements.
This shouldn’t be surprising actually, since laziness and weakness is engineered into nearly every single piece of “fitness” equipment today. Lay here, sit here, stand here. What ever happened to using the ultimate machine, your body?
I see athletes and adults that can’t do 10 proper pushups and even a single pullup. It drives me insane.
You simply cannot expect to perform at your best if you are not able to move and control your body in space effectively whether you’re a competitive athlete or just a weekend warrior.
If you really want to get strong practice your pushups, pullups, squats, and lunges. A good barometer of where you are on the bodyweight strength meter is being able to perform at least 25 pushups, 5-10 pullups, 50 squats, and 50 lunges. If you can’t hit these numbers, get to crankin’!
My session today finished with a brutal bodyweight challenge. Check it out below.
Get Strong(er) Wk 3 – Day 3
1 – Hang Snatch 5×4
2 – Bench Press 5×4
3a – Thick Rope Recline Rows 100 reps
3b – Pushups 100 reps
Here is the challenge.
Perform 100 reps each of the rows and pushups in as few sets as possible and let me know your results.
Today I finished in 6 rounds.
I need to be stronger than that.
I’m determined to improve.
Crush the bodyweight movements and you’ll be crazy strong, pack on slabs of rugged muscle, and increase your on field/court performance no matter what sport you choose.
Keep killin’ it out there.
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