Posts Tagged ‘muscle’



 

Rightly or wrongly the bench press is one of the most popular bodybuilding exercises. It’s certainly a terrific upper body compound movement, but not as important an exercise as the major lower compound movements like the squat, dead lift or leg press, because it doesn’t cover as many large muscle groups as those exercises.

Some would argue that the chin, dip and overhead press are more important exercises than the bench, but it seems to have a sort of mystique about it anyway, so in this article I’m going to talk about how you can improve your bench, and as a result help to transform your body.

There are two ways of looking at the bench;

1/ As a muscle building exercise

2/ As a power lifting exercise

The difference is that by improving your technique you can become more efficient at the bench press, which will enable you to like heavier weights. Please note however that this may not necessarily mean you’ll build more muscle.

As an example, if you arch your back when you lie on the bench, which you can do by bringing your heels towards your head (if you can visualise this), you provide a more stable pressing base, which will help you to lift more weight.

It’s important not to over exaggerate the arch in your back, or this could lead to injury.

Another tip would be to take a wider grip on the bar – this means that the bar has less distance to travel, which in theory makes the exercise easier.

These are power lifting tips, which is not really the point of this article. The point of this article is to give you some form tips that will help you to bench more and build more muscle as a result of benching more.

The two biggest mistakes I see in gyms when people are benching are;

1/ They bench from too high up their body

2/ They train the exercise from the top instead of from the bottom.

Lets look a these two faults, and why they are faults;

1/ If you bench from too high up your body you put your shoulders in a very bad position. I see even experienced body builders, sometimes contest winners, pressing from as high up as the neck. This is incredibly dangerous, but the trouble is that because elite bodybuilders have stronger joints than most of us, they can get away with this style, although it will catch up with them eventually.

What really makes my blood boil is that inexperienced bodybuilders see this technique used by well developed weight trainers and they copy it.

The bar should be at nipple level of even an inch or two lower than that.

When you start pressing this way it will feel weird at first, and you’ll need to start with lighter weights and then build back up. As you get used to this, you will have a much more safer and more stable style that keeps you injury free.

2/ Unless you’re a power lifter (which this article is not really aimed at) you should train the bench from the bottom, and not the top – here’s why;

Most of the old fashioned bench press units (still on sale unfortunately) make you train the bench from the top because the catches are set about a foot and a half above your head. This means you have to reach up to take the bar before starting the bench press, and you have to return the bar there at the end of it.

This is very bad for a number of safety reasons. If you take a weight that’s too heavy, you’ve got to return it to the catches, which means somehow manhandling it back up. This is a sure route to injury.

In my view, the only way to train the bench is from the bottom. Here’s how it’s done;

You need either a power rack (also called a power cage) or a half rack. Set the pins or catches at chest level, so the bar is only just above chest level when you get under it. Now simply press from there.

This is so much safer than benching from the top. It also gives you more confidence to press heavier weights, because if the weight is too heavy you just can’t move it. If you press from the top with a weight that’s too heavy, you have to find a way of getting the bar back up to the catches to rack it. This is how a lot of injuries occur in the bench.

The other way of getting injured is if the weight just crashes down on your neck – I’ve seen this and it’s horrible to watch, and a really good way to permanently injure yourself.


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Muscle & Fitness – Training System – HOME TRAINING – Part:01/07 | Cover: tinyurl.com | Upload By: I-RoBoT@Corp. | myBlog: i-robotmedia.blogspot.com | DVD Description: This DVD includes 5 complete full-body workouts, ranging from “No-Equipment-Necessary” to the “Barbell and Bench” workout. These routines include 36 different exercises to help you achieve your training goals at home with little to no equipment. The Muscle & Fitness Training System will put you on the fast track to full-body fitness at home!

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Squats are one of the best exercises one can do both to gain muscle mass and lose weight at the same time. This is because it employs so many different muscle groups, and the muscles it does employ are the biggest in the body.

Squatting engages the quadriceps(thighs), calves, gluteus maximus and the lower back all at once. Engaging these big muscle groups all at once works out the body vigorously burning many calories both while performing the exercise, and while recovering.

Squatting involves holding a barbell with weights on the shoulders and slowly lowering yourself and rising again. Squats can be done in several ways. You can lower yourself slightly, parallel with the ground or all the way down. Squatting almost all the way down to the floor provides the greatest range of motion and the best benefits muscle wise.

Many people find squatting to be awkward the first time they try it. That’s why it is important to have an experienced person showing you the proper technique and watching you until you feel comfortable doing it on your own. When using heavy weights, it is important to keep perfect form. Breaking form even slightly can result in injuries and you can seriously injure yourself. Dropping that much weight on yourself is not a pleasant experience.

Squatting should be included in any full body workout. It is great for working out major muscle groups. Because it uses multiple large muscle groups most people prefer to only do it once a week or once a fortnight. The difficulty of the exercise might also have something to do with it.


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I started my muscle-gain journey about 10 months ago when I got tired of being the scrawny guy that could blow away with the wind, and decided to document my progress as much as possible. I know there are not a ton of pictures and not very good posing, but I hope it’s sufficient. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am now. My body is very stingy about putting on weight, especially muscle. I have an incredibly high metabolism, but I’ve tried my best to work around that. I put on a solid 35 pounds of dense muscle and I’m still nowhere near where I would like to be. My journey continues and I hope that this video may inspire some to take on the challenge. Thank you!

When weight lifting, most people are concerned about the amount that they can bench press.   When you use this Muscle Building Program  , you will increase the amount that you can bench in only ten weeks.   The program boasts a fifty pound increase in your bench in the short length of the program. You might be wondering if it is even possible to gain an increase like this in such a short period of time, but you can.   You will have to pay attention to the guidelines that are presented in the program.   When you use a program that will offer you the kind of results like this, you will have to do it in the correct manner and focus on the results that you are trying to achieve.   The program emphasizes the recovery period that your body will need after such an intensive workout.   It might seem like a fifty pound increase is an impossible goal, but if you pay attention to the program and follow the guidelines you will reach this goal.   Some can bench four hundred and fifty pounds and can show you all of the tips and techniques for increasing the amount of your bench.   There is some vital information that is necessary to reach this goal and you will receive it all when you use the Critical Bench program.   There are a number of muscles involved in a good bench and you will learn what is needed to get the kind of results that you want.   It is important that you condition these muscles to get the results that you want. The program will help you with these tips to get the kind of results that the program guarantees.   The position that you use is one of these tips that you will get some great information on.   Stretching, breathing and the grip that you use will also be discussed to make sure that you are making the most of your bench pressing activity.   One of the most important factors that should be discussed is your mind.   You must be in the proper mindset to achieve your results.   Your outlook will be an important part of your workout.   You will learn how to train your mind while you are training your body.   If you set a goal and stick to your plan, you will realize that goal.   There is also an inclusion of meal plans and supplements that will benefit your workout routine.   The tips and techniques that are presented will give you an overnight improvement in your workout.   Inexperienced people might overdo the training and risk injury.   Over training will not help you reach your goals.   Go about the routine in a methodical and consistent manner and you will reach them. This is the most intelligent approach to your workout.   The program will use a five day plan for training with two days off for rest.   Only on the first day of your workout will you be bench pressing.   The rest of the training period will be used to work on the weak parts of your bench and improving on those areas.   This will help you figure out why you are not achieving the results that you want in your bench.   When you do this program it is imperative that you do not overwork your muscles.


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A lot of people go to the gym and lift weights to build muscle, but you can use body weight exercises at home to reach your muscle building goals.   Building muscle without weights is a great way to save money on fitness memberships, without having to buy an expensive setup for home use.   Here are some ways to make body weight exercise more effective.

First of all, to build muscle without weights, you need to choose the correct exercises.   Work more than one muscle group at a time by using compound exercises.   This will give you the results you want faster.   Some good exercise options include push ups, pull ups, lunges, and body weight squats.   Start with three to five compound exercises and complete three sets each.   This is a great way to start out, but be sure to change up the exercises every four to six weeks to keep challenging your muscles.

If you are looking to build muscle without weights then check out:Ideas on Building Muscle Without Weights

Building muscle without weights can be carried out by completing a bunch of repetitions, or by changing the intensity of the exercise.   You can start simply by attempting to complete as many reps as you can without stopping.   Set a target for 100 repetitions.   You can also limit the quantity of rest in between sets in order to make the workout more difficult.

For you to boost the training intensity, complete the workout reps gradually.   Implement four counts in order to complete the positive phase, as well as another 4 counts over the negative stage of each rep.   For example, when completing a pushup count to four as you bring down your body to the carpet.   Count four more as you raise your entire body again to the beginning.   Increase the number of counts to make each work out increasingly difficult.

An additional way to start building muscle without weights can be to use more demanding variations of exercise movements.   Practice one arm pushups or hand stand pushups as an alternative to standard military pushups.   Take a crack at one arm pull ups rather than regular pull ups.   As soon as body weight squats become too comfortable and easy, use the one leg squat in order to challenge yourself.   Pushups are able to be made more challenging simply by raising your feet, striving to complete clap pushups, or both.   Practice jump squats when you would like to increase the intensity to standard body weight squats or even one leg squats.

While building muscle without weights, you will still need to rest your muscle groups prior to exercising them once again.   Don’t complete the very same workouts two days straight.   The body demands time to recover and repair lean muscle tissue.   Whenever you do not give your muscles enough time to recover, you might damage your health and take a longer time to build lean muscle mass.

I hope you gained some good info from reading this. For more great information, you can check out here:Building Muscle Without Weights


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Bodybuilders weighin at the 2009 California Contest in Culver City, CA

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