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3 Exercises That Will Boost Your Bench Press
How often do you hear the question at the local gym or high school? How much do ya bench? When I was still going to a commercial gym the benches were always full and the squat racks were always open.
Everyone liked the look of having a well developed chest and I felt the same way. But over the years I learned that the best way to develop a muscular chest was to have a balanced program. That program had to incorporate stretching, compound exercises, fixing imbalances, training the legs, and finding the volume that keeps you healthy while gaining chest mass. I once was part of the naïve crew that would do endless sets of chest exercises.
This strategy worked for a while because I was eating enough calories to grow, as well as, incorporating other compound exercises that released growth hormones. Of course, I was also young and doing enough volume to make some strides. The problem with this body part specialization program is that it led to a lot of nagging injuries because of the repetitive motion. Who has 2 hours to train if you are not a professional bodybuilder? We deal with a lot of people that work and have children which choose to devout less time to training. The solution is to give them effective ways to put mass on their chest in a safe manner.
The exercises that we have used to help us develop a respectable bench press are medicine ball chest throws, weighted pull ups, and foam rolling. The medicine ball chest press activates a great number of muscle fibers because of the speed of the movement. It also teaches the nervous system to learn to quickly and efficiently send signals to the chest muscles.
Weighted pull ups build the back muscles that can create a good base to propel the weight upward in the bench press. A good foundation allows more bricks to be placed properly when building a house. It also balances the muscles in front of body with the muscles in the back of the body so the proper posture for the bench press can be established to avoid injury. Back strength has often been overlooked in the average Joe's program but can make a huge difference.
Most people might add some bodyweight pull ups into their routine. But only a rare breed will add resistance to the pull up. It makes since because we add a lot of resistance to the bench press, so if we look at the see saw affect we have to load the back as well.
Foam rolling is also a great way to massage the knots out of the back and chest. It is an easy and affordable way to make movement more fluid. Recovery in between workouts also is aided through the use of a foam roller. The time invested is minimal, but the rewards are great. I was a football player, so I just used my bench press to enhance my pressing strength. The three exercises I used over time allowed me to take my bench up to 365 raw at a weight of 177.
-Add each exercise in your upper body routine with the following rep scheme
-Weighted Pull Ups 3x5 / Increase weight or reps weekly
-Weighted Pull Up - Add Chains or Weight
-Medicine Ball Push Toss 3x3/ Increase Reps by 1 weekly
-Foam Rolling/ Increase time used weekly
Jimmy Lamour developed Lamour Training Systems with the help of his lovely wife Charlene to help youth athletes and trainees improve their performance and receive knowledge he missed out on as a child. He is currently certified as a youth fitness specialist. He has two children Camdon (12) and Micah (7). Sign up for his newsletter at http://fastyouthathlete.blogspot.com/
This strategy worked for a while because I was eating enough calories to grow, as well as, incorporating other compound exercises that released growth hormones. Of course, I was also young and doing enough volume to make some strides. The problem with this body part specialization program is that it led to a lot of nagging injuries because of the repetitive motion. Who has 2 hours to train if you are not a professional bodybuilder? We deal with a lot of people that work and have children which choose to devout less time to training. The solution is to give them effective ways to put mass on their chest in a safe manner.
The exercises that we have used to help us develop a respectable bench press are medicine ball chest throws, weighted pull ups, and foam rolling. The medicine ball chest press activates a great number of muscle fibers because of the speed of the movement. It also teaches the nervous system to learn to quickly and efficiently send signals to the chest muscles.
Weighted pull ups build the back muscles that can create a good base to propel the weight upward in the bench press. A good foundation allows more bricks to be placed properly when building a house. It also balances the muscles in front of body with the muscles in the back of the body so the proper posture for the bench press can be established to avoid injury. Back strength has often been overlooked in the average Joe's program but can make a huge difference.
Most people might add some bodyweight pull ups into their routine. But only a rare breed will add resistance to the pull up. It makes since because we add a lot of resistance to the bench press, so if we look at the see saw affect we have to load the back as well.
Foam rolling is also a great way to massage the knots out of the back and chest. It is an easy and affordable way to make movement more fluid. Recovery in between workouts also is aided through the use of a foam roller. The time invested is minimal, but the rewards are great. I was a football player, so I just used my bench press to enhance my pressing strength. The three exercises I used over time allowed me to take my bench up to 365 raw at a weight of 177.
-Add each exercise in your upper body routine with the following rep scheme
-Weighted Pull Ups 3x5 / Increase weight or reps weekly
-Weighted Pull Up - Add Chains or Weight
-Medicine Ball Push Toss 3x3/ Increase Reps by 1 weekly
-Foam Rolling/ Increase time used weekly
Jimmy Lamour developed Lamour Training Systems with the help of his lovely wife Charlene to help youth athletes and trainees improve their performance and receive knowledge he missed out on as a child. He is currently certified as a youth fitness specialist. He has two children Camdon (12) and Micah (7). Sign up for his newsletter at http://fastyouthathlete.blogspot.com/
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