When you bench press, your chest is working like a flywheel, resisting the downward force of the barbell. The stress on the chest causes the chest muscles to fatigue, and the resulting gap becomes the sticking point that prevents you from adding weight to the bar. (And when you fail to add weight, you get stuck.)
Bench Press (BP) is a common exercise used to develop strength and size in the upper body. On top of that, BP is a great exercise to build overall strength and muscle mass in a short amount of time. However, when training for an upcoming meet, it is crucial to know your sticking point. Your sticking point is the bench press where your body cannot generate enough force to push the weight up. You should be able to perform 5-10 reps at your sticking point with good form before you can move on to the next phase of training. If you are unable to perform more than 3 reps at your sticking point, it is time to work on your technique.
There are many things that can hold you back from a lifetime of gym-going. The one that has been affecting me lately is a sticking point in my bench press. This might sound silly, but I’m not sure I’ve ever been faced with this problem before.
The bottom portion of the bench press is poor for most powerlifters. They struggle to get the weight off their chest and often fail within the first 1-4 inches of the lift.
If you want to develop a massive bench press, you’ll need to get serious about training your sticking spots.
Introduction
- Part 1: Bench Press Techniques by Josh Bryant
- Part 2: Bench Press Techniques by Louie Simmons
- Part 3: Bench Press Techniques by Charles Poliquin
In this thorough tutorial, I’ll show you the most effective methods for getting rid of your bench press sticking spot once and for all.
Some of the greatest bench press coaches in the world, including Josh Bryant, Louie Simmons, and Charles Poliquin, have utilized these techniques.
There are three primary methods to get rid of your chest sticking points on the bench:
- Option #1: Overload the bottom portion of the action using specific training techniques.
- Option #2: Overload the bottom portion of the action with specific bench press workouts.
- Option #3: Isolate and improve weak muscle areas using supplementary workouts.
The first approach is to overload the bottom portion of the bench press using specific training techniques. Josh Bryant, for example, thinks that speed sets are one of the simplest methods to develop off-the-chest strength.
Josh has his athletes do 3-10 sets of 60-80 percent of their 1-rep max speed bench presses.
Josh instructs his students to blast the weight off their chest in order to generate the most force and activate more fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Here’s a video of bodybuilder Jonathon Irizarry demonstrating the fast bench press:
What an electrifying performance!
Because you’re speeding the weight off your chest as quickly as possible, Josh Bryant calls this workout technique “compensatory acceleration training.”
Of course, you may utilize other specific training techniques to develop muscle off your chest, such as isometric training or accommodating resistance. This article will go through each of these techniques in detail.
Special bench press workouts that push your muscles to work harder in the bottom position are another excellent way to develop strength off your chest. The floor press is an excellent illustration of this. Consider the following scenario:
Louie Simmons, a world-class powerlifting coach, has a favorite exercise: the floor press.
The floor press, he claims, works because you must pause with your upper arms on the ground. This disables the stretch reflex and makes your chest, shoulders, and triceps work harder to support your weight.
Here’s Louie Simmons discussing the advantages of the floor press:
“Before pushing the bar up, lower the bar until the triceps are fully relaxed and on the floor. The eccentric/concentric chain is broken up by releasing the arms. This can help with explosive strength and the bottom portion of the bench press.”
Last but not least, utilize specific workouts that target weak muscle areas to improve your bench press off your chest.
Charles Poliquin, a strength instructor, was a major supporter of this training technique. He thought that by strengthening their rotator cuff muscles, most individuals could increase their bench press.
The rotator cuff is a kind of rotator cuff. is a collection of four muscles that work together to keep the shoulder joint stable.
The sitting dumbbell external rotation was one of Charles’ favorite rotator cuff isolation exercises. Consider the following scenario:
If your rotator cuff is too weak, Charles believes you will constantly miss the weight off your chest. Adding some rotator cuff isolation exercises to your regimen, he added, was the quickest approach to address this problem.
Of course, you may strengthen your chest and shoulders with a variety of accessory workouts to address a weakness off your chest. Overhead pressing workouts and bamboo bar bench presses are two of the finest choices.
I hope you found this overview useful. Now, let’s take a deeper look at some of the world’s greatest bench press instructors’ training methods.
Note: If you’re having difficulty understanding the training routines in this post, see how to read a training program. Let’s get down to business now…
Part 1: Bench Press Techniques by Josh Bryant
Josh Bryant is one of the finest bench press coaches in the world. He was the world’s youngest man to bench press 600 pounds, and he now trains Julius Maddox, one of the world’s strongest bench pressers.
Attacking your sticking spots, according to Josh, is one of the quickest methods to improve your bench press strength.
If you have a weakness off your chest, you must tailor your whole exercise to address that weakness.
To target a bench press sticking point off the chest, Josh employs three distinct training strategies:
- Compensatory Acceleration Training is the first strategy.
- Isometrics in the Powerlifting Style (Strategy #2)
- Supplementary Bench Press Exercises (Strategy #3)
All three of these methods may help you develop a large bench press. However, if you truly want to break past your roadblock, I suggest going “all-in” and incorporating all three methods into your exercises.
“Compensatory acceleration training” is the first technique Josh loves to employ with his trainees. Josh Bryant’s take on speed sets, often known as the dynamic effort technique.
You’ll do multiple speed sets at 60-80 percent of your 1-rep max. Josh, for example, has his clients do 6 sets of 3 repetitions at 70 percent of their 1-rep max.
The goal is to execute these routines as quickly as possible.
James Strickland, a customer of Josh Bryant, demonstrates the speed bench press perfectly:
James is pushing the bar as hard as he can on all three repetitions, as you can see. The goal is to push so hard that the weight jumps out of your hands when you reach the highest position!
In the bench press, speed sets teach you how to generate maximal power straight off your chest. This is beneficial for both speeding up the bar and developing maximum strength in the bottom position.
Prior to their powerlifting contests, Josh has all of his powerlifting trainees do fast bench presses.
Here’s what a Josh Bryant bench press exercise could look like at the start:
- A1: 1 x 2 bench press, 1/1/X/1, 2 minutes rest
- B1: 6 × 3 1/0/X/0 speed bench press**, 2 minutes rest
**At 90 percent of your 1-rep maximum.
***Performed at 70% of your 1-rep maximum.imum.
You may do some supplemental and auxiliary exercises for your chest, shoulders, triceps, and upper back after the speed sets.
Don’t underestimate the strength of speed settings when it comes to bursting past snags! It is without a doubt one of the most effective training techniques available.
Josh sometimes deals with a client who has severe chest weakness. They have powerful triceps and can lockout nearly any weight, but they can’t get it off their chest!
Josh Bryant like to utilize powerlifting-style isometrics for more severe sticking points. The fundamental concept is to bench press a 45-pound barbell for 6 seconds into a pair of safety pins.
Here’s a great example of bench press isometrics from James Strickland:
It’s difficult to see, but James is pushing the bar as hard as he can into the safety pins. His aim is to break the safety pins into a million pieces by pressing so hard!
Bench press isometrics, according to research, engage up to 7% more muscle fibers and help you generate up to 15% more force than normal sets. They also allow you to pinpoint your own stumbling blocks!
If you’re weak right from the start, like James Strickland, you’d place the safety pins 1 inch above your chest. According to research, all strength increases occur at the point in the range of motion where you are weakest.
If you’re powerful at the top but weak at the bottom of the bench press, bench press isometrics may help you build strength in the bottom half of the exercise! Isn’t it amazing?
Supersetting bench press isometrics with speed sets is Josh Bryant’s preferred method to utilize them.
Josh instructs his customers to do one set of speed bench presses, 2 minutes of rest, 1 set of isometric bench presses, 2 minutes of rest, and then another set of speed bench presses. Consider the following scenario:
Isometric Bench Press Routine by Josh Bryant
- A1: 1 x 2 bench press, 1/1/X/1, 2 minutes rest
- B1: 4 x 3, 1/0/X/0, 2 minutes rest, speed bench press***
- B2: 4 x 1, 1/0/X/6, 2 minutes rest, isometric bench press****
**At 90 percent of your 1-rep maximum.
***Performed at 70% of your 1-rep max
****Performed using a 45-pound barbell that was empty.
4 sets of speed bench lifts and 4 sets of isometric bench presses are what Josh recommends to his customers.
Combining these two workouts is a great method to increase your off-the-chest strength.
Isometric bench presses train your body to generate additional muscle fibers precisely at the point where you’re stuck. Then, when you do your speed sets, you’ll be able to generate more force than usual exactly where you’re stuck.
As a consequence, you become both stronger and more explosive straight away. That’s what I call a win-win scenario!
Josh recommends that his students do 1-2 more bench press workouts after the speed sets.
Here are some of Josh’s favorite off-chest supplemental bench press exercises:
- Bench pushes that have been stopped
- Bench press with an ultra-wide range of motion
- The sacrificial bench
- The spoto press is a small press that focuses on a
Paused bench presses are simple: on each rep, you pause for 1-3 seconds on your chest. These pauses remove the stretch reflex, forcing your chest and shoulders to work considerably harder to get the bar moving in the bottom position.
Bench presses with an ultra-wide grip are exactly what they sound like: you hold the bar with an exceptionally wide grip. Your pointer fingers should be broader than the smooth rings on the barbell, according to Josh.
Bench presses with an ultra-wide grip may be taxing on your shoulders, so make sure you do sets of 6-8 repetitions.
Josh Bryant came up with the dead bench exercise. The bar is placed 1-4 inches above your chest in a pin press. Consider the following scenario:
According to Josh Bryant, the dead bench should only be used for single repetitions. The only way to remove the stretch reflex on every rep is to do it this way.
Josh recommends that his customers do 3-10 sets of singles with 30-60 seconds of break in between.
The Spoto press is another of Josh Bryant’s favorite supplemental bench press workouts. The bar should not touch your chest during this exercise. Instead, take a 1 inch break with the bar over your chest before pushing back up. Consider the following scenario:
Anyone who enjoys bouncing the weight off their chest in the bottom position will like this workout. The pause challenges you to maintain extreme tension and rely only on your muscles to reverse the weight.
Now let’s take a look at a complete Josh Bryant-style bench press exercise to target a chest weakness.
Chad Wesley Smith did this exercise as part of his preparation for a 500-pound bench press. Take a look:
Bench Press Workout by Chad Wesley Smith
- 1 x 3**, 1/1/X/0, 4 minutes rest A1: Bench press (competition grip), 1 x 3**, 1/1/X/0, 4 minutes rest
- B1: 6 x 4***, 1/1/X/1, 2 minutes rest, speed bench press (competitive grip).
- C1: 2 × 8**** bench press (wide grip), 1/1/X/01, 2 minutes rest
- D1: 8 x 1***** dead bench, 1/0/X/0, 45 seconds rest
- E1: 3 x 8, 2/0/X/1, 60 seconds rest V-bar dips (forward leaning torso)
- F1: 3 x 11 DB flights, 2/0/1/0, 10 seconds rest
- 3 x 8, 2/0/1/0, 60 seconds rest, F2: DB front raises, 3 x 8, 2/0/1/0, 60 seconds rest
**Performed at 76 percent of his 1-rep maximum.
***Performed at 61 percent of his 1-rep maximum.
****Performed at a rate of 58 percent of his 1-rep max.
***** At 59 percent of his estimated 1-rep max, he gave it his all.
Josh Bryant developed a bench press program for Chad Wesley Smith since he had a significant weakness off his chest. As you can see, this exercise is divided into four sections.
On the bench press, Chad begins with a fairly heavy triple.
After that, he does six speed sets on the bench press.
The ultra-wide grip bench press and the dead bench are Chad’s next two bench press supplemental workouts.
Finally, Chad does some chest and shoulder accessory workouts.
When you’re weak off the chest, this is an excellent approach to construct a bench press exercise. I strongly advise you to give it a try!
Check out the following article to learn more about how Josh Bryant creates bench press programs for his powerlifters:
The Bench Press Program by Josh Bryant!
This article contains all you need to know about developing a world-class bench press.
Part 2: Bench Press Techniques by Louie Simmons
The Westside Barbell training regimen was founded by Louie Simmons. He’s also one of the all-time great powerlifting coaches.
The Westside Barbell workout regimen, according to Louie Simmons, is the quickest method to overcome a sticking spot on your chest.
Louie has his players do “max effort” and “dynamic effort” bench press exercises twice a week. Consider the following scenario:
The Bench Press Program at Westside Barbell
- Bench Press with Dynamic Effort on Sunday
- Wednesday: Bench Press with Maximum Effort
Both of these exercises are essential for building off-the-chest strength. Let’s look at each one in more detail.
Josh Bryant’s compensatory acceleration training is referred to as the dynamic effort technique. You’ll lift a fairly heavy weight as explosively as possible for numerous sets of three repetitions.
The dynamic effort technique, according to Louie Simmons, is the single most effective strategy to increase bench press strength off the chest. It’s simpler to push through your hitting spots if you can remove the weight off your chest as quickly as possible.
Just have a look at the video below:
“Drive! Drive! Drive!” exclaims the narrator.
Louie Simmons may be in his eighties, but he knows how to ignite a fire in your arse!
For their dynamic effort sets, Louie Simmons prefers his athletes to employ some kind of accommodating resistance, like as bands or chains.
The addition of bands and chains makes the upper part of the workout somewhat heavier than the lower half. This pushes you to accelerate the weight off your chest even faster.
The bands or chains will bring the weight back down to your chest if you don’t speed the bar off your chest!
Louie like his players to do 9 speed sets on the bench press followed by some upper-body accessory exercises. Consider the following scenario:
Bench Press Workout Template with Dynamic Effort
- Exercise #1: Bench press with dynamic effort, 9 sets of 3 reps
- Bench press auxiliary exercises, 3-4 sets of 5-20 repetitions, exercise #2-5
Louie Simmons has a variety of unusual supplementary exercises that I’ve never seen anybody else utilize. I’ll go through them in more detail below. But first, let’s speak about the Westside Barbell training program’s heart and soul: the max effort technique!
Louie Simmons’ secret weapon for developing a massive bench press is the max effort technique.
Every week, his bench press athletes work up to a 1-rep max on a different kind of unique exercise. According to Louie, you should choose specific workouts that target your lift’s weak areas or sticking places.
Here are some of Louie Simmons’ favorite max effort workouts for building chest strength:
- Pressing on the Floor
- Pressing Low Pins
- Pressed Foam
- Board Press (1-2)
- Bench Press on an Angle
One of Louie Simmons’ favorite specific workouts for the bench press is the floor press. The floor press is a cross between a bench press and a squat. The only distinction is that you do the workout while lying down on the ground.
Here’s a fantastic video of a max effort floor press demonstration:
Because you must halt with your upper arms touching the ground, this exercise is very beneficial for increasing your strength off the chest.
Because the stretch reflex is suppressed during this interval, your chest and shoulders must work harder to get the bar moving.
To improve the bottom portion of the bench press, Louie Simmons employs a number of specific workouts in addition to the floor press. Low pin presses, foam presses, 1-2 board presses, and incline bench presses are among his other favorites.
On their peak effort bench press day, Louie has his players max out on one unique exercise each week. To prevent training plateaus, they switch up the unique workouts every week.
Here’s an example of a Westside Barbell max effort bench press day:
Bench Press Workout Template with Dynamic Effort
- Exercise #1: Bench press with maximum effort, 2-3 sets of 1 rep
- Bench press auxiliary exercises, 3-4 sets of 5-20 repetitions, exercise #2-5
The max effort or dynamic effort bench press is always the first exercise in the Westside Barbell training regimen. Following the bench press, you’ll do a variety of upper-body ancillary exercises.
To build a bench press sticking point off the chest, Louie Simmons employs two kinds of accessory exercises:
- Dumbbell pushes to failure with high reps
- Bench presses with bamboo bars
After your dynamic effort or max effort bench press training, Louie Simmons thinks that doing high-rep dumbbell pushes to failure is one of the quickest methods to develop your bench press off your chest.
This is something I discovered after analyzing the workout records of dozens of individuals who trained at Columbus, Ohio’s Westside Barbell club.
The objective is to choose a pair of dumbbells and complete two sets of 15-25 reps until failure. Both sets would be done with the same weight. Any kind of barbell exercise, like as the bench press, floor press, incline bench press, and so on, may be done in two high-rep sets to failure.
For barbell exercises, Louie Simmons frequently instructs his trainees to do two sets to failure in the 20-40 rep range: one set with a shoulder-width grip and one set with a wide grip.
For example, immediately after his dynamic effort sets, Matt Wenning does a high rep set of bench presses with bands and chains to failure:
So, what makes this approach so effective? Why would someone do two high-rep sets of dumbbell presses or bench presses to failure?
To be honest, I’m not quite sure why it works. Perhaps it aids in the development of muscular mass in the chest and shoulders.
It’s possible that it works in tandem with the low-rep dynamic effort or peak effort sets.
Perhaps training to failure in the 20-40 rep range is a good approach to recruit high-threshold motor units without stressing your nervous system.
I’m not sure why it works, but I can assure you that this approach is very effective. After utilizing high-rep dumbbell pushes to failure 1-2 times per week, several of my former powerlifting students have broken through training plateaus in the bench press.
You should try this approach even if you aren’t utilizing the Westside Barbell training regimen.
The bamboo bar bench press is another one of Louie Simmons’ favorite accessory exercises for developing bench press strength off the chest. A fantastic video of Louie Simmons doing this workout can be seen here:
The bamboo bar is a bamboo-based barbell. When you bench press, it is extremely light and bends all over the place.
Louie Simmons like to do this exercise with kettlebells suspended from bands on each side of the bench. The “hanging band method” is the name for this technique. In my essay, I go into more depth about it:
The Ultimate Guide to the Hanging Band Method!
Because the weights fly all over the place when you do the exercise, the bamboo bar bench press is very effective. As you push, this requires all of your muscles to work harder to keep the weight stable.
After undergoing shoulder replacement surgery, Louie Simmons began utilizing the bamboo bar. His surgeon estimated that he would be unable to bench press for many months. Louie began utilizing the bamboo bar and was bench pressing 300 pounds within a few weeks!
The bamboo bar is the quickest method to increase strength off the bottom of the bench press, according to several powerlifters. It rapidly develops your chest, shoulders, and rotator cuff muscles.
You have to experience the pain in these muscles the following day to believe it!
For increasing your strength off your chest, I strongly suggest experimenting with the max effort technique, the dynamic effort method, high-rep dumbbell presses to failure, and the bamboo bar. For Louie Simmons and his team, these methods work like magic, and they will work for you as well!
Check out the following article for additional information on the Westside Barbell training program:
The Barbell Training Program on the Westside!
This page covers all you need to know about the Westside training method. I even offer you a free 16-week bench press program from Westside Barbell!
Part 3: Bench Press Techniques by Charles Poliquin
Charles Poliquin was regarded as the best strength instructor in the world. He coached Olympic medalists in 24 disciplines as well as a slew of professional athletes.
A weak muscle area, according to Charles, is nearly always the source of a sticking point in the bench press.
An upper body structural balance evaluation was one of the first things he performed with all of his athletes. This is a fancy way of stating Charles put his players through several workouts in order to determine which muscle groups were weak.
He devised exercises to improve the weak muscle areas after identifying them. Their bench pressing power skyrocketed as their weak muscle areas became stronger!
Most powerlifters, according to Charles, have four weak muscle groups that restrict their strength at the bottom of the bench press:
- The first flaw is the strength of the rotator cuff.
- Weakness #2: Trap Strength Is Low
- Weakness #3: Strength in Overhead Pressing
- Weakness #4: Strength of the Brachialis
Let’s look at each of these muscle groups in more detail.
The first flaw is the strength of the rotator cuff.
Most individuals reach a bench press plateau, according to Charles Poliquin, because of a weak rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that connect the shoulder to the arm. They’re found underneath several of the bigger muscles, such as the deltoids.
The rotator cuff muscles are crucial for stabilizing the shoulder joint during large upper-body workouts such as bench presses and overhead presses. If your rotator cuff isn’t strong enough to support 300 pounds, you won’t be able to bench press that weight!
So, what is the ideal strength for your rotator cuff? Charles Poliquin enjoys comparing and contrasting two exercises:
- With your elbow on your knee, do an external rotation with a sitting dumbbell.
- Bench press with a tight grip
A fantastic video of sitting dumbbell external rotation can be seen here:
Nick Mitchell does a fantastic job of demonstrating how to execute this practice. To raise the weight, you should just utilize your rotator cuff muscles.
Make sure you go slowly and utilize your whole range of motion while doing the exercise.
According to Charles, you should be able to lift a weight for 8 repetitions that is 10% of your bench press 1-rep max. To put it another way, if you can bench press 300 pounds, you should be able to do seated dumbbell external rotations for 8 repetitions with excellent form with a 30 pound dumbbell.
If you can’t accomplish it, it’s time to start working on your rotator cuff!
Check out the following article for additional information on how to strengthen your rotator cuff:
How to Work Out Your Rotator Cuff!
This is the world’s finest guide on rotator cuff training for a massive bench press. If you can find a better rotator cuff article, I’ll make myself watch Eddie Hall dance around like a beautiful ballerina for 12 hours straight *shudders*.
Weakness #2: Trap Strength Is Low
The bottom trap is smaller.s are another of the upper body’s tiny but vital muscle groups.
The lower traps aid in the stabilization of the scapula, often known as the “shoulder blades.” They serve a crucial role in assisting other muscle groups, such as the rotator cuff, to function correctly.
You’ll have a hard time maintaining your shoulders at the bottom portion of the bench press if your lower traps are too weak!
The “prone trap 3 raise” is one of the finest workouts for the lower traps. Here’s a great example of how to do this exercise:
Nick Mitchell does this drill perfectly once again. He was one of Charles Poliquin’s most successful pupils, so you can be sure he’s doing things properly.
To begin this exercise, draw your shoulder blades back and down. Then, while maintaining your shoulder blades down and back, lift your arms. This is what you want: a strong searing feeling in the center of your back.
According to Charles, you should be able to do this exercise with dumbbells that are 10% of your bench press 1-rep max for 8 repetitions. For example, if you can bench press 300 pounds, you should be able to perform this exercise with 30 pound dumbbells for 8 reps with perfect form.
The majority of guys will find it difficult to utilize 5 pounds the first time they do this workout! If this fits you, it’s time to get serious about exercising your lower traps!
Of course, if you’re serious about increasing your lower trap strength, you’ll want to read this article:
How To Work On Lower Traps!
As is customary for me, I take a basic subject and make it into a 9,000-word essay. “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin exclaimed, “Nope – that’s too lengthy for me!” after taking one glance at it.
Weakness #3: Strength in Overhead Pressing
Most individuals, according to Charles, spend much too much time training the bench press and far too little time training the overhead press. You will always have a sticking point at the bottom of the bench press if your shoulders are too weak!
You should be able to overhead press weights that are 29 percent of your 1-rep max bench press for 8 repetitions, according to Charles. To put it another way, if you can bench press 300 pounds with excellent technique, you should be able to overhead press a pair of 85-pound dumbbells for 8 repetitions.
If you can’t perform this, you should stop doing bench presses and focus on your overhead press instead!
Focusing on the overhead press for 2-4 months is one of Charles’ preferred methods for improving the bench press.
You wouldn’t do any bench presses at this period. Instead, you’d concentrate on various kinds of overhead presses.
One of Charles Poliquin’s preferred methods for organizing a 12-week training cycle is as follows:
- Weeks 1-3: 1-arm dumbbell shoulder press standing (hammer grip)
- Weeks 4-6: Military press in place
- Standing behind the neck press (weeks 7-9)
- Weeks 10-12: Military press in a seated position
You’d re-test your bench press 1-rep max after week 12 to see how far you’d come. By concentrating on various kinds of overhead lifts, Charles has seen customers increase their bench press by as much as 50 pounds in as little as three months!
If your overhead press is poor and you have a sticking spot at the bottom of your bench press, this is a fantastic technique to employ.
Weakness #4: Strength of the Brachialis
This one may catch you off guard! Most individuals, according to Charles Poliquin, have a brachialis weakness, which limits their strength on workouts like the bench press.
Strengthening your brachialis may not increase your bottom-of-the-bench-press sticking point, but it will improve your total bench press strength.
Your 1-rep max on the reverse grip ez-bar preacher curl should be 34 percent of your 1-rep max on the tight grip bench press, according to Charles. In other words, if you can bench press 300 pounds for 1 rep with a closed grip, you should be able to reverse grip preacher curl 100 pounds for 1 rep with a reverse grip preacher curl.
If you can’t accomplish this, you need to get serious about training your brachialis.
Curls with an overhand grip are the greatest method to strengthen the brachialis.
Most people avoid reverse grip curls since they aren’t as powerful as underhand curls. This is a huge blunder!
Curling with a reverse grip is the only method to raise your sagging brachialis.
The 1-arm zottman preacher curl is Charles Poliquin’s favorite exercise for strengthening the brachialis. Here’s a great example of how to do this exercise:
As you can see, the athlete uses an underhand grip to raise the weight and an overhand grasp to drop it. This allows you to eccentrically overload the brachialis muscle with a weight that is heavier than usual.
Because the brachialis has a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers, this is an excellent approach for training it.
Check out the following post if you want to discover the greatest brachialis exercises of all time:
The 5 Most Effective Brachialis Exercises!
At the end, Charles Poliquin felt that four weak muscle groups are to blame for a sticking point in the bottom of the bench press:
- The rotator cuff
- The lower trap
- Strength of overhead pressing
- The brachialis is a muscle in the upper arm.
If you’ve done everything and still can’t get your bench press to improve, concentrate on these four muscle groups. Simply including some direct rotator cuff exercises into your routine may make a significant impact.
Check out my post “Training For Structural Balance: The Ultimate Guide!” for more information on structural balance training.
Structural balancing training is Charles Poliquin’s “secret weapon” for creating training programs. You can’t argue with results, as they say.
Conclusion
That doesn’t have to be the case!
I showed you how three of the greatest bench press instructors in the world tackle sticking spots right off your chest in this tutorial.
To address this sticking point, Josh Bryant prefers to concentrate on speed sets and specialized supplemental bench press workouts like the dead bench, stopped bench presses, ultra-wide grip bench presses, and the “Spoto press.”
He occasionally utilizes isometric sets with the safety pins just above your chest with more experienced customers.
Louie Simmons favors the dynamic effort technique, which he employs using bands and chains, as well as other max effort workouts like as the floor press, low pin press, and foam press.
Louie also enjoys doing unusual accessory workouts like as the bamboo bar bench press and high-rep dumbbell presses to failure.
Charles Poliquin, a strength coach, takes a different approach: he concentrates on strengthening weak muscle regions that lead to a bench press sticking point directly off the chest.
The quickest method to tackle this sticking point, according to Charles, is to improve your rotator cuff, lower traps, overhead pressing strength, and brachialis muscles.
This is referred to as “structural balance training” by Charles, and it works wonders if you have weak muscle areas that are holding you back.
You may approach these training techniques like an all-you-can-eat buffet, picking and choosing the tactics that suit you best. You may also choose one of these three coaches and follow their bench press training methodology to the letter. It is entirely up to you to make your decision.
Whatever you choose to do, I believe you will discover that these are some of the finest methods for increasing your chest pressing strength and developing a world-class bench press.
Here’s another Louie Simmons quote to boost your spirits even more:
“Don’t be scared to fail or seem foolish. These are important stepping stones in your path to the top.”
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I wish you the best of success in your strength-training endeavors!
Mike Jansen, M.D.
Thank you for visiting my website! I’m the creator of Revolutionary Program Design, and my name is Dr. Mike Jansen, PT, DPT. You’ve come to the correct spot if you want to achieve your size and strength objectives quicker. My ambition is to create RPD the best strength training resource on the planet. So take a seat, sit back, and unwind. There has never been a better moment to lift weights or learn about the science and art of strength training program creation.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get past the sticking point on a bench?
The best way to get past a sticking point is by using your body weight and momentum. If youre on the bench, try pushing yourself off of it in one direction while trying to push yourself back onto it in the other direction.
How do you get past sticking points?
It is best to use the slider tool in Beat Saber. This allows you to move your saber left and right, up and down, or even spin it around.
What is the sticking point in a bench press?
The sticking point is the point in the bench press where you cant go any further.
Related Tags
This article broadly covered the following related topics:
- bench press plateau
- bench press sticking point exercises
- bench press sticking point halfway
- bench press stuck
- bench press sticking point bottom
