CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Spoto Press

Right off the bat some of you reading may be thinking to yourselves…

…”wait a second. Since when does Tony write about bench pressing? He’s awful at it and has gone out of his way numerous times to say how much he hates doing them.”

1. You’re not wrong. I am awful at benching.

2. Despite this annoying fact, I still do it.

3. However, hate is an aggressive term to use here:

  • Nazis? Yes.
  • That sense of utter doom & defeat I feel whenever a random stranger finds out what I do for a living and inevitably goes on a tear about how he/she just can’t seem to lose any weight? Uh, yep.
  • Michael Bay Transformer movies? You betcha.

Hate the bench press, though?

Well, that’s just a bit of an over-exaggeration.

Copyright: ayphoto

The Spoto Press

Admittedly, when it comes to the “big 3” – deadlift, squat, bench press – the latter has been the one exercise throughout my training career that I’ve been able to brag about the least on social media.

It’s hard to explain.

I’ve never been quite as enamored with the bench press as my fellow y-chromosome having brethren.

Actually, come to think of it: DNA makeup has nothing to do with anything. I know many women, my wife included, who love to bench press.

 

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Me? It’s a bunch of meh.

Mondays, while commonly referred to as “International Bench Press Day,” may as well be “National Tibialis Anterior Day” or, I don’t know, “National Share Your Favorite Kale Smoothie Recipe Day” if you ask me.

I can’t pinpoint my disdain, but if I had to choose a culprit, like, if you said to me “Tony, I am going to march over to your parents’ house in New York and burn your entire baseball card collection if you don’t give me a legitimate reason why you dislike the bench press” then I guess my scapegoat would be…

…..

….

…my leverages?

I have some long as arms.

Great for deadlifting; not so much for benching.

That said, I’m not a psychopath. I still including bench pressing in my training programs and while it’s nothing to brag about, certainly by powerlifting standards, I’ve been able to build up to a max of 315 lbs.

However, the more cogent talking point here is that I have many clients and athletes who, whether it’s from a performance standpoint or aesthetics, are very much interested in building their bench press.

I’m a coach and can do that…;o)

Step One is almost always going to be breaking down one’s set-up and having them pay more attention to that.

 

Step Two to building a better bench press is to ascertain where someone’s technique tends to breaks down and/or to address any weaknesses that may exist and then use that information to choose the appropriate accessory movements to utilize.

One drill I often use is the Spoto Press

The Spoto Press was popularized (and named after) bench press Captain America, Eric Spoto.

The premise is simple: You stop the barbell a few inches above your chest, pause for a second or two, and then press it back up to lockout.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

 

It’s also been referred to by other names:

1. Invisible Board Press

By those who are impeccable exercise name givers, and recognize its value as a bonafide bench press accessory movement.

2. Cheating

By those who are dorks and fail to realize that the guy whom it’s named after used it almost exclusively to build a 722 lb bench, unequipped.

Go ahead, please do inform Mr. Spoto how he’s cheating.

I’ll wait.

NOTE: The Spoto Press should NOT be confused with half reps. 99.2% of the time you see someone doing these in a commercial gym it’s because there’s too much weight on the bar and their ego can’t fathom taking some off.

Most have no idea who Eric Spoto is.

For all they know he’s their mom’s second cousin’s accountant’s pool guy.

Why I Like the Spoto Press

1. It Addresses Most Lifters’ Weak Area

Ask most lifters when they miss a bench press attempt WHERE they miss it, and you’ll likely hear a cacophony of “an inch or two off the chest.”

The Spoto Press forces people to spend more time in a ROM where they tend to be weakest. Moreover, it doesn’t allow you to utilize the “rebound effect” as you catapult the barbell off your rib cage…😉

2. Helps With Upper Back “Tightness”

A lot of lifters lose upper back tightness (arch) and their chest tends to cave in and their shoulders roll forward as they lower the barbell.

The Spoto Press is a good tool to help lifters learn to “meet the bar with their chest” rather than just haphazardly lowering it.

3. Great Option If Benching Bothers Your Shoulders

Assuming technique is not the issue, for anyone who’s shoulders tend to hate full-ROM bench pressing, this variation is often a stellar entry point for them.

4. Triceps!

Lastly, the Spoto Press is a damn good tricep builder. The triceps can be a weak link, especially toward lockout. This variation can help solve that

I spoke with He-Man about it. He concurs.

How to Implement It

I typically stay in the 60-80% of 1-rep max range with this exercise, and LOVE it for high(er) rep ranges. After your regular bench, follow that with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of Spoto Presses at 60-75%.

If you’re feeling extra motivated utilize a close grip. However, if you do so, err more on the side of conservative on that percentage scale.

Give them a try, I think you’ll dig them.

Strategic Strength Workshop – Philadelphia, PA (September 2021)

Click HERE for More Details & to Register

CategoriesProgram Design Rehab/Prehab Strength Training

Find Your Entry Point: How to Train Around an Injury

If you make a habit of lifting heavy things it’s inevitable you’ll likely experience a few setbacks along the way.

These can range anywhere from the “no big deals” (bloody shins from deadlifting, shoulder niggle) to the dire (disc herniation, explosive diarrhea).

…or worse case, forgetting your squat shoes on squat day.

Suffice to say: Getting hurt is frustrating. Attempting to work around an injury can be even more so.

It bothers me when people default to tossing their hands in the air and surrendering themselves to a two-to-four week window of “rest” and Netflix.

There’s a lot of good that can be done, even underneath the umbrella of injury.

Instead, I’ve long championed the idea of trainees finding their Trainable Menu and focusing more on what they CAN do rather than what they can’t.

Another way to re-frame things is to find your entry point.

Copyright: dontree / 123RF Stock Photo

Find Your Entry Point

Speaking of entry points: I sat down with my four-year old this past weekend to watch Jurassic Park. Now, most coherent parents would start with something a little less scary.

You know, say, Dino Dana or, I don’t know, Care Bears.

Nope, I went with the ginormous, scary T-Rex.

In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best “entry point” for someone who has no idea dinosaurs aren’t real. Again, maybe Toy Story or, hell, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would have been a more germane choice?

I gotta say, though…

…Julian handled the T-Rex like a champ.

He didn’t blink once. He giggled when the guy sitting on the porto-potty met his demise.

I didn’t know whether to be proud or scared shitless.

Kid’s the next John Wick in the making.

Okay, Cute Story Tony. But WTF Are We Talking About Here?

Yeah, yeah, yeah…

Lifting heavy things.

Entry Points.

I’ve recently been making my way through Dr. Michael Mash’s excellent resource, Barbell Rehab, and giving credit where it’s due…he’s spends quite a bit if time throughout the course discussing the idea of entry points and how to use the concept to guide anyone’s return back to a specific lift after injury.

Let’s use the bench press as an example.

If someone has pain when he or she bench presses with a straight bar, finding their entry point is nothing more than altering the lift the minimal amount possible in order to gain the minimum desired training effect.

For the visual learners out there it may look something like this:

 

Adapted from Barbell Rehab

TO BE CLEAR: If pain exists in the shoulder the idea is NOT to automatically regress all the way back to a push-up.

I know some people who’d rather swallow a live grenade than do that.

Instead, the goal is to be as specific as possible in order to elicit a (relatively pain-free) training effect.

If someone has pain with a straight bar FLAT bench press, however it alleviates significantly when you switch them to a decline bench press.

Sha-ZAM.

You just found their entry point.

Maybe it’s DB Floor Presses for one person, and yes, maybe it’s a push-up (albeit loaded) for another. The idea is to TRAIN.

Moreover, it also could just come down to tweaking their grip slightly or adjusting some component of their technique.

Rehab doesn’t always have to result in sending someone to corrective exercise purgatory.

Likewise, using the squat as an example, sometimes the entry point is using a different bar (Duffalo or Safety-Squat Bar) if the shoulder is the issue, or maybe it’s having someone squat ABOVE parallel if it’s their knee(s) or hip(s) bothering them.

Sometimes, and hear me out, we may have to combine the two: Not a straight bar AND above parallel.

Tha fuck outta here.

Yes, it’s true.

 

And everything’s going to be fine.

In fact, more than fine.

Categoriescoaching muscle growth Program Design

When to Bench Press With Your Feet on the Floor, and When Not To

I received an email awhile back from someone asking a simple question:

“What are the reasons one would or would not bench press with their legs on the bench as opposed to the floor? Just personal preference? Back issues?”

Tony of a few years back would have been like, “When would someone bench with their feet on the bench? WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER, THAT’S WHEN.”

Then that would have been followed by a guttural scream, dramatic desk clearing, and door slam.

You know, a mature, rational response.

Tony of today has a different viewpoint. Read below to hear allllll about it.

Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Why Bench Press With Feet On the Floor?

Why do we look both ways before crossing the street, or wash our hands after using the bathroom, or, I don’t know, wear pants to the dinner table?

It’s just the way stuff is done.1

The same can be said about the bench press. We perform it with our feet on the ground because that’s the way it’s supposed to be done.

To be a bit more colloquial, we perform it that way because:

  1. With the feet on the floor we can defer to a bit more leg drive which can help with lifting more weight; if that’s what you’re into.
  2. Moreover, as strength coach and competitive powerlifter Tony Bonvechio notes, “leg drive can help you get a bigger arch via hip extension.”

Now, admittedly, this last point is catered to more of the powerlifters in the room who are solely interested in one thing (well, two, after “where’s the nearest pizza buffet?”)….bench pressing as much weight as possible.

An arch in the lower back = a more biomechically sound position to shorten the distance the barbell must travel.

Both feet on the ground allows one to solidify the arch.

I love this analogy from Strength House coach Greg Robins:

“Think of it like a structural arch. In order to make an arch you need pressure from two sides. Like if you put a piece of paper on the table, and gently push from both ends simultaneously what do you get?

An Arch.”

A Slight Conversational Detour

For those who are about to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag at the mere notion of arching your back during a bench press, relax.

A kitten won’t die if it happens and it’s not inherently more dangerous to do so. Your lumbar spine has a natural lordotic curve to it anyways (an arch), sooooooo there’s that. And no one is sitting here insinuating you have to adopt a Marissa Inda bench set-up in order to bench press (and to do so with a high degree of success).

Much of what dictates how much of an arch to use is predicated on personal preference, goals, and what feels comfortable to each individual lifter.

Do you have to arch as much as the photo above? Nope.

Are you likely arching your back when you bench press, even if not on purpose, because that’s what your body is designed to do? Yep.

Will you please STFU and stop telling people arching is bad? ——> watch THIS.

Okay, Back to Benching With Feet on the Floor

I don’t have much more to say here.

If you’re interested in benching more weight, putting your feet on the ground is a splendid approach.2

Also, it decreases the chances you’ll drop the barbell on your face.

Why Bench Press With Feet On the Bench?

I’m not kidding when I say there used to be a time where I felt benching with the feet on the bench (or in the air) was one of the stupidest things someone could do, on par with texting while driving, thinking you can read a Thomas Pynchon novel in one sitting, or trying to take a selfie with a panther.

Pretty dumb.

However, we all marinate in our own ignorance sometimes.

As with anything in strength & conditioning there’s a time and place for everything.3

A drill I’ve been using in my own programming (and that of my clients) of late is the Larsen Press.

 

To explain the advantages of this stellar movement I’ll lean again on the shoulders of Tony Bonvechio and Greg Robins:

Tony:

“The main benefit of putting the feet up on the bench is teaching lifters to maintain their upper back arch and shoulder blade position. One of the biggest mistakes we see lifters make is collapsing the upper back as they bring the bar down, which can tip the shoulder blades forward and push the bar in front of the elbows. If you take away the legs, it’s much harder to keep the upper back arched, especially as you bring the bar down to the chest. Hook lying position, Larsen press and floor press are all variations of a no-legs press that work well.”

Greg:

“The biggest advantage I see to using feet up is to purposefully make the exercise harder. When the feet go up you have more range of motion and more instability which means more work for the muscles that move the weight – pecs shoulders triceps. I think this is really important for those who rely on big arches, and thrusting weights off their chest with their whole bodies.

There are other benefits as well:

– Create higher relative intensities with less weight on the bar.
– Awareness as Tony B said in how to stay tight.
– Relief on back and hips from being in contorted bench position.”

So There You Have It

So there you have it.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 2/2/18

It’s Friday. You know how I do.

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

But First…(Speaking Engagements, Stuff I’ve Written, & Other Tidbits Curated To Showcase How Important I Am)

1) Happy Birthday Julian

I was terrified a year ago today.

I remember standing in a coffeeshop across the street from the hospital getting a little teary eyed thinking to myself “holy shit, Lisa and I are parents and in a few hours they’re sending us home. No more cafeteria, no room service, and no more team of nurses on standby to help.

We’ll be alone, with this crying, pooping, and please, for the love god stop crying thing.”

SPOILER ALERT: It’s a year later. Lisa and I survived; as does every other sleep-deprived parent.

Lisa and I are so thankful for Julian and for our family and friends who have helped to fill Julian’s love tank along the way.

2) Mark Fisher Fitness Presents: Motivate & Movement LAB

I’ve had the honor of presenting at two previous iterations of the Motivate & Movement LAB (the brainchild of MFF’s Harold Gibbons) and it’s unequivocally one of the most unique events in the fitness industry.

Think: TED Talk, but with deadlifts and lots of f-bombs.

Anyways, the next LAB is this coming February, and will feature myself, Dan John, Pete Dupuis, my wife (Dr. Lisa Lewis), and several of the MFF coaching staff including Brian Patrick Murphy and Amanda Wheeler.

3) The Fitness Summit

I had to take a break from The Fitness Summit last year for two reasons:

1. Eating way too many cookies.

2. But mostly because I succeeded in making a baby and my wife would have tossed me so much shade if I was all like “Hey Babe, going to KC for three days. Toodles.”

Well this year I’m back and excited to take part in a Fitness Summit first. Dean Somerset and I will be putting on a Pre-Conference day where we’ll spend a few hours test driving some new material as a follow-up to our Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

Tentatively titled The More Completer Hip & Shoulder Blueprint.

We’ll be taking deep dive into squat and deadlift technique: discussing ankle, foot, hip and upper extremity considerations in conjunction with regressions/progressions and programming. Whether you’re a coach or just someone who likes to lift heavy things you’ll undoubtedly learn something. And if not, cool, you still get to hang out with us for a few hours.

Registration is now open for returning and new attendees. Come experience one of the best fitness events of the year.

4) 5 Tiny Tweaks That Will Help You Bench Press More Weight

^^^ My latest article written for Men’s Health.

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work

12 Little Changes For Big Gains – T-Nation.com

12 coaches – including me – speak their mind on small things that make a big difference in helping you to get bigger, faster, and/or stronger.

12 Most Effective Ways to Spark the Recovery Process – JohnRusin.com

Yet another article I was fortunate enough to be asked to contribute to. 12 more coaches chime in, this time on their “go to” recovery strategies.

How I Use Kettlebells – David Dellanave

An older article, but it’s new to me.

Always like David’s perspective on things and this no different.

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

My butt’s always trying to eat my pants. Nom nom nom.

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Categoriespersonal training Program Design Strength Training

Maybe Your Shoulder Hurts Because Your Technique Sucks

Full Disclosure: I am not a fantastic presser. I’m not going to sit here and attempt to regal you with stories from high-school where I used to drive a Camaro, hookup with the Prom Queen, and bench 405 for reps (you know, before that nasty football injury in the State Championship ruined everything).4

Nope, this is not that kind of story. I recognize the bench press often serves as a litmus test for general level of badassery, but I’ve always considered myself an average presser (personal best of 315 lbs at a bodyweight of sexy). Or, in Dave Tate’s words “I suck.”5

Copyright: shakzu / 123RF Stock Photo

 

I know how to coach it, however, and have worked with many people in my years at Cressey Sports Performance and now presently, at my studio CORE, to hone their bench press prowess. More commonly, though, is helping people work around a nagging shoulder injury.

NEWSFLASH: Many people complain that the bench press bothers their shoulder.

And while the first inclination is to nix the bench press altogether and jump into corrective exercise mode and start having people blow into balloons or perform any number of thoracic mobility or scapular stability drills to get at the (possible) root of the problem, I feel we sometimes need to pump the brakes.

Telling a guy to stop bench pressing is tantamount to this:

I mean, I agree that for many people their upper back mobility is atrocious and that it’s likely a very good use of their time to address it. And yes, some people may have gunky tissue quality or less than exemplary scapular stability or kinematics which likely is playing a significant role in their ouchie shoulder.

A thorough assessment or appointment with a manual therapist can hopefully help.

But too, maybe the reason why someone’s shoulder(s) hurt during bench pressing is because their technique makes my eyes bleed?

*shrugs*

Maybe all they need is a little more coaching. As I always say:

“Correct movement can be corrective.”

This is why, when someone’s shoulder hurts during the bench press, my first “tier” to attack is technique. The fitness industry has become too corrective at the expense of coaching our athletes/clients. Taking the 5-10 minutes to address someone’s set-up can make a huge difference in how the movement feels.

  • Are they driving their upper traps into the bench?
  • Are they getting their scapulae retracted and depressed?
  • Do they press the bar up and out of the j-hooks, or do they “guide” the bar out?
  • Do they “let the bar settle” before they lower it?
  • Do they “meet the bar with their chest? Or do they allow their shoulders to roll forward?

All of these can be easy-to-fix snafus that may eliminate any shoulder discomfort during the bench press.

Bench Press Set-Up

 

What happens if you address technique, it’s sound, and the bench press still hurts? You can still implement other pressing variations that can work in the interim while you address the root cause(s).

Decline Bench Press

 

Think about what’s not happening during a decline bench press as opposed to a flat or incline bench variation?

In a decline there’s less shoulder flexion involved which helps keep many trainees out of the “danger zone” of shoulder pain. So if flat bench pressing hurts you may be able to get away with a decline.

Spoto Press (Invisible Board Press)

 

A common flaw I see is some people have a hard time “meeting the bar with their chest” and end up having their shoulders roll forward as they lower the barbell.

Popularized by Bench Press Captain America, Eric Spoto (722 lbs, unequipped), the Spoto Press is a variation to combat this where you stop the bar a few inches above the chest, pause, and then press back up.

When In Doubt, Use Dumbbells

When you grab a barbell with a pronated (overhand) grip, you “lock” the humerus in an internally rotated position which can be problematic since it narrows the acromion space.

Using dumbbells alleviates this issue because you can nudge a little more external rotation by adopting a neutral grip. This is a major reason why I prefer DB pressing variations for overhead athletes as opposed to straight bar.

Corrective Pressing Variations That Don’t Feel Corrective

While not always the case, a common thread I see when it comes to shoulder pain is the INability of the shoulder scapulae to be able to move. In order to move big weight you need to respect tension and stability. In some cases, however, the shoulder blades are kinda “stuck” (usually downward rotation) and lack the ability to move through a full ROM.

It’s still vital to be able to access scapular movement for overall shoulder health.

When this happens I prefer to use pressing variations that allow for a little more wiggle room. As in: we allow the shoulder blades a little breathing room. Push-ups will always be my first choice here. But relax, I recognize most would rather swallow a live grenade than read more about push-ups.

For those interested you can READ this brief article.

Off-Bench DB Press

 

Scooting a smidge to the side of a bench will allow more scapular movement. What’s nice about this exercise is that it’s also a great core exercise (you have to fire like crazy in order to not fall off the bench) in addition to an awesome way to further engage the glutes. You can’t quite see it with the angle of this video, but I’m also situated further down on the bench so my lower half isn’t resting on it.

Bottoms-Up Press – Off Foam Roller

I snaked this one off Dr. Joel Seedman. Using a KB and holding it in the bottoms-up position is a fantastic way to ramp up rotator cuff activation…you really have to fight to stabilize and keep the joint centrated.

Moreover, by lying on the foam roller the shoulder blades are now able to move to a higher degree. And, much like the off-bench variation above, there’s also a high degree of glute engagement as well as foot and ankle engagement.

And That’s That

Don’t be so quick to bust out the band external rotations and t-spine drills. Addressing technique on the bench press can be every bit as corrective in terms of addressing shoulder pain. Likewise, don’t be so quick to omit all pressing variations. All aren’t equal and it oftentimes is a matter of choosing the right variation for the individual and nice vice versa.

Press on.

CategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise Exercise Technique

The “My Shoulder Hurts” Checklist

“Wha, what was that? Was that him?”

It was 1:30 AM, maybe even 2:17 (it’s always a blur, sucky, and when it’s that late doesn’t it even matter?) as my wife nudged me to see if the baby was alright. I turned over to my left, peeled my eye open just enough to press the button to turn the screen to the monitor on, and indeed it was our newborn, Julian, making his case for one of the two of us to get our asses out of bed and ascertain the situation.

Julian, during one of his non-Gremlin moments

Our little guy passed the 4-week old mark earlier this week and in that time Lisa and I have had a crash course in sleep deprivation training (I’m basically a Navy SEAL by now) in addition to learning baby-speak, or what I like to call “What are you trying to tell me? Please stop crying. I’ll do anything. No, really, anything………”

[Jumps off roof] 

We don’t have much to complain about in the grand scheme of things. Julian has been awesome. Much like any baby in the history of ever, and as any parent in the history of ever knows, when your newborn starts crying it’s indicative of one or two factors to get them to (hopefully) settle back down:

  1. They need a diaper change.
  2. They need to be fed.
  3. They need to be swaddled,
  4. They need their binkie.
  5. They need to be swung or need movement (or maybe they’re overstimulated).
  6. WILDCARD: They need more cowbell.

 

As time passes you learn to not panic, run through the checklist, and before long you’re a first class baby-calmer-downer.

It’s funny, though.

Since I’ve been neck deep in baby shenanigans the past few weeks it’s been a trip to see how I make connections and correlations between that and stuff I see and come across in my professional life… training and coaching athletes/clients. One of the purest examples is something I witness on an almost weekly basis.

Many of the new people who start with me are beginner or intermediate level meatheads (male and female) who, for whatever reason(s), have been dealing with a pissed off shoulder that inhibits their ability to train at the level or intensity they’d like. It’s frustrating on their end and it’s my job as the coach to try to peel back the onion and see what may or may not be the root cause or causes.

Copyright: staras / 123RF Stock Photo

The “My Shoulder Hurts” Checklist

1) Technique

Most commonly people will note how bench pressing bothers their shoulder(s). Working on their technique is the baby check list equivalent of blow out explosive diarrhea.

I.e., It’s code mother-fucking red.

Following the mantra “if it causes pain, stop doing it” is never a bad call, and I am all for nixing any exercise or drill that does such a thing. However, I don’t like to jump to conclusions too too quickly. Sometimes making a few minor adjustments to someone’s technique or setup can make all the difference in the world.

Almost always I’ll have to spend some time on their set-up. I like to cue people to start in a bridge position to drive their upper traps into the bench and to set their scapulae (together AND down).

We can make arguments as to what this is actually doing. Some will gravitate towards it improving joint centration. Cool (and not wrong). I like to keep a little simpler and note that all it really does is improve stability.

Stability = strength

Another thing to note is many people tend to flare their elbows out too much when they bench which leaves the shoulders out to dry and in a vulnerable position.

 

MINOR NOTE: Since recording that video above (two years ago), I have since changed my views slightly thanks to some cueing from Cressey Sports Performance coach Tony Bonvechio. Elbows tucked on the way down is still something I’m after (albeit some are too aggressive at the expense of placing too much valgus stress on the elbows). However, when initiating the press motion, in concert with leg drive, allowing the elbows to flare out a teeny tiny bit (in an effort to keep the joints stacked and to place the triceps in a more mechanical advantage) will often play huge dividends in performance.

In the end, much of the time it comes down to people not paying any attention to how crucial their set-up is. It’s amazing how often shoulder pain dissipates or disappears altogether with just a few minor adjustments.

2) What People Don’t Want to Hear: Stop Benching, Bro

This is where the Apocalypse begins. Telling a guy (usually not women, they could care less) that he should probably stop benching for the foreseeable future is analogous to telling Donald Trump he can’t Tweet.

The thing about holding a barbell is that it “locks” the glenohumeral joint into internal rotation which can be problematic for a lot of people and often feeds into impingement syndrome.

[The rotator cuff muscles become “impinged” due to a narrowing of the acromion space.]

NOTE: I hate the term “shoulder impingement” because it doesn’t really tell you anything. There are any number of reasons why someone may be impinged. Not to mention there are vast differences between External Impingement and Internal Impingement….which you can read about in more detail HERE.

If bench pressing hurts, and we’ve tried to address technique, I’ll often tell them to OMIT barbell pressing in lieu of using dumbbells instead. With DBs we can utilize a neutral grip, externally rotate the shoulders a bit more, and open up the acromion space.

Or, maybe they can still barbell press, albeit at a decline. When you place the torso at a decline the arms can’t go into as much shoulder flexion and you’re then able to avoid the “danger zone.”

Something else to consider is maybe pressing off a foam roller. Sure, you won’t be able to use as much weight, but as Dr. Joel Seedman explains in the video below you’ll be able to work on better joint centration AND the scapulae can actually move (an important variable discussed more below).

 

If all else fails, sadly, you may have to be the bearer of bad news and tell someone that (s)he needs to stop benching for a few weeks to allow things to settle down.

3) Let the Scaps Move, Yo

Above I mentioned the importance to bringing the shoulder blades together and down in an effort to improve stability.

If you want to lift heavy shit, you need to learn to appreciate the importance of getting and maintaining tension. That said, if lifting heavy shit hurts your shit, we may need to take the opposite approach. Meaning: maybe we just need to get your shoulder blades moving.

When the scaps are “glued” together and unable to go through their normal ROM it can have ramifications with shoulder health. Push-ups are a wonderful anecdote here.

Unlike the bench press – an open-chain exercise – the push-up is a closed-chain exercise (hands don’t move) which lends itself to several advantages – namely scapular movement.

 

4) More Rows

This one will be short and sweet. Perform more rows. Many trainees tend to be very anterior dominant and spend an inordinate amount of time training their “mirror muscles” at the expense of ignoring their backside. This can lead to muscular imbalances and postural issues.

This makes me sad. And, when it happens, a kitten becomes homeless.

You sick bastard.

The easy fix is to follow this simple rule: For every pressing motion you put into your program, perform 2-3 ROWING movements. Any row, I don’t care.6

 

5) Address Scapular Positioning

I’m going to toss out an arbitrary number and I have no research to back this up, but 99% of the time when someone comes in complaining of rotator cuff or shoulder issues the culprit is usually faulty scapular mechanics. Sometimes people DO need a little more TLC and we may need to go down the “corrective exercise” rabbit hole.

The scapulae perform many tasks:

  • Upwardly and downwardly rotate
  • Externally and internally rotate
  • Anteriorly and posteriorly tilt.
  • AB and ADDuct (retract and protract).
  • Will clean and fold your laundry too!

 

They do a lot. And for a plethora of reasons, if they’re not moving optimally it can cause a shoulder ouchie. Sometimes people are too “shruggy” (upper trap dominant) with overhead movements, or maybe they’re stuck in downward rotation? Maybe they can’t protract enough and need more serratus work? Maybe they lack eccentric control and need a heavy dose of low trap correctives?

It dumbfounds me the number of times I have had people come in to see me explaining how they had been to this person and that person and NO ONE took the time to look at how their shoulder blades move.

I don’t like to get too corrective too soon (as I prefer to not make my clients feel like a patient), but if I’ve exhausted all of the above and stuff still hurts….it’s time to dig deeper.

If only there were a resource that dives into this topic in a more thorough fashion.

Hmmmm…………..Sha-ZAM.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique

Bench Press Technique: How to Not Hand-Off Like a Jackass

Remember those “The More You Know” PSA (Public Service Announcements) from the late 80’s and early 90’s?

They often ran during primetime shows on NBC and even during Saturday morning cartoons. Oh man, remember Saturday morning cartoons?

  • Transformers
  • GI Joe
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Alvin & the Chipmunks
  • Bionic Six
  • Captain Planet7

Those were the days.

The ads would typically feature a celebrity facing the camera and speaking in an earnest tone espousing the dangers of drugs, smoking, and not going to school.

All sound things to be earnest about, no doubt.

Sadly, a PSA was never made championing the idea that wearing a jean jacket with jeans wasn’t the key to gaining the attention of the opposite sex. Also, impressing girls with Star Wars quotes never worked either.8

But the “real” PSAs were always clear, concise, and cutting….scratching the surface of deeds that were for the greater good.

We should bring those PSAs back, albeit this time targeting the fitness crowd.

PSA #1: How to Hand-Off on the Bench Press

It sounds pointless and borderline trivial…but learning how to hand-off on the bench press is an acquired skill, and something that will drastically affect someone’s performance with the exercise.

Raise your hand if this has ever happened:

It’s bench day and as you work up towards your heavier sets it’s becoming a little harder to maintain appropriate upper back tightness as you un-rack the weight. Reluctantly, you decide to scour the gym floor to ask someone for a hand-off.

Finding someone who knows the intricacies of a “good” hand-off is on par with finding a ship other than the Millennium Falcon that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

Note: I was a virgin till I was 21. Weird, I know.

What usually ends up happening is that after you spend time getting your shoulder blades in the right position (retracted and depressed/posteriorly tilted), driving your upper back into the bench, turning your lats on, and getting your foot position correct….it’s instantly negated when the guy/girl handing off haphazardly performs an explosive upright row with you attached to the bar.

They lift the bar up, rather than helping to “guide” the barbell into position.

Fail.

You have to get tight. Especially in the upper back. Without getting into the extreme details, I like to coach guys to place their feet on the bench (relax, it’s only for a few seconds), grab the bar, raise their hips, and drive their upper back into the bench. Simultaneously, I’ll tell them to consciously think to themselves, “together and DOWN” with the shoulder blades.

I then tell them to bring their feet to the ground – heels up/heels down is predicated on personal preference – and then “scoot” themselves up the bench to get even tighter.

It looks like this:

Why go through all that trouble to get tight, compact, and ready to hoist a barbell off your chest, only to NOT get a proper hand-off and/or lose all of it when you un-rack the bar?

Think about what happens when you un-rack a bar on your own, or you receive a piss-poor hand-off: the shoulders protract. As a result, the scapulae abduct and (most likely) anteriorly tilt as well, and stability is compromised.

Impressive bench press go bye-bye.

It’s my hope this video will help:

 

NOTE: I had every intention of filming a new video today, but then realized I had this one on my YouTube channel already. No sense reinventing the wheel.

A few points to consider that I didn’t cover in the video:

1. To reiterate: The “spotter” or hander-offer guy isn’t lifting the bar off the j-hooks, but rather “guiding” the bar to the starting position.

2.  Moreover, the lifter shouldn’t think of it as pressing the bar up and into the starting position, but instead “pulling” into position. Kind of like a bastardized straight-arm press down (albeit on your back).

3.  Getting down the cadence of 1….2….breath….lift off is the key here. It’s going to take some practice, which is why I highly advocate finding a training partner you trust.

3.  If at any point the guy providing the hand off starts chirping, “all you, all you, all you” when he’s clearly got his hands on the bar, immediately rack the bar and scissor kick him in the face.

CategoriesExercise Technique Strength Training

Why Performing 1-1/2 Reps Will Alter Your Life Forever

The title of this post might be construed as a tad exaggerative in tone.9

For the sake of brevity: anything labeled “life altering” should be reserved for stuff like winning the lottery, beating cancer, or, I don’t know, a really, really, really good steak.

Or having your own lightsaber.

So please forgive the sensationalism. What follows next will, in fact, not alter your life in any way, shape, or form.

Except for increased strength, muscle mass, and overall increased levels of badassery.

The Deets: 1-1/2 Reps

The idea of utilizing 1-1/2 repetitions (reps for short) isn’t anything new. My good friend, Ben Bruno, has been a huge fan of them for years.

Basically you take an exercise and “extend” the set by incorporating a “1/2 rep” in between full-ROM reps.

The idea serves a few purposes/benefits:

  1. Increased Time Under Tension.
  2. Can be used to address a technique flaw/weakness (which should be the main objective of accessory work anyways).
  3. Awesome alternative to use as a finisher at the end of a workout. They also serve as a nice way to increase total work done in any given session.
  4. Improved mental toughness. Or, put in other words: they fucking make you hate life.

Here’s Ben performing some chin-ups (with a 100 lb weight-vest no less) using the 1-1/2 method:

 

And here he is performing 1-1/2 reps with Front Squats:

 

I like to use the 1-1/2 method with the bench press, as I feel it helps trainees to:

  • Better appreciate what it means to keep the lats on, the upper back tight throughout, and to learn to “meet” the bar with the chest.
  • To help trainees imbue a better sense of time under tension. I.e., it’s a killer way to elicit a chest pump and overall chest hypertrophy. And, at the end of the day, a bigger chest is going to (probably) produce more force.

Some Things To Consider/Pontificate

1) Your bench set-up is going to be crucial.

There’s a sense of poignancy that festers inside me whenever trainees take a haphazard approach with their bench set-up. It’s like a Greek tragedy.

If I had to choose a few big-hitting, big-rock cues that tend to have a universal carryover, they’d include:

  • Learn to drive the upper back INTO the bench.
  • Shoulder blades should be “pinned” together and down (retracted and depressed) to provide more stability.
  • GET A HAND-OFF

 

  • Let be bar “settle” before you begin.
  • Think about wrapping your hand AROUND the bar (I.e., lat activation).
  • You don’t have to have a super aggressive arch in lower back – there’s a degree of mastery and personal comfort insinuated here – however, an arch (even a slight one) is advantageous.
  • Pull the bar down to your chest.
  • Chest meets the bar, rather than bar meets chest.
  • Leg Drive, leg drive, leg drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj9RnZJqpOE

 

2) I prefer to use the 1-1/2 rep method as an accessory exercise to the bench press, rather than as the”main gig.”

It implies a bit more of an “accessory movement” vibe.

I feel it works wonders with helping trainees to learn to keep their chest UP throughout the duration of a set. Many make the mistake of allowing the chest to collapse or “cave in,” which manifests into a domino effect of losing upper back stiffness, scapulae position, elbow position, and a muffled leg drive.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

 

During the 1/2 rep portion (where I press the barbell half-way up) I have to cue myself to maintain lat activation, upper back stiffness, chest UP (to meet the bar), and to make sure my chest doesn’t deflate at any point during the set.

It’s harder than it looks.

Generally, it’s best to use sub-maximal loads on these – in the 60-75% range. You can strive for “x” number of reps, say 6-8 for 2-4 sets. Or, another way to implement these is with AMRAP sets.

NOTE: AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible

My coach, Greg Robins, has been using this approach in my training.

After my main bench movement of the day I’ll follow that with something like this:

ONE set at 75% of 1RM for AMRAP.

Rest 60-90s

ONE set at 70% of 1RM for AMRAP.

It’s killer, but man, the pump is awesome.

And please, feel free to experiment with these. You can use this method with bench pressing, squats, chin-ups, row variations, single-leg variations, bicep curls, and deadlifts (just be careful).

Try them out, and let me know what you think.

CategoriesExercise Technique

The Single Dumbest Way to Bench Press

A few months ago I wrote a post on why incorporating barbell glute bridges prior to an upper body day (namely, bench pressing) may be a nice way to help “potentiate” the glutes to fire to better help with performance.

I wrote it and people loved it. I had no idea so many people would share it.

One of the more comical responses to it was from my boy Dean Somerset:

“If you’re one of those D-bags who bench presses with your feet in the air:

1. Punch yourself in the face. Hard.
2. Read this article and realize that leg drive is necessary (NECCESSARY) to have sufficient stability and neural drive to press up some realistically heavy weights.”

His comment brought up an interesting “debate” (which I don’t really feel is an actual debate; at least to those who put rationale thinking into practice) on the whole “bench pressing with the feet in the air” parade, which led me to write this article for Stack.com that went live yesterday.

It’s a short one (something like 600 words), and may serve as nice ammunition for those reading who have that buddy or friend or colleague or coach from 1985 who’s adamant that doing so is safer or that it isolates the pecs more, and need something to tell them to shut up.

Stop doing this, please. Just stop.

UPDATE: I should mention that there is one thing that’s dumber: bench pressing with a thumbless grip – like THIS. Now THAT’s pretty much like playing with fire.

CategoriesExercise Technique Strength Training

Bench Press Tip: Let the Bar “Settle”

I’ve been working my way back from a pesky back injury for the past few months, and while I’ve made some awesome progress as of late (back to full squatting 315 for reps, and just started incorporating some heavy(ish) pulling into the mix), the guy who writes my programs – Greg Robins – has been making me bench press like no one’s business.

This isn’t to imply that “bench pressing like no one’s business” means I’ve been putting up some impressive numbers. To that I say:

“hahahahahahahahamsadasggwe**#1mwhupsas11hahahahhaa”

1. I’ve never been shy to say how much I hate bench press pressing.

2. And the reason for that is because I’ve never been good at it.

3. I hate bench pressing.

Giving myself some credit – my best performance on the bench press (raw, at a bodyweight of 200) is 315 lbs. Albeit it never would have seen a white light in any powerlifting federation, unless the name of it was the NBOTB (National Butt Off the Bench) Federation.

A 315 lb bench press for a raw lifter at 200 lbs isn’t too shabby, but it’s certainly nothing to brag about. However, truth be told the bench press is a lift I’ve never placed a high priority on. And it shows.

So as it happens, “bench pressing like no one’s business” means I’ve been benching a lot lately, which has been both good and bad. Good in the sense that I’m starting to see my numbers creep up to non-abysmal territory again. Bad in that I still hate bench pressing. But like a bro, I need to persevere!

Which brings me to the topic of today’s post. A common mistake I see a lot of people make when benching is rushing into the press itself and NOT allowing the bar to settle after a hand-off. Watch this video to understand more of what I mean.

Let the Bar “Settle” Before You Press

Yes, all the same rules apply to the set up: Shoulders together and down, chest up, slight arch, drive feet into the ground, don’t destroy the back of your pants.

NOTE: Read HERE why getting a hand-off is so crucial.

But learning to settle the bar is something that’s universally glossed over by a lot of trainees.

Hope that cue helps.