I already wrote similar posts covering how I implement fillers with deadlifts and squats, so it only makes sense to finally follow suit with something discussing the bench press.
As a quick refresher for those first tuning in: “Fillers” are low grade exercises that address a specific mobility or stability issue – lack of glute activation, tight hip flexors, poor scapular upward rotation, as examples – which are performed during rest periods of a main exercise.
Fillers could also be a simple stretch.
In short the idea is do something productive during your rest periods – other than stalk your ex on Instagram – that’s not going to affect or deter performance on subsequent sets of deadlifts, squats, bench presses, and the like.
Another way to look at it is this: I know it, you know it, your parent’s mailman’s second cousin’s godfather knows it, we all know it…
…you’re (probably) going to skip your warm-up.
Fillers are the compromise.
Instead of giving people a laundry list of warm-up drills they’re not going to do, I’ll sprinkle fillers in as PART OF THE PROGRAM.
So in no particular order here’s a quick-n-dirty rundown of some of my go to fillers on bench day.
1. Rows
Okay, I’m cheating a little bit here.
I’m only speaking for myself, but I find rows are something most people can’t include enough of in a program. Many of us are so overdeveloped and/or tight in our anterior chain – namely pecs – that it’s not uncommon practice for me to pair a rowing variation with EVERY set (including warm-ups) of bench press to help offset the imbalance
I don’t care if it’s a DB row, Seated Cable Row, Chest Supported Row, Seal Row, TRX Row, Face Pulls, or Band Pull-Apart…I want some kind of row tethered to every set of the bench press.
And then I’ll include 1-2 more rowing variations later in the session too. The whole notion of a balanced approach to program design – where you attempt to include a 1:1 (press:row) ratio – while noble and good place to start, tends to be a bit underwhelming.
I’ll often say it’s more beneficial to UN-BALANCE someone’s program (to the tune of 2-3 rowing variations for every press) to to better “balance” them.”
So, as more of an umbrella theme to consider, just staying cognizant of rowing volume (and adding more of it into someone’s program) is going to be leaps and bounds more effective for long-term shoulder health and training domination than the litany of correctives that can be substituted in.
2. Band Posture Corrector
This is a drill I stole from my good friend and strength coach Jim “Smitty” Smith of Diesel Strength.
Sitting at a desk all day, every day, can be brutal.
The muscles on the back side (namely, rhomboids) get long and weak, while the muscles on the front (namely, pecs) get short and overactive.
A good bench press requires a fair amount of scapular retraction and depression to help protect the shoulder joint and to provide a more stable “surface” to press from.
This drill targets those muscles involved.
Simply grab a band, loop it around your shoulders, and “reverse” the posture.
I like to perform 10-20 reps with a 1-2 second hold on each rep.
3. Foam Roller Snow Angel
Likewise, the bench press also requires a decent amount of thoracic extension (which makes it easier to retract and depress your shoulder blades).
The Foam Roller Snow Angel allows for a few things to fall in place:
A nice pec stretch.
Nudges more thoracic extension (by lying on the foam roller).
I like 10-12 reps here.
4. Child’s Pose – off Med Ball
Pigging back off the above drill, this one also helps to improve thoracic extension in addition to strengthening the scapular stabilizers when you add a static hold at the top of each rep.
Adding the medicine ball into the mix along with flexed hips helps to keep the lumbar spine out of the equation.
The beauty of fillers is that, much like tv shows based in the city of Chicago – Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice, Chicago Sanitation, Chicago Teacher’s Union2 – there’s an endless array to pick and choose from.
What follows isn’t close to an exhaustive list.
What’s more, fillers can serve as a splendid opportunity to individualize someone’s program to hone in their unique injury history or their unique mobility/stability deficits.
QUICK ASIDE: When it comes to writing training programs for people, there are more similarities across the board than there are differences.
Far too often I find coaches/trainers making things more complicated than they have to be. Mike Boyle spoke to this not too long ago on social media:
People really want training to be complicated? Same group today 1 Euro BBall, 2 MLB pitchers, 2 position players, 2 national caliber female lacrosse players, 1 national level field hockey player, 1 NCAA female ice hockey player. 90% same. #sportspecific ?
Training programs, more often than not, revolve around these movement patterns, and the individualization generally comes down to what iteration of said movement pattern best fits the goal(s), injury history, and ability level of the athlete/client.
More to the point, instead of focusing on the facade of “sport specific training,” the better moniker should be centered on “people specific training.”
But that’s a hefty conversation for another time.
In the end, like I said, fillers are an ideal way to provide some semblance of customization into a program.
Fillers For Squats
Much like the deadlift, there are many moving parts to a squat which the body requires access to.
Starting from the bottom-up:
Ankle Dorsiflexion
Hip Flexion, in addition to Hip Internal Rotation
T-Spine Extension
Shoulder Mobility (specifically glenohumeral external rotation with regards to back squats)
Here are a handful of fillers for your consideration:
1) Hip Flexor Mobilization with IR/ER
The plain ol’ vanilla Wall Hip Flexor Mobilization is still one of my all-time favorite fillers, but this variation, which I stole from my boy Dean Somerset, adds another level to it.
Squatting requires hip flexion, and deep(er) hip flexion also requires hip internal rotation. Adding this in between sets of squats will make your hips feel nice-n-juicy.
The key, though, is to actually get motion from the HIP and not just crank through your lumbar spine. I like to put my hand on my ASIS and then “drive” that towards and away from my opposite (up) knee. In short, I think about opening and closing my pelvis.
There isn’t a ton of range of motion with this drill, but serves as a nice way to “unglue” the hips.
5 reps per direction/side is money.
2) Seated 90/90 Hip Switch (Progressions)
What I like most about this drill is that it hits both hip INTERNAL and EXTERNAL rotation simultaneously. The objective is to keep your chest up as best you can, along with your feet staying cemented to the floor.
1st Progression = Supported (hands)
2nd Progression = Unsupported (no hands)
3rd Progression = Adding in additional end-range Hip IR on the trail leg (be sure not to crank through your QL).
4th Progression = I don’t know, blindfolded? A new Bird Box challenge?
Shoot for 5-8 repetition per side (depending on which progression you’re doing). Hands Supported = high(er) reps. End Range Hip IR = you’ll hate life.
3) Side Lying Open Book
This one is pretty self-explanatory, and a great drill to help open up the chest and work on mid-back mobility.
Lie on the floor with a foam roller (or yoga block) underneath your top knee to prevent you from falling into excessive lumbar rotation. With your hips & shoulders starting stacked, “open” your top side by following your hand with your eyes.
BE SURE YOU’RE BELLY BUTTON DOESN’T GO ALONG FOR THE RIDE (it should stay put).
I had a gentleman come in for an assessment recently who, upon arriving, provided me with a laundry list of injuries and maladies that have hampered his ability to workout for quite some time.
The list he handed over would have prompted fist bumps from Tolstoy or Tolkien from its grandiosity in description and length.
Some were legitimate – an old athletic injury to his shoulder, along with some nagging low back pain.
Some were, shall we say, a bit of overkill – “my left Sternocleidomastoid gets a bit tweaky whenever I rotate my head more than 17.22 degrees. It’s even more profound when the Dew Point dips below a certain level. Or if I wear red on Thursday.”
Okay, that last part did NOT happen. Rather, it was meant as an allegory of sorts, an attempt to showcase how some people can often fall into a trap of believing they’re broken and that the only way to “fix” themselves is to put under a microscope every tweak, niggle, and bump that rears its ugly head.
To be clear: It’s NOT my bag to discount people’s past or current injury history. I respect and take into account everything (injury history, goals, ability level, favorite Transformer4) and use that information to ascertain what will be the best, safest and most efficient path to dieselfication possible.
That said, I often have to play “bad cop” and help people come to an understanding.
That they’re not broken, that they can train, and that they don’t have to spend 30 minutes foam rolling and activating their Superficial Dorsal Fascial Line.
The drawn-out, overly complicated warm-up is my worst nightmare as a coach.
Actually, back up.
Kipping pull-ups are my worst nightmare. With a close second being anytime someone asks me about keto. Oh, and mushrooms.5
Sometimes when I start working with a new client – especially one coming in with an extensive injury history – they’re often riddled with fear and trepidation with regards to training. They’ve been stymied by an endless array of setbacks (and overly cautious physical therapists6) and are reluctant to push past the “corrective exercise” rabbit hole.
Their warm-up often takes longer than it takes to complete the Boston Marathon, to the point where every inch of their body is meticulously foam rolled and every muscle is painstakingly activated.
Yes, it’s important to activate “stuff.”
In fact, I’m often flummoxed some people still don’t understand the importance of taking themselves through a proper warm-up. Getting the body and nervous system primed for physical activity is kind of a big deal, and I won’t belabor the point here.
You should be doing it.
Don’t get me wrong: the warm-up is a splendid opportunity to individualize someone’s program and to have him or her dedicate some additional TLC to areas of the body that need it.
To that end, however, I do feel – at times – people baby themselves to the extent the warm-up becomes the workout.
This is where I find a lot of value in fillers and implementing them into my programs.
The idea is to address common “problem areas” by tossing in some low-grade activation/mobility drills during one’s rest intervals…as part of their training program.
The key point here is LOW-GRADE.
Filler exercises can be anything from glute activation and scapular upward rotation drills to, I don’t know, a particular stretch (hip flexors?) or naming all the members of Wu-Tang Clan. The premise is that they’re low-grade, low-demand, easy, and address something that won’t sacrifice performance on subsequent sets of iron work.
Performing 400m sprints or Tabata anything does not constitute as a filler, and defeats the point. We’re trying to turn stuff on and/or address common mobility/stability issues, not challenge Jason Bourne to a street fight.
All that said I wanted to share some insights on how I implement fillers into the programs I write, and in particular which ones I like to pair with certain exercises.
First up, deadlifts of course…;o)
Filler For Deadlifts
There are a lot of moving parts to the deadlift and to perform it in a safe manner requires “access” to a number of things:
Ample T-Spine extension
Ample hip flexion
Depending on the variation (I.e., sumo style) requisite adductor length
Scapular posterior tilt (hard to do if someone’s in excessive upper back kyphosis).
Lumbo-pelvic control/stability
The cheat code for unlimited lives in Contra (very important)7
If none of these things are in play or even minimally addressed many lifters are going to have a hard time staying healthy in the long run.
Alright, enough of my jibber-jabber. Lets get to the drills.
1) Split Stance Adductor Mobilization
Now, admittedly, if there was a Wikipedia page for “ordinary and unremarkable exercises,” this one would be right at the top. However, this has always been a staple filler exercise for me and one that I don’t forsee taking out of the rotation anytime soon.
What I like most about this exercise is that it targets the adductors in both hip flexion and extension. The key, though, is attention to detail with regards to anterior core engagement.
A common mistake I see people make is “falling” into their lower back when they walk their hands forward; it’s important to avoid this. Too, another common mistake is allowing the lower back to round as they sit back. The main objective should be to maintain as “neutral” of a spine as possible throughout the entirety of the set.
One other teeny-tiny thing to consider is scapular position. This drill can also be a nice opportunity to work on a bit of Serratus activation by actively “pushing” into the floor so that there’s a bit of protraction and the scapulae “set” or adhere to the ribcage.
Aim for 5-8 repetitions/leg during rest periods.
2) Monster Walks
All I can say about this exercise is that when it’s done properly it’s Glute O’clock.
In the video above I’m using Nick Tumminello’s NT Loop which I have found work really well for this drill.
FYI: I receive zero kickback from Nick – maybe a tickle fight? Fingers crossed – in recommending his band.
The idea here is to lock the ribs down and to keep the hips level so they’re not teeter-tottering back and forth during the set. Walk it back using the hips/glutes until the band is fully stretched and then control the return (again, making every effort not to let the hips teeter-totter).
I prefer to use anywhere from 5-8 repetitions here.
3) Bench T-Spine Mobilization
This is a money filler for those people stuck in flexion hell all day, in addition to those who have chronically tight/short lats.
Some key things to note:
Holding onto a stick (or anything similar) helps prevent the glenohumeral joint from going into internal rotation.
As you sit back towards your ankles, try to maintain a neutral back position throughout (keep those abs on, actively “pull” yourself back).
Perform a pseudo bicep curl at the bottom to help nudge you into a bit more thoracic extension.
Be careful not to induce excessive thoracic extension here. It’s easy to think the more ROM here the better, but that’s not necessarily the case.
4) Brettzel Mobilization w/ Exhale
Stolen straight from Gray Cook and Brett Jones this is easily one of my favorite fillers OVERALL, and not just for deadlifts. We’re locking down the lumbar spine by holding the bottom knee down (you can also place a foam roller here if you’re unable to get this low) in addition to adding a nice hip flexor stretch on the opposite side.
The goal, then, is to take in an inhale through nose and EXHALE (out the mouth) as you rotate and drive your top shoulder towards the floor.
Indeed, this is a fantastic drill to work on more thoracic extension, but again, be judicious with ROM here. More is not better. All I’ll say here is stay cognizant of your belly button (innie or outtie?) and where it’s pointing. As you extend back it should not point towards the ceiling. Instead, it should stay relatively motionless and pointing towards the wall your chest is facing.
As you exhale with each subsequent rep, you should notice you’re getting closer and closer to the floor.
3-5 repetitions per side should suffice.
And That’s That
There are a plethora of options here, but all I wanted to do was highlight a handful of my favorites. Choose ONE drill to perform during your rest periods. Also, depending on the total number of sets you have on the menu you could also alternate between 2-3 drills.
There’s no golden rule.
Hope this helped and gave you a few ideas to work with.
