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View Full Version : SKIBA'S ARNOLD SEMINAR CONTINUES....Volume 1 The Bench.



T. Kemble
03-14-10, 3:19 pm
I want to say that we had the opportunity of showing what Skiba's barbell club does in terms of training in the Cage at the Arnold. However with only an hour timeslot i feel that we didn't hit every point that needed to be hit in terms of the training. I'm going to do a 3 part thread installment about bench, squat and deadlift training to give people the best understanding of what we do and how we do it.


The bench.

Lets first take a look at what we have working with. Start with a straight non bent bar and an olympic bench. I know many commercial gyms are devoid of an ivanko bench bar or texas power bar, but just make sure you have a bar with some kind of knurling and a 'ring' so as to gauge where you are going to set your grip up.

When first setting up you need to make sure that you put yourself in a 'power position'. You can find this by setting yourself up to create the shortest distance between point A and point B. Lay on the bench and put your feet up on the bench. Now push your feet down and arch. That tight feeling in your back is what you need to mimic. Now put your feet on the floor and get them as far under you while staying flat on the ground. It is most definitely a challenge to 'set up' properly and takes coaching and practice. But 9 out of 10 lifters just lay down on the bench with ZERO technique and say 'i wonder why i'm still benching 185lbs?'. Setup is key. I recommend watching videos by Westside Barbell (Columbus, Ohio) and Metal Militia (upstate NY lifting club).

Next is how you are going to grip the bar. When i'm lifting raw, all my work is done with the pinky on the ring which for most lifters is considered a close grip. A normal shirted competition grip is usually with the index or middle finger on the ring as to take advantage of the shirt. When you grab the bar, SQUEEZE the hell out of it. You are trying to activate as many muscle fibers as possible to bring them into the lift. If you are only lifting with your chest and triceps you arent getting the most out of your bench, it is truely an upper body lift. Imagine you are trying to bend the bar outward and you will involve a great deal of triceps.

Barpath is KEY. When you first unrack the weight, lead with your elbows and stabilize the weight. Take a BIG breath and fill your torso up with air. Roll your traps under your back and literally pull the bar into your torso, you will lower your bar path by 2-5 inches depending on your setup and style. When the bar begins its descent, imagine you are trying to plant your elbows into your lats and bring the bar down. Your barpath will no longer be up and down, it will turn into a C in essence. Bring the bar down under control and touch anywhere on your thorax you feel to be comfortable and is allowed in your lifting federation. If you are a raw lifter I advise to avoid belly benching to save your shoulders. Belly benching is a concept with shirts that guys will literally arch so hard and their shirt is so tight fitting that they need for it to fall out of the groove just to touch.
When you begin to press the bar, press it up to the sweet spot. If you havent found your sweet spot, hold an empty bar on the bench and literally let it float locked out until you find the spot where the bar feels virtually weightless. This is the spot you want to press towards.

The lockout is the most crucial point of the lift which can make or break you. Press the bar up evenly and lock out evenly, it is much easier said than done. As the bar begins to travel up your elbows will begin to 'flare' towards the top of the motion. This is just biomechanics and some lifters may have to flare sooner than others. Lock the weight out, wait for the rack command and put the weight back on the supports under control and you should look forward to three white lights.

Now that we've discussed the lifting aspect, lets touch a bit on bench training. There are a million and one ways. I get PM's all the time about is Westside better than Shieko or Metal Militia? It is all based on personal preference and how the guys in your club like to train. Now what I say below is all opinion based, I don't want to sway anybody one way or another, just tell you how I see it.

At Skibas about 5 years ago we were a Metal Militia-style gym for a bit. Metal Militia style involved VOLUME and more VOLUME. Heavy benching 2x a week which will get you brutally strong but if you dont recover will beat you to death.

I've never used a Shieko program personally but know lifters that have and they have had much success. Shieko's style involves training the big 3 lifts 3-4 days a week with limited assistance work. A typical Russian-Style percentage based program.

5/3/1 is a good way to get strong without beating yourself up, the only major flaw i see in using 5/3/1 for powerlifting is that theres no overload work built into it so lockout strength will suffer unless you train that accordingly.

A 10-8-6-4 progressive overload program is a 'buff boy' program as far as I'm concerned. You will get strong to an extent. Powerlifting is a science and there's just not much science in throwing more weight on the bar and hoping it goes up next week. Just words...

Westside and its variations (Defranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards, Westside for Fat Bastards, exc...) seem to be the way to go as far as training heavy and for the long run. You can structure a program around the conjugate method to cater exactly what you need to work on, I like this but all programs have their flaws and recovery with a drug free/raw lifter seem to be the achilies heel with this.


As you can see I had alot on my chest with what I wanted to say at the Arnold but ran out of time. Part 2 will be Squat training.

Firefist
03-14-10, 3:39 pm
awesome post, and i bet this will help alot of people.

Survivor831
03-14-10, 5:33 pm
Already converted it to memory. Many thanks bro..............By the way, awesome Job at the expo........One of my favorites. Looking forward to more.

ghost
03-14-10, 5:36 pm
phenomenal write up man!

Razor
03-14-10, 10:26 pm
One word can describe your demo brothers: SICK.

You inspired tons of ppl and put everyone in awe of your dedication. A definite highlight in that amazing weekend.

mritter3
03-14-10, 10:42 pm
ya def. a great read...thanks for the post.

C.Coronato
03-15-10, 1:52 pm
Thanks TEK. Lots of great info.

Maccabee
03-15-10, 9:18 pm
If a person is a raw lifter where should he bring the bar. I am guessing the lower pecs?

T. Kemble
03-15-10, 11:31 pm
If a person is a raw lifter where should he bring the bar. I am guessing the lower pecs?

It would all depend on your body structure, arm length and setup style. I would definitely do whatever was comfortable for my body but within limits of lifting federation rules. Nothing higher than the nipple line though.

Deathride
06-28-10, 4:04 am
Have been practicing me set-up (as detailed above) and am getting the feel of tucking the elbows now. However, whenever I drive with my legs, my bum lifts off the bench slightly. Is this good as it shows I'm driving correctly, or horribly horribly bad as I will be failed for the lift/injure myself/look like a fool? :-D

Many thanks for any help!

BigChrisF
06-28-10, 4:56 pm
When you drive with your legs you want to push your body towards the head of the bench and not lift your butt up. It will be like if you are on a slick vinyl bench pad, you will slide forward if you get good leg drive. Try pulling your legs more under you in your set up. This should help keep your butt down.

Deathride
06-28-10, 6:15 pm
Got you. Will give it a try....thanks for the advice!

NickSP
06-30-11, 9:02 pm
So no raw lifter should touch as low as their upper abs? Definitely higher than that?

SomeDayI'llBeXL
07-15-11, 3:04 pm
Nick, I lift raw and when I bench, I bring the bar to just below my pecs, it feels the most natural for me