One of my favorite T Nation article series is the 20-installment monster called Exercises You’ve Never Tried Before. I like it so much that I want to bring it back.
Rather than list a bunch of random exercises though, I’ll base my installment around a common theme: the backside of the body (aka the posterior chain). And more specifically, low back-friendly exercises to work the backside of the body.
Maybe you’ve hurt your lower back and can’t load your spine with the heavy basics like deadlifts and barbell rows but still want to strengthen your posterior chain. Or maybe you’re already banging away with heavy deads and squats and just want some accessory work that won’t hammer your lower back any further.
Either way, these exercises may be just what the doctor ordered.

1. L-Sit Chin-ups

For this chin-up variation, raise your legs until they’re parallel to the floor and don’t allow them to drop for the duration of the set.
Once you’ve established good body position, perform chin-ups as normal, pulling your upper chest to the bar on each rep. If you can, try to angle your torso so you’re leaning back slightly to further emphasize the lats. You can use any grip you’d like, but it’s best to vary it periodically.

This is a great one because it effectively kills two birds with one stone, functioning as both a back exercise and a core exercise. Having your legs raised in front of you also keeps you honest because you can’t use momentum from the lower body to propel yourself up.
You may initially lack the core strength and/or hamstring flexibility to do this with straight legs, in which case you can start with your legs bent and work on straightening them over time.
The position of the legs makes it difficult to add weight with a dip belt, so if you’re looking to make it harder, you can slow down the tempo, add a weight vest, put a small dumbbell between your feet, or use light ankles weights (absolutely brutal)!

2. Lean Back Chin-ups

Here’s one I picked up from Charles Poliquin, who refers to them as subscapularis chin-ups.
Using either a pronated or neutral grip, pull yourself up until your upper chest touches the bar. Your chest should be puffed out and your elbows pulled down and back – no rounded shoulders or sunken chests allowed.
Before you begin the descent, squeeze your lats, brace your core, contract your glutes, and begin to lean back as you slowly push yourself away from the bar. Use a controlled eccentric and continue to lean back as far as you can the whole way down.
Your torso should be at approximately 45 degrees to the floor. At the bottom, return your torso to an upright position and repeat for the desired reps.

Strive to keep your torso as straight as possible throughout the set. I recommend dorsiflexing the ankles to help lock the lower body into position. If you do these correctly, they’ll not only smoke your upper back and lats but fry your core as well.

3. Gironda Sternum Chin-ups

If you type “sternum chin-ups” into YouTube, you’ll get a whole bunch of videos showing guys doing standard chin-ups where they simply pull their chest to the bar. That’s a great exercise, but I wouldn’t call that a sternum chin-up. I’d just call that a good chin-up.
Chin-up standards have become pathetically low. In my mind, a properly executed chin-up should always be pulled to the upper chest. It’s like saying a full squat: it’s redundant and shouldn’t be necessary. Sadly, I guess it is.
A true Gironda sternum chin-up (as prescribed by the legendary Vince Gironda) is a whole different animal.
Right as you begin the pull, tip your head back and try to look behind you as if you were attempting to do a backflip. Continue looking back as you pull while keeping your chest elevated and your lower body still. Depending on the length of your arms, you should contact with the bar anywhere between your lower chest and mid-abdomen.

Poliquin has referred to these as the king of upper back exercises, and for good reason. If done correctly, the contraction you get in your upper back will be unparalleled and your lats will be on fire after just a few reps.
This is an extremely advanced exercise, so make sure you’ve mastered other easier variations first before trying it. Furthermore, the arching required to complete the movement may be too provocative for extension-intolerant individuals, so if you fall into that camp and it causes you any pain whatsoever, choose something else.

4. Inverted Rows (1.5 reps)

Inverted rows are extremely underrated. Fact is, over the past couple years, they’ve become my favorite rowing exercise, especially for those with back pain. They allow you to attack the upper back without putting pressure on the lower back, and they also help to activate and strengthen the glutes, which are generally underactive in back pain sufferers.
If you have suspension straps – TRX, blast straps, rings, etc. – they’re also very shoulder friendly because they allow you to rotate your hands through a natural range of motion from pronated to supinated, which strengthens the rotator cuff. If you don’t have straps, you can use a bar in a power rack or Smith machine.
The reason most people blow these off initially is that they just seem too easy. However, I’d urge you to try them first before jumping to conclusions. Elevating the feet on a bench so that the torso is parallel to the floor increases difficulty. Lying plates across the chest or wearing a weight vest are further progressions.
Once you’ve mastered regular inverted rows, try using “1.5″ reps. Row up, come halfway down, row up again, then come all the way down. That’s 1.

“1.5″ reps help ensure that your form stays tight and allows you to concentrate on retracting your scapulae and getting a good contraction on every rep. If crappy form on rows has kept you from experiencing what an upper back pump feels like, you’ll quickly find out with these. And you know what Arnold said about the pump, right?

5. One-Arm Inverted Rows

These are the mack daddy of all inverted row variations.
Set up as you normally would for an inverted row except hold only one strap. Extend the other arm straight up toward the ceiling and place your feet a little wider than normal for a more stable base.
To do these successfully requires extreme total body stiffness, so contract everything – glutes, core, lats, grip, the other arm – literally everything. When you’re ready, row yourself up and reach the non-working arm straight towards the ceiling.
Your torso will want to rotate slightly towards the side of the working arm, which is fine as it allows you to achieve a greater range of motion on the row. Just don’t allow your hips to sag. Lower yourself under control and repeat.

Each rep should be performed under control such that you could pause each rep at the point of contraction if need be. That’s actually a good rule of thumb for all rows, but it’s especially important here – if you start to get sloppy, you’re putting your shoulder at risk of injury. You can also start with your feet on the floor if elevating them is too challenging at first.
While this is ostensibly a back exercise, it’s really a total body exercise because every muscle from head to toe must fire to stay tight or you simply won’t be able to do it.
I promise you that after trying this one, any preconceived notions you may have had about inverted rows being a sissy exercise will go right out the window.

6. Inverted Row “Slides”

Here’s a good alternative if you don’t have suspension straps.
Set up using a pronated grip with your hands slightly wider than what you’d use for the bench press. Pulling primarily with your right arm, pull yourself up towards your right hand until your chest touches the bar. From there, keeping your chest close to the bar and your torso level, slide yourself over to your left hand and lower yourself primarily using your left arm to bear the load. Alternate which side you pull to first on each successive rep.

Adding a unilateral element into the mix significantly enhances the difficulty of the row by forcing each arm to lift a greater percentage of your total bodyweight. Moreover, performing the slide at the top amplifies the intensity of the contraction and increases the core demands by forcing the torso to resist rotation.

7. Inverted Face Pulls

Face pulls are an excellent exercise to promote good shoulder health and strengthen the middle and lower traps. They should definitely be a mainstay in your program, especially if you emphasize the bench press (i.e. 99% of you reading this).
The inverted face pull using suspension straps is a great variation because you get all the benefits of a regular face pull with the added benefit of core stability that comes from handling your own bodyweight.
What’s more, when you do these using cables or bands, you’re forced to stand in an asymmetrical split stance and brace yourself to keep from getting pulled in towards the machine. Using suspension straps allows you to be more symmetrical and focus your efforts completely on the task at hand since you aren’t being pulled off balance.
Set up just as you would for an inverted row, only instead of pulling your hands to your sides, pull just to the sides of your head. Control each rep and make sure to squeeze your scapulae together at the point of contraction. These are much tougher than they might look, so you’ll want to start with your feet on the floor.

8. Inverted Row/Hamstring Bodycurl Combo

This is a cool exercise that works both the back and the hamstrings at once.
It’s essentially an inverted row combined with an inverted hamstring bodycurl, which I discussed here. I like both exercises on their own, but they work even better in tandem.

As a standalone, the hamstring bodycurl is much harder than the inverted row. However, because you must hold an isometric contraction on each rep of the inverted row while you perform the leg curl, the difficulty of the row increases greatly. You’re actually working both your back and hamstrings to the max. In terms of exercise economy, that’s hard to beat.
That’s all well and good if you do full body training, but where does it fit in if you follow an upper/lower split?
It depends. If you’re quad dominant and want to bring up your hamstrings, you could include these on upper body days for some supplemental work. Conversely, if you need more upper back work – which most do – you could use it on your lower body days.
I use it on lower body days, but it doesn’t really matter. While these are challenging, they won’t tap into your recovery stores too much so it shouldn’t throw off the rest of your training.

9. Banded “Iron Cross” Glute-Ham Raise

Speaking of combination exercises that work the whole backside at once, here’s another doozy. It’s a glute-ham raise, which I’ve written about extensively here, combined with an isometric band pull-apart.

Along with engaging the upper back and traps, holding the band in an isometric pull-apart helps ensure good posture and body positioning throughout the exercise. Some people have a tendency to slouch their shoulders and round their lower backs, but having the scapulae pinched together has a trickle-down effect throughout the body to help maintain rigidity and alignment.
If it’s too much to handle at first, you can always use some band assistance to make it more manageable.

10. Back Extension/Rear Delt Raise Combo

Any time I mention the glute-ham raise, I invariably get the question: what about if I don’t have access to a glute-ham apparatus?
You might think my answer would be to revert to the “natural” glute-ham raise – otherwise known as the Russian leg curl – but I’m not a fan. It’s just flat-out too hard.
Very few people can do them without using a pushup for assistance at the bottom, and even fewer can do them with good form and hinging dramatically at the hips. They usually look ugly, so much so that I worry about the potential for a pulled hamstring.
Besides, I’m big on progressive resistance, and it’s nearly impossible to gauge progress on an exercise where you can’t even do one unassisted rep.
I think a better choice would be a 45-degree back extension, which is typically much more common in commercial gyms and can create a similar training effect as the glute-ham raise when done properly.
The problem with this exercise is that because it’s often referred to as back hyperextensions – people are under the impression that the primary movement should be initiated by the back, so they flex the lumbar spine at the bottom and hyperextend at the top. Not good.
Instead, think about it as a hip extension where the glutes function as the primary extensor and the lumbar spine stays in neutral. You want to feel these almost entirely in the glutes and hamstrings; if you feel it a lot in the lower back, it’s a sign you’re probably doing it wrong.
To include some work for the upper back and posterior delts, you can add a rear delt raise. It won’t take much weight to be challenging, but adding even a little weight to the arms in an outstretched position will significantly increase the challenge for the glutes and hamstrings by slowing down the movement and decreasing momentum, as well as slightly increasing the length of the lever arm.

Have Fun!
It should go without saying that the vast majority of your training should be built around the simple basics. But when you hit a plateau or grow bored of doing the same old stuff day in and day out, here are some cool tweaks you can try to spice things up.
Have fun and post your questions in the Live Spill!

That’s what grandpa used to say when I’d help him with the yard work. Admittedly, I was quite the lazy ten year-old, but when the threat of the boot came down I’d straighten up and get the raking and mowing done. Instead of a half-ass, I’d become a full-ass.
Partial range of motion deadlifts, unfortunately, often receive a similar half-assed treatment. That’s a downright shame as partial pulls can transform anemic deadlifts and skinny hamstrings into impressive full deadlifts and a posterior chain that gets noticed. It’s time partial pulls get the respect they deserve.

Educating the Hips

Most of us have stupid hips. Sitting all day kills our hip IQ. It’s like the old egg in a skillet as your brain on drugs metaphor. “This is your ass. This is your ass after eight hours in a chair.” For normal working stiffs that just hop in the car and head home after work without a thought of deadlifting, that might be okay (although, it probably isn’t).
But we’re out for pulling dominance, so we need to reeducate our hips to recruit the right muscles at the right times.
Unfortunately, postural issues such as anterior pelvic tilt dominate many of us. This results in short (and usually weak) hip flexors, weak/inhibited glutes, and hamstrings that bail on us like a Kardashian with a pre-nup.
Without strong hamstrings to pick up the slack when our quad drive dies out, we’re left incapable of pulling the bar past the knee barrier – too low for our glutes (if they’re firing well) and lats to finish off the pull.
Basic partial-range pull variations like the rack pull and deadlift off blocks are great for taking the glutes and hamstrings to deadlift school. Because the bar is set anywhere from low on the shins to just below the knees, the involvement of the quads is limited. This gives the hamstrings a chance to let their true colors shine. Rather than hanging the glutes out to dry, the hamstrings get back to keeping the weight moving through the mid-range of the pull, provided we use weight that keeps us within the confines of good form.
As a bonus, we can also position our hips advantageously (with good hip-hinge mechanics) to recruit the hamstrings and glutes while the bar moves through the mid-range. Some coaches take exception to this notion, arguing that “pulling from an advantageous position doesn’t carry over to the full range pull,” to which I respectively say, “bullshit.”
A good coach teaches movements in segments so their clients and athletes learn good form through each portion of a movement before being subjected to the Full Monty. This is referred to as a top-down training progression. The deadlift is no exception.
Teaching the hips to pull from different starting points gives the body a memory to draw on when the going gets tough and form starts to break down. And this lesson isn’t just for the newbies – we veterans also need refreshers. Training for longer periods can often lead to subtle bad lifting habits. Breaking down the deadlift helps prevent these habits from becoming major issues.
Check out the video below for a rack pull refresher.

Notice that my hips are positioned where they would be if it were a full range deadlift. The glutes and hams squeeze the weight off the pins and the lats finish it off.
Below is an example of the deadlift off blocks. While they’re less convenient than rack pulls, they more closely replicate a deadlift off the floor as the plates are resting on an elevated surface rather than the bar resting on pins. As you initiate the pull, the “slack” will come out of the bar and you’ll get an inch before the weight starts moving, much like a full range deadlift.

The hip positioning is similar to a rack pull and deadlifts off of blocks can be loaded intensely. But if you’re planning on training with Jim “Smitty’ Smith of Diesel Strength, don’t make the mistake I did. Start out with a hook grip, not an alternated one.
Smitty recommends the double overhand grip (with or without the thumb hook) because it’s safer. Many athletes and gym goers alike stand with excessive internal rotation at the glenohumeral joints and kyphotic upper-back posture. This suboptimal posture puts stress on the biceps of the supinated arm during an alternated deadlift grip, thereby increasing the chance of a tear.

Finishing Power

Speed-strength (high velocity low load) and strength-speed (high velocity high load) are both important for maximal strength. There are many technical terms that can be used here: rate coding, motor unit synchronization, and rate of force development are a few. But the important take away is the faster you move – or attempt to move – a weight, the more motor units you’ll recruit. It’s about hot, nasty speed.
Speed off the floor is necessary for a successful pull, and training for speed-strength can raise a deadlift number steadily, at least for a little while.
But where do we go when speed deads are no longer effective? When we’ve exhausted dynamic effort deadlifts versus bands and chains? When pulling from a deficit is no longer stoking the flame and heavy pull attempts are again failing at the knees, there has to be another strength catalyst. Thankfully, there is: the rack pull versus bands.

Rack Pulls Versus Bands

With speed deads being an application of speed-strength, rack pulls versus bands work well as an application of strength-speed.
Training speed-strength will take you a long way, but as the weight you’re able to move becomes heavier, strength-speed must become a focus. When max effort attempts become slow grinders it’s strength-speed that maintains the power you’ve generated off the floor. Having good levels of strength-speed means you’ll be able to keep the weight moving at a constant rate, rather than feeling it slow down as it approaches your knees.
Bands provide accommodating resistance by overloading the lockout, forcing bar acceleration throughout the entire pull. When training for speed, a standard rack pull won’t cut it because deceleration will take precedence over acceleration as the bar approaches lockout.
The bands also keep us honest. Rather than slapping plates on the bar with typical meathead disregard, we have to account for the tension of the bands. Add too much bar weight and you’ll be left doing the involuntary shakes when the bar hits mid-thigh.
To generate the most speed off the pins you must concentrate on tension and breathing. Make sure you’re belly breathing, setting your grip as hard as possible and bracing your core hard (lats pulled tight, abs contracted). Also, reset between each rep. This will make the exercise safer and give you a chance to produce more power. If you’re doing a set of eight, treat it like eight sets of one.
Like regular rack pulls, rack pulls versus bands can be done with the bar set anywhere from low on the shins to just below the knees. Just remember that the higher up your shins the bar is, the more band tension required.
Here are two examples of rack pulls versus bands; one mid-shins and one just below the knees.
Mid-shins:

High:

Serious Back Mass

What if your goal isn’t to pull as much iron as possible? Maybe you just want bigger, thicker lats and traps; perhaps an upper-back that makes shirt collars scream uncle? Partial range deadlifts can help build a yoke that would turn an ox green with envy.
The “how-to” is relatively simple and follows the normal rules of muscle hypertrophy. More weight plus more time under tension equals bigger muscles.
Rack pulls, along with other partial range deadlifts, can be loaded at a higher intensity than a full-range deadlift can be, creating greater amounts of muscular tension. Since the range of motion is decreased, we can also work with higher loads for a greater amount of reps, increasing the total time under tension.
So rather than being able to pull 400 pounds for 1-2 reps with a rack pull, you can rip it for a set of 6-8. It’s a perfect equation for fantastic lats and traps, with the bonus being that the weight is moving mainly through the top half of the deadlift motion, where the lats are increasingly active.
Strong guys know that burning out your nervous system and diminishing your ability to recover by hitting high rep, full deadlifts isn’t necessary. Keep the full range deadlift sets heavy and for low reps (1-5) and then add in partial range pulls during your assistance work for higher reps (6-8). If you want to get your back big in a hurry, high-rep rack pulls are a tool you can count on.

Pulling into a Partial Range Cycle

A little while back I went through some deadlifting woes. Although it was a long, frustrating ordeal, it did allow me to experiment with my training. I eventually came up with a partial pull progression that had a great deal of carry-over to my conventional deadlift. If your deadlift is in a bad way, this cycle could be your guide back to the right track.
Check it out:

Week	Exercise	Sets	Reps
1	Reverse band deadlift	7	1*
2	Mid-shin rack pull	5	2-3
3	High Bartley pull	4/2	2/1
4	Reverse band deadlift	4	1*

So how the hell did reverse band deadlifts sneak into this cycle? It’s supposed to be a partial range of motion cycle, right? Well, I count reverse band deadlifts as a partial range deadlift movement because the full effect of the weight isn’t felt until the bar travels to your mid-shins, or beyond.
Not familiar with the reverse band deadlift? Here’s a video demo:

Notice the bands going slack as the bar approaches lockout? Take another look at the video. Right before the bar gets to the knees the band tension dies, so does the assistance provided by the bands. I’m left by my lonesome to lock out the weight – but this is a good thing.
Again, the concentration has to be on bar speed. As the plates break the floor, the goal is to “race” the bands to the top. If you win the race you’ll generate enough bar speed to keep heavy weights moving when the band tension dies, thus training you to pull fast during the top half of your deadlift. Lose the race and you’ll be a hunched, frustrated man with iron in his hands that’s dangling in rubber bands.
This cycle is great for training the lockout because it progresses from an assisted movement (reverse band deadlifts) to a movement that uses accommodating resistance (high Bartley pulls), then allows for the realization of the training adaptation during the fourth week.
You get faster while moving heavy weights because the focus is always on bar speed. The reverse band deadlift during week four can be replaced with conventional deads if you want to take advantage of the bar speed you gained during the previous three weeks. When I used this cycle, however, I waited until week six to test my deadlift, using week five as a down week and stepping away from the bar.

Pulling it all Together

I’ve got a little too much of my grandpa in me, so I’ll never pardon a half-assed effort, be it in the weight-room or out in the real world. And considering partial range pulls can save your deadlift and kick-start some serious posterior chain development, you’re only shooting your skinny self in the foot by not doing them.
So roll up your sleeves and hit those pulls with focus and intensity, and free yourself from deadlifting mediocrity. But before you do, finish your yard work – those leaves aren’t going to rake themselves!

Like it or not, the bench press is the gold standard of upper body strength lifts. Critics frequently try to knock it down, calling it “over rated,” “injurious,” or the dreaded “not functional,” but the bench press isn’t going anywhere.
And for good reason. There’s no better upper body lift than the bench press. What other upper body lift requires a good amount of leg drive, sufficiently activates the lats, delts, pecs, and tri’s, is stable enough to allow for the hoisting of huge loads, and is specific to many sports due to the horizontal pressing nature of the lift?
The answer is, none!

• Powerlifters perform the bench press as one of the “Big 3″ lifts in their sport and have developed numerous variations to boost their strength.
• Bodybuilders bench to build the pecs and triceps.
• Bench pressing is so revered by everyday gym rats that the first day of the week has been renamed “International Bench Press Monday.”
• The bench press is used to measure upper body strength endurance in the NFL Combine Test, and it’s correlated with many different sports performance markers.

Interestingly enough, despite all this, the bench press wasn’t readily accepted by the weightlifting community.

History of the Bench Press

At the time when pressing from a lying-down position started cropping up around the lifting communities, standing exercises were the only lifts deemed “manly.” Weightlifters scoffed at the pretty-boys who would lie on a bench to “expand their pecs.” However, once women started swooning over the broad-chested bodybuilders, the weightlifters soon jumped on the bench-pressing bandwagon.
Interestingly, the bench press has evolved over the years, from floor, bridge, and belly toss variations to the methods used by bodybuilders and powerlifters today.
At first the strict floor press was the most popular method. In 1899, using a barbell with 19-inch discs (plates), George Hackenshmidt, inventor of the barbell hack squat, rolled a barbell over his face (which was turned to the side) and performed a strict floor press with 361 pounds. This stood as a record for 18 years until Joe Nordquest broke it by 2 pounds in 1916.
Around this time, new methods started gaining ground. Lifters started figuring out that strong glutes could help them get the bar from the ground to overhead. They’d lie on the floor and position the bar over their abdomens, then perform an explosive glute bridging movement, thus catapulting the bar overhead and catching it at lockout.
The heaviest weight lifted by way of this method belonged to heavyweight wrestler-strongman Georg Lurich, who “belly-tossed” 443 pounds in 1902. Critics argued that the “belly toss” method was more of a hip-power exercise rather than an upper-body strength exercise, as the triceps were simply being used to support the weight in a locked position.
In a lighter weight class, Arthur Saxon pressed 386 pounds using the same belly toss method, a record that was later bested by Joe Nordquest, who broke it by 2 pounds in 1917. This technique remained popular through much of the 1920s and 1930s.
Here’s George Lurich, circa 1885:

Soon it became the norm to set up in a bridge position and perform a “press from back” variation, essentially turning the lift into a modified decline press. The other option was to set up normally and use the hips for a boost through a “bridge press” method. This variation differed from the belly toss and press from back methods in that the bridging motion (hip thrusting) was performed under control and held into position while the pecs and tri’s contracted concentrically to finish the lift.
However, when Bill Lilly started setting records by bridging his surprisingly flexible spine and hips all the way to where the bar was locked out, with no separation of the barbell from the abdomen until the lift was completed, people started realizing the absurdity of this method as a demonstration of upper body strength.
Fortunately, Lily’s flexible spine and hips sparked changes in acceptable form, although Lilly’s 484-pound lift remained unchallenged throughout the 1930s.
The AAU outlawed the bridging maneuver by standardizing the pullover and press in 1939. This technique involved keeping the legs straight, the feet together, and the buttocks on the ground. Nevertheless, many wrestlers would still bridge, arching up onto their heads and performing “wrestler’s bridges” while pressing, which required unbelievable neck strength.
Eventually floor pressers realized that small boxes and crates could be used to increase the exercise’s range of motion and pectoralis activity, and before long specialized pieces of equipment were being manufactured. Throughout the 1940s, several types of horizontal presses were popular: the strict floor press, the belly toss, the press from back, the bridge press, and the bench press.

Bodybuilding

By the 1950s bodybuilding was on the rise, and full range of motion was deemed the best method for hypertrophy. At this time the bench press was crowned the king of upper body lifts. As benches grew sturdier, spotters gained competency, form improved, and supportive equipment evolved, bench press numbers have continued to rise.
In the 1950s, Doug Hepburn became the first man to bench 400 and 500 pounds with a pause on the chest. The first 600-pound lift belonged to Pat Casey in the 1960s while the first 700-pound bench is credited to Ted Arcidi in the 1980s. Tim Isaac became the first 800-pound bencher in the late 1990s while Gene Rychlak became the first 900-pound and 1,000-pound bencher in the early 2000s.
The current record belongs to Ryan Kennelly, who benched 1,075 pounds in 2008 with supportive equipment, while Scot Medelson holds the raw record at 715 pounds, which he performed in 2005.
Indeed, the bench press has received its fair share of controversy every step of the way. From day-one, lifters claimed it produced unequal chest to back development and created poor posture. This debate rages on today, with coaches questioning its functional transfer, safety, and optimal technique.
Just as the arched back technique was questioned long ago before actual benches were used, the current arched back technique popular in powerlifting is still frowned upon by many, as is the use of bench shirts.
One thing is certain; lifters will always seek ways to increase their strength on the bench. Before we delve into the various methods used to increase bench press strength, let’s examine what the literature has to say about this exercise.

A Review of the Bench Press Literature

Substantial research has been conducted regarding the bench press and its variants. Probably the most important yet overlooked component to bench press performance is the importance of technique. Less experienced lifters differ from more experienced lifters in setup strategies, execution strategies, and overall technique (Madsen & McLaughlin 1984). We recommend that beginners devote considerable time and attention to proper technique and reinforce good technique with every repetition performed.
Researchers have debated the mechanisms behind the “sticky point,” but we recommend that the sticky point not be thought of as a “point,” but a “region.” This region is characterized by a period of lower external force in relation to gravity resulting in a slowing of bar speed and a decrement in momentum.
A typical 1RM-attempt repetition may last around 1.8 seconds. The sticky region starts at around 2-4 tenths of a second into the concentric portion of the repetition and ends at around 8-9 tenths of a second, comprising around 25% of the duration of the shortening motion (Van den Tillaar & Ettema 2010; Elliot et al. 1989).
Two predominant theories exist which explain the reasons for the sticky region. Elliot et al. (1989) found that muscle activity remained unchanged in the prime movers and suggested that the occurrence happens as a result of the termination of the period of increased elastic strain energy from the reversal portion of the movement.

But the elastic assistance ends very quickly, thereby creating a burden for the active contractile components of the muscle fibers. This makes a lot of sense, but Van den Tillaar & Ettema (2010) found otherwise.
They showed that muscle activity in the prime movers was diminished during the sticky region, and proposed that a neural delay is created between the point where the muscle’s leverages diminish and where the brain ramps up muscle activation to complete the movement. We recommend using a variety of strategies to increase your ability to overcome the sticky point, which we’ll discuss later in the article.
Any serious lifter understands the importance of mental preparation before a heavy lift. Tod et al. (2005) conducted a very interesting study where they found that “psyching up” led to an 8% increase in force production compared to controls.
They also took a look at force production in a bench press when distracted and found that distracted lifters were unable to produce maximum force. A 12% difference existed between psyched up lifters and distracted lifters. This could amount to a 36-pound difference for a 300-pound bench presser!
We recommend that you save your huge psyche-ups for true max attempts and use them sparingly for optimum performance. Furthermore, we recommend that you concentrate diligently during your lifts and ditch any workout partner who likes to tell jokes or talk during your sets.
Power output during the bench press was shown to increase from 10% to 50% of 1-RM and then decrease from 50% to 90% 1-RM (Stock et al. 2010). This jibes with the findings of Siegal et al. (2002) who found optimal power loads at 40-60% of 1RM. Similarly, Jandacka & Uchytil (2011) found optimal loads at 30-50% of 1RM, while Pearson et al. (2009), found that maximum mean and peak power in the bench press occurred with loads of 53% and 50%, respectively.
Regarding tempo, Pryor et al. (2011) found that fast eccentrics with no rest in the bottom position resulted in the greatest power output gains when compared to slow eccentrics and pauses in the bottom position (something Thibs has been saying for years, which has finally been validated). We recommend using loads of around 50% of 1RM if trying to demonstrate maximum power (remember power equals force x velocity), but when trying to develop maximum power, use a variety of loads ranging from 30-100% of 1RM. For maximum power production, we also recommend incorporating bench throws, which have an optimal power load of 55% of 1RM bench press (Baker et al. 2001) and display higher levels of peak force compared to the bench press (Clark et al. 2008).
Multiple sets have been shown to be superior to single sets for strength gains in the bench press (Rhea et al. 2002).
As far as exercise order is concerned, the bench press is most often performed before exercises such as flies and dumbbell presses due to the increased total body musculature used in the barbell bench press, though all three offer similar levels of pectoral activation (Welsh et al. 2005). Rocha et al. (2007) found similar levels of pec activation between the bench press and pec deck, which lends credence to the findings of Welsh et al.
Placing the bench press first in the workout is a more ideal strategy than placing it at the end of the workout if increased bench press strength is the goal (Simao et al. 2005; Spineti et al. 2010).
As long as volume is matched, it appears that training two times per week versus three times per week or using total body routines versus split routines doesn’t make much of a difference in bench press strength gains (Candow & Burke 2007;Arazi & Asadi 2011).
Following a high-intensity workout, women recover their max bench press strength in only four hours whereas men take 48 hours to recover (Judge & Burke 2010).
For maximum bench press strength, we recommend performing a bench press variation twice per week with an emphasis on lower rep ranges and maximal and dynamic effort methods. Women seeking increased bench press strength train the lift more frequently as they don’t fatigue to the same degree as men on this exercise.
It’s common knowledge amongst lifters that for pec activation, the clavicular head (upper pecs) is recruited more during an incline press, whereas the sternocostal head is recruited better in a flat bench press. Trebs et al. (2010) found the “sweet” spot to be right at 44 degrees for upper pec activity.
Barnett et al. (1995) found that the horizontal bench press activated the most sternocostal pec muscle and triceps fibers, close grip incline press activated the most clavicular pec fibers, and military press activated the most anterior delt fibers.
Lehman (2005) showed that a supinated (reverse) grip led to higher activation in the clavicular (upper) fibers compared to a regular grip and that narrower (close) grips led to higher triceps but lower pec activation than regular grip.
Glass and Armstrong (1997) examined the level of pectoral muscle activation between the decline press and incline press. They found that the decline press activated more lower pec fibers compared to the incline press, while the level of upper pec activation was similar between both lifts.
Clemens and Aaron (1997) found the wide grip bench press worked more prime mover musculature than narrow grip in all the major muscles. For maximum hypertrophy, we recommend performing a variety of grip widths and torso angles to stimulate as many fibers as possible.
Upon analyzing injuries during flat bench press, Green and Comfort (2007) explained how shoulder abduction at 45 degrees with a medium grip offered the safest method of bench press performance for the shoulder joint. For maximum pectoral development, we recommend performing a variety of chest exercises in a variety of rep ranges.

Massey et al. (2004) examined partial range of motion (ROM) training, full ROM training, and a combination of both. They found that none of the three categories resulted in superior strength gains of full ROM bench pressing, yet interestingly the combination group saw the least results.
Regarding machine versus free weight bench pressing, Schick et al. (2010) demonstrated that Smith machine bench pressing activated less shoulder stabilizer and prime mover muscle than free weight bench pressing. Researchers have also identified that a max free-weight bench press is significantly higher than a max Smith-machine bench press (Cotterman et al. 2005).
Research by Ignjatovic (2009) indicates that measures of static strength in the bench press don’t correlate well with measures of dynamic bench pressing strength, so isometric outputs shouldn’t be used to predict a 1RM.
Duffey and Challis (2011) found that there are considerable lateral forces at play when bench pressing. They used a special bar that allowed for the measurement of vertical and lateral forces and found that the “pulling apart” force exerted on the bar equaled roughly 25% of the upward force. It appears that the muscles involved in pressing the bar upward produce considerable outward forces as well.
This helps explain why individuals can’t dumbbell press as much as they can bench press; not only is more stabilization required, but lateral forces aren’t allowable in dumbbell pressing as they’d cause the dumbbells to move away from each other, which would result in a failed lift. The fact that triceps EMG is lower during dumbbell pressing compared to barbell pressing lends support to this theory (Saeterbakken et al. 2011). Elitefts has been preaching about spreading the bar apart during the bench for years.
“Forced reps” are quite popular, especially in commercial gyms. Drinkwater et al. (2007) found no significant difference in both strength and power gains between lifters using forced repetitions and those not using forced repetitions. As for taking the training just to failure, Drinkwater et al. (2005) showed that 4 sets of 6 repetitions was superior to 8 sets of 3 repetitions for strength and power gains.
As a set progresses from first to last rep, bar speed slows down and the bar path shifts more to lifting over the shoulders rather than over the lower/middle chest area (Duffey & Challis 2007).
The bench press has an ascending strength curve, meaning that it becomes easier as the concentric range of motion rises. Elliot et al. (1989) found that bench pressing with an 81% 1RM load resulted in 48% of the lift being performed in an acceleration phase and 52% being performed in a deceleration phase. These periods of deceleration are necessary to prevent the bar from jolting the lifter upward at the termination of the lift. For this reason, amongst others, the use of variable resistance such as bands and chains are commonly used.
Bellar et al. (2011) showed that distributing the load with 15% band tension and 85% free weight tension allows for superior strength gains compared to free weights only. Burnham et al. (2010) demonstrated equal 1RM increases between chains of 5% total load and free weights only, similar to the results of McCurdy et al. (2009), who used greater proportions of chain to bar loads.
Using 15% chain load and 60% free weights for a total of 75% of 1RM, Baker and Newton (2009) found the method to be superior in enhancing concentric lifting velocity compared to using a regular 75% 1RM of free weight only. Studies suggest using 40-50% of 1RM with either chains or bands has the greatest effect on power variables (Ghigiarelli 2009). We support the use of chains and bands as the research is clear, but we feel a decent base of strength should be built before traveling down this path.
Ojasto & Hakinen (2009) found that accentuated eccentric loading as in weight-releasers was more productive for power production when using lighter loads. Specifically, they found that concentric force reduced when supramaximal eccentric loads were used before a maximal concentric rep, yet they also found that when heavier eccentric loads were used for submaximal loading, concentric power was maximized. Doan et al. (2002) showed that accentuated eccentric loads through weight-releasers with 105% loads led to subsequent increases in concentric loads of 5-15 lbs. We recommend using weight-releasers as a strategy to increase upper body pressing power while using around 70% of 1RM loads for the eccentric portion and 50% of 1RM for the concentric portion.
Concerning stable versus unstable surfaces, it’s been shown that bench pressing on unstable surfaces allows for an increase in activation of total body stabilizer muscles during the movement, and the mode of instability has the greatest effect on which areas of the body recruit more stabilizers (Norwood et al. 2007; Saeterbakken 2011).
For example, the triceps are used less but the biceps are used more during dumbbell pressing compared to barbell pressing (Saeterbakken 2011). The pectoralis major (chest) and shoulders showed similar recruitment patterns in both dumbbell versus barbell pressing (Saeterbakken 2011).
Koshida et al. (2008) demonstrated decreased peak power (10%), velocity (10%), and peak force (6%) when benching on a Swiss ball. Conversely, Goodman et al. (2008) reported no differences in 1RM strength and muscle activation during the traditional flat bench barbell press compared to the barbell Swiss ball bench press. Obviously more research is needed in this area as we doubt that elite bench pressers would be able to bench the same amount on a Swiss ball compared to a flat bench.
Santana et al. (2007) looked at the differences between a standing one-arm cable press and a traditional supine bench press and found that the barbell bench press was better for the pecs, shoulders, and erectors, whereas one-arm cable pressing was better for the lats and internal oblique. They confirmed that whole body stability and coordination were greater and thus more of a limiting factor in the standing version compared to the supine.
All types of stretching protocols for the pecs, shoulders, and triceps have been shown to have no effect on maximum bench press strength (Molacek et al. 2010). As for stretching between sets of bench press, Garcia Lopez et al. (2010) found that absolute velocity decreased when performing static stretching between sets whereas it was unaffected by ballistic stretching.
Researchers compared heavy resistance training only and combined heavy resistance training with ballistic training. The results showed greater significant increases in 1RM strength with the combined protocol compared to just heavy resistance training (Mangine et al. 2008). Wilcox et al. (2006) demonstrated that using two plyometric pushups or two light medicine ball chest passes around 30 seconds before bench press performance enhanced maximum strength acutely.

Methods for Improving Bench Press Strength

This section will discuss bench press technique and showcase methods used for strengthening various ranges of motion and variations.

Technique

Your technique will be determined by your anatomy and goals. In comparison to powerlifters, most bodybuilders don’t arch their backs as much, they flare their elbows out more, and they lower the bar higher onto their chest.
Pilot research has shown that a guillotine press with 225 pounds of resistance activates more pec musculature than a 275 pound powerlifting-style bench press. This indicates that bodybuilders know what they’re talking about when it comes to muscle activation, but it’s also very important to consider joint health. While there’s no doubt that the guillotine press is superior for pectoral activation, it’s also more dangerous for the shoulder joint.
Physiological responses to different technique options can vary. For example, some lifters can guillotine press their entire careers and never suffer any consequences. However, other lifters impinge their shoulders by simply glancing at someone performing a guillotine press.
At any rate, for higher pec activation you may choose to flare the elbows outward and lower the bar higher up on the chest, but for maximum shoulder joint safety, using a 45 degree shoulder angle is the safest bet.
Another strategy for increasing pectoral involvement and decreasing triceps’ involvement is to not “pull the bar down to your chest” by “spreading the bar apart.” Doing this will allow the pecs to contribute more to the bar deceleration than if you used your triceps on the way down.
If you simply want to decrease the force contribution from the lower body and force the upper body muscle to do the work, then eliminate the leg drive during the ascent by placing your feet flat on the ground under your knees. Be sure not to drive into the ground during the press and concentrate on using only upper body force.
Varying the grip will also shift muscular contributions during the bench press. A closer grip would use the arms and shoulders more while the wider variation receives a greater contribution of force from the pectorals. If you’d like a bit more contribution from the triceps, simply keep your elbows tucked in throughout the movement.
In the end, these strategies are not absolutes. Some lifters may not get as much of a pronounced change as others by altering their bench press technique. The reason being is that lifters present varying levels of mobility, stability, weak points, and anthropometries. Some might experience a much different pressing feeling by using a different technique while others only feeling a slight change.

If interested in maximum strength, we recommend the following:

• Don’t ignore leg drive, experiment to find the best foot position for you, create a stable base, get the quads tight, and force the knees out to activate the glutes.
• Set up onto the upper back and get a big lower back arch while “screwing” your scapulae down into the bench. Don’t lose this position during the lift off and settle the bar overhead before lowering to your chest.
• Experiment to find the best grip width for you, grip the bar as hard as possible while wrapping the bar tight with your thumb, and maintaining a neutral wrist position, and spread the bar apart throughout the lift.
• Hold a huge breath and pull the bar down with the lats, initiate the press with the lats and focus on pushing your body away from the bench. Experiment with different bar paths to find the best path for you, release your breath only after you’re passed the sticky region.
• Don’t bounce the bar off your chest or raise your butt off the bench during the lift.

Unique Methods for Improving Strength

Raw powerlifters should spend a significantly larger proportion of time focusing on bottom range bench press strength and using full range repetitions, whereas equipped powerlifters should dedicate more time building top-end strength since their bench shirts will provide tremendous elastic assistance at the bottom of the lift.

Most Important – the Standard Bench Press

If all you ever did was a standard bench press, you’d be okay. But the variations below will get you from point A to point B quicker if you train correctly.

Bottom Range Strength

In this video we showcase three different methods to increase your bottom range bench press strength:
Included are:

• Pin press from bottom range
• Bottom range yielding iso-hold
• Bottom range overcoming iso-hold

Mid Range Strength

In this video we showcase four different methods to increase your mid range bench press strength:

• Mid range yielding iso-hold
• Mid range overcoming iso-hold
• Dead-stop floor press
• Pin press from mid range

Top Range Strength

In this video we showcase eight different methods to increase your top range bench press strength:

• Floor press
• Board press (1-4)
• Pin press from top range
• Top range yielding isohold
• Top range overcoming isohold
• Reverse band
• Bench plus chains (Overloaded at top)
• Bench plus bands (Overloaded at top)

Eccentric Strength

In this video we show you two different ways to overload the eccentric/negative/lowering phase:

• Negative accentuated
• Weight releasers

Stability

In this video we provide five methods for improving stability in a bench press:

• Chain stability press
• Kettlebell stability press
• Dumbbell press
• Alternating dumbbell press
• One-arm dumbbell press

Weak Links and Variety

This video details several different variations that can and should be employed during various phases throughout the year:

• Speed bench
• Speed bench with chains
• Speed bench with bands
• Close grip bench press
• Wide grip bench press
• High incline press
• Mid incline press
• Low incline press
• Decline press
• Narrow neutral grip bar
• Wide neutral grip bar
• Thick bar

Conclusion

Many bodybuilders train the bench press once per week during their chest day with large amounts of volume. Many powerlifters train the bench press movement twice per week — once with maximal loads, and once with maximum power outputs.
This is a good place to start, but all bodybuilders and powerlifters should experiment with form, variations, frequency, volume, and intensity to figure out what works best for them.
Generally, most lifters can handle two bench sessions per week. For hypertrophy purposes, perhaps one session per week focusing on the bench press and another focusing on the close-grip incline press is ideal. For maximum strength, perhaps one session per week focusing on the bench press and another focusing on the board press is ideal.
For hypertrophy purposes, we recommend a variety of rep ranges ranging from 3 x 10 to 10 x 3, ascending pyramids to descending pyramids, cluster sets to drop sets.
For max strength, we recommend staying under 5 reps and getting comfortable performing maximum singles. It’s critical that you use good form to stay healthy over the long run, rotate variations to prevent pattern-overload and habituation, and consistently add load to the bar every year.
As far as the myriad of methods and variations shown in this article, don’t be a jackass and try to do everything at once. The guy who ignores all the crazy methods and variations and focuses on straight sets of the standard bench press is usually much stronger than the douchebag who tries to perform every variation and method in existence. Every few weeks pick a new focus, and then rotate to a different focus.
Attention should be dedicated toward strengthening the shoulder external rotators and scapula retractors for structural balance. Exercises such as L-flies, band no-moneys, cable external rotation, face pulls, rear delt raises with scapular retraction, one arm rows, seated rows, one arm cable rows, chest supported rows, and inverted rows are very important to prevent negative postural adaptations and prevent future shoulder injuries.
Furthermore, push ups and overhead pressing and pulling help keep the scapulae working properly, which is vital long-term benching prowess, so don’t ignore them, either.
If you’re trying to maximize the functional transfer of your bench press and improve your athleticism, we recommend supplementing your existing program with JC Band presses, which will strengthen the hips and core to allow for more carryover, along with explosive work such as med-ball chest passes and plyo pushups, which will increase explosive power and reactive strength.
Of course having strong legs and hips through squatting, deadlifting, hip thrusting, and sled work will also go a long way in increasing your horizontal pushing power and will ensure that your upper body pressing transfer isn’t limited by weaknesses and energy leaks down the kinetic chain.
We hope you enjoyed the history lesson, the literature review, and the videos. Now get to it!

To say I’m a workaholic is like saying Tiger Woods has commitment issues. Through all the lifting, training, reading, and researching that I do, I’m constantly being exposed to and coming up with new ideas.
This column will introduce T Nation readers to just some of what I happen to stumble upon every day, in no particular order of importance. The typical lifter, athlete, personal trainer, strength coach, or physical therapist is bound to find something useful in this article.

1. Low Load Glute Activation is Legit

One thing I love about T Nation is that often the best coaches in the world are years ahead of the research. You might remember Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey writing about glute activation as early as 2004. I can remember thinking, “Why in the hell would I do some silly Jane Fonda exercises?”
When other top coaches including Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle, and Martin Rooney started recommending glute activation, I could no longer ignore their advice. I got down on the floor and got my bridge, clam, and bird dog on and immediately recognized the potential in these simple movement patterns.
And thus began a love affair unparalleled by any other. Some guys have pictures of their girlfriend on their nightstand. Me? A picture of some glutes with a bouquet of roses stuck in-between the cheeks.
Kidding. But I do keep my eyes and ears open for new glute research. Case in point:
Australian researchers recently put 22 professional Australian Football League (AFL) players through three different warm-up protocols:

• Standing on a whole body vibration platform for 45 seconds at 30 Hz.
• A 5-7 minute, 7-glute exercise routine consisting of glute bridges, side lying clams, quadruped hip extensions, side lying hip abductions, prone single leg hip extensions, fire hydrants, and stability ball wall squats.
• A control group.

The researchers found that during a countermovement jump, the whole body vibration group fared 2.4%worse than the control group, while the glute activation group outperformed the control group in peak power by 4.2%, along with outperforming the whole body vibration group by 6.6% (Buttifant et al. 2011.).

My conclusion is that you’d be wise to include some low load glute activation work in your warm-ups. Remember, the purpose of glute activation isn’t to “rep-out” or “max-out,” but to groove proper motor patterns and focus on getting the glutes working efficiently. Ten high-quality repetitions of each exercise is all you need.

2. Cue the Glutes!

Speaking of glute activation, Cara Lewis and Shirley Sahrmann tested the gluteal activation of a prone hip extension exercise (Lewis and Sahrmann 2009). They showed that compared to no cueing, simply uttering the phrase, “Use your glutes to lift your leg while keeping your hamstrings relaxed,” resulted in over double the gluteus maximus activation and caused the gluteus maximus to fire quicker in hip extension.
Based on my experience as a trainer, most beginners suck at using their glutes. It’s important to remind individuals over and over to use their glutes until it becomes automatic.

3. Lifters vs. Weaklings – Lumbopelvic Rhythm

After a couple of months of training with me, my clients always tell me that their backs feel stronger and better than ever. Is it due to increased hip mobility, or is it core stability? Maybe it’s just increased glute strength? Perhaps it’s due to improved fundamental movement patterns? Or is it a case of all of the above?
In his book Low Back Disorders, Stu McGill discusses the mythical lumbopelvic rhythm pattern explained in textbooks – supposedly the first 60° of bending is accomplished by flexing the lumbar spine while the remaining flexion takes place at the hips (McGill page 74). While most individuals bend with a blend of spinal, pelvic, and hip motion, weightlifters possess unique movement patterns at the hip. Stu states that:

Of course, Olympic weightlifters are better at hip hinging than normal individuals, but the importance of this information is that the movement patterns developed in the weight room transfer over to everyday life.Master the hip hinge first and everything else seems to fall into place.
Here’s my man Tony Gentilcore demonstrating proper hip hinge patterning with a dowel.

4. Powerlifters vs. Olympic Weightlifters – Hip and Knee Moments During Squatting Tasks

Swedish researchers measured the hip and knee moments of six powerlifters and eight Olympic weightlifters during parallel and deep squats (Wretenberg et al. 1996). The results were intriguing: during deep squats powerlifters exhibited 41% higher hip extension moments and 37% less knee extension moments compared to weighlifters, and during parallel squats the powerlifters exhibited 43% higher hip extension moments and 42% less knee extension moments than weightlifters.
This study shows that during squatting tasks, powerlifters use a low-bar position, sit back more, and use their powerful hips to a greater degree than weightlifters, whereas weightlifters use a high-bar position, stay more upright, and use their powerful knee joints to a greater degree than powerlifters.
Maximum sports performance requires strong hips and knees so it’s wise to rotate between different types of squats throughout the year, including low bar parallel, box, front, and high bar full squat variations.

5. Bench Press and Lateral Forces on the Bar

Wonder why the bench press elicits more triceps activity than a dumbbell bench press? A new study out of Penn State showed that the lateral forces exerted on the bar equaled roughly 25% of the vertical forces (Duffey and Challis 2011).
Ten men and eight women were tested in the bench press and the total vertical forces totaled on average 187 pounds of force whereas the lateral forces applied to the bar totaled on average 53 pounds of force. With these proportions, a 600-pound bench presser would be exerting around 150 pounds of outward pressure on the bar throughout the movement.
If you’ve listened to Dave Tate over the years and learned to use your triceps while benching, chances are your lateral forces are even higher than 25% of the vertical forces.
This extra work is simply a byproduct of the prime mover’s maximal contractions against the barbell – which isn’t possible with the dumbbell bench press as the dumbbells would split apart and result in a failed lift.

6. Elite Fitness Glute Ham Raise

I’ve traveled the world and performed glute ham raises with over twenty different glute ham developers. In a nutshell, 99% of glute ham developers suck. Instead of feeling smooth, the lift usually feels awkward and unproductive.
That is, unless you have an Elitefts glute ham raise. If you’ve never performed a glute ham raise off of an Elifefts model, then you can’t possibly imagine the exercise’s effectiveness, as chances are the one you’re using pales in comparison.
Sometimes I wonder if equipment manufacturers even work out or understand biomechanics. Big props to Elitefts for spending the necessary time getting the design right.

7. Crunch Like This

Research out of Stanford University from 1979 showed that a sit-up exhibited 38 degrees of lumbar flexion, but a crunch where only the scapulae are lifted off the ground exhibited only 3 degrees of lumbar flexion (Halpern and Bleck 1979).
Given that the lumbar spine has between 40-73 degrees of ROM in males and 40-68 degrees of ROM in females (Troke et al. 2005), I think it’s safe to say that this type of crunch remains in the neutral zone for the lumbar spine.
If you limit the lumbar ROM and use a controlled tempo, it makes the exercise much more challenging and you’ll no longer be able to bust out hundreds of repetitions.
Start from a slightly hyperextended position by using a rolled up towel, ab mat, or stability ball. Raise the torso to only around 30° of trunk flexion, moving mostly in the thoracic spine. Control the tempo and accentuate the negative portion of the exercise. I discuss this further in the video below:

To prevent hyperkyphotic postural adaptations in the thoracic spine, make sure you perform thoracic mobility drills and include plenty of exercises to strengthen the erectors.
For example, some mobility drills include thoracic extensions off a foam roller and quadruped thoracic extension and rotation, while some strength training exercises include squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, and farmer’s walks.

8. Four to Six Weeks to Harden Up

When I was 18 years old, I was in the gym quarter-squatting 275 pounds with a pad around the bar. A giant behemoth of a man walked up behind me and told me to back down to 135 and squat down deep to the floor like a real man and quit using the pussy pad. Thankfully I took his advice and never looked back.
I can remember using the bar pad because squatting freakin’ hurt my back. The pressure was overwhelming. After ditching the bar pad, it took around four weeks to stop hurting.
When I started front squatting, the same scenario occurred – it hurt. But I stuck with it and a month later I could no longer feel any pain. Zercher squats took a bit longer to quit hurting – around six weeks – as did hook grip deadlifts. Just recently I started hip thrusting without a bar pad and it hurt like hell. I’ve been doing this for a month and it no longer hurts.
The take home message is, the more frequently you perform the lifts, the quicker your nervous system will become densensitized to the stimuli. So man up and fight through the discomfort. Just remember, what seems like torture today in a month will feel like a hot oil massage from a pair of busty Asian masseuses. I kid you not.

9. Resistance Training vs. Stretching for Flexibility Gains

Many long-term lifters have noticed that they don’t have to stretch much to maintain their flexibility. Fact is, many of us have noted superior flexibility gains from weight training compared to stretching.
In the past few years, several studies have emerged showing that resistance training increases flexibility (Monteiro et al. 2008; Santos et al. 2010). This isn’t surprising, but some have shown resistance training protocols to be just as effective or even more effective in terms of flexibility gains when compared to stretching protocols (Aquino et al. 2010, Simao et al. 2010; Morton et al. 2011; Nelson and Bandy 2004).
I’m a fan of doing all sorts of things for improved mobility and soft tissue functioning such as foam rolling and static stretching. But know that full range of motion resistance training is one of the best things you can do to increase and maintain mobility.
Just make sure your programs are well-designed, as structural balance is critical for postural and functional adaptations. To add icing on the cake, make sure you foam roll, stretch, and perform mobility and activation drills.

10. Broz Mentality – The “Shoot Your Family” Scenario

I’m a big John Broz fan. When I met him at his Las Vegas facility he said something that really hit home. He told me to envision someone capturing my family and informing me that they were going to shoot all of them unless I put a hundred pounds on my squat in one month. Then he asked me how often I would squat if this actually happened, and followed up with this gem: “Something tells me you’d squat more than twice per week.”
I like to think of this scenario for a variety of purposes in strength and conditioning. What if you had to put an inch on your arms in one month without gaining any weight? Something tells me you’d perform some curls and triceps extensions. What if you needed your abs to be the strongest they ever were? Something tells me you’d perform dynamic spinal movements and not just core stability exercises.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and perhaps picked up something useful you can use in your own training.
In summary:

• Activate the glutes
• Learn to sit back and hinge properly at the hips
• Learn to use the triceps properly for maximum bench press performance
• Buy an Elitefts glute ham developer if you want a real GHD
• Limit your lumbar ROM when you crunch
• Know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for dealing with pain from barbell pressure on new movements as they only take a month or so to get accustomed to
• Perform full ROM resistance training for maximum flexibility
• Pick a new goal each month and attack it with purpose.

See you next month!

References