This Mistake Will RUIN All Your Lifts!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Want to improve every one of your lifts with one fix? Make sure you're doing this. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 05/27/23)

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This Bench Press Fix is a Game-Changer

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Did that last rep of your bench press set actually count? Let’s find out.

Movement Standards or “Who Am I Kidding?”
In last week’s article, we discussed a movement standard for the press. Specifically, the knees have to remain straight – if the knees bend, it’s no longer a press (as you just accidentally performed a push press), so the rep doesn’t count.

Likewise, in the squat, there’s a movement standard. Get your hip crease below the top of your patella at the bottom of the squat. If you didn’t do that, you didn’t squat – you just performed a curtsey with a barbell on your back.

That’s weird, so make sure you hit depth.

Not surprisingly, there are movement standards in the bench press as well. Of course, the barbell has to touch your chest at the bottom of the rep, and you have to lock out your arms at the top of the rep.

However, many people forget – or are simply unaware – that your butt has to stay in contact with the bench throughout the entire rep.

If your keister comes up off of the bench (Figure 1), the rep doesn’t count, and it’s easy to make this mistake by using the legs incorrectly when benching.

Figure 1: Mike mistakenly lifts his butt up off of the bench . . . this is no good.

Leg Drive in the Bench Press
Executed properly, use of the legs creates stability and supports your arch. To do this, you endeavor to drive your body up the bench (in the direction of your head). You don’t slide in that direction, of course, because the bar is pinning your shoulders down to the bench, but the act of attempting to drive your body up the bench gives increased lateral stability (since you’re utilizing a roughly squat-width stance), a supported arch, and a certain amount of compression and therefore rigidity in your torso.

When people lift their butt up off of the bench, however, they are accidentally using their legs to drive their bodies vertically upward instead of horizontally “up the bench.”

The Solution
To fix this, drive your feet diagonally forward and down into the ground. You don’t drive your feet entirely downward as this will cause you to bridge your hips up off of the bench, and you can’t drive your feet entirely forward as they would simply slide across the floor.

figure 2: Mike correctly keeps his hips in contact with the bench . . . much better.

Thus, you push your feet diagonally into the floor, and in doing so, you’ll provide the horizontal “up the bench” drive you’re looking for without accidentally lifting your butt up off of the bench.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

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Ain't Nothing Worse than a Slippery Bench!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/
Braveheart meme2.jpeg

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/24/21)

If you’re dealing with a bench that has a slippery surface, this is a situation that needs to be remedied.

We use our legs on the bench press as they provide lateral stability and support our arch, but we can only effectively drive up the bench with our legs if our shoulders are firmly pinned to the bench itself. In other words, sliding up the bench is not what we want, so if you’re training on a bench that’s a bit slick, this is a problem. Below are a few solutions, and if you don’t feel like reading, you can watch our videos on this topic instead.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Option 1
Take a couple of strength bands (AKA resistance bands) and place one (lengthwise) around each side of the bench as shown in Figure 1. The bands will stick to the bench quite nicely, and you, in turn, will stick to the bands quite nicely. Since many commercial gyms have these bands, this can be a handy solution if you’re training at a commercial gym while traveling.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Option 2
Find and buy a non-slip rug pad (or non-slip shelf liner). A 2 ft x 4 ft section should be more than sufficient, and you can get something in this size for under $10. Simply place the rug pad on the bench as shown in Figure 2, and you now have a very grippy bench on which to train.

This is probably my favorite option as it’s flexible, rolls up easily and compactly, and is therefore easy to bring with you in your training bag.

Option 3
If Options 1 and 2 aren’t available for whatever reason, you can substitute a yoga mat for the rug pad listed in Option 2. Most commercial gyms have something like this lying around. It will be a bit on the wide side, but it will usually get the job done.

Option 4
There are a few companies out there that manufacture shirts with grippy sections of material. These are designed to help keep the bar secure on your back when squatting as well as keep you in place on the bench when benching. A7 is one such company, but you can simply google “bench grip shirt” or “bar grip shirt” to find other options. I don’t have any personal experience with these types of shirts, but I’ve heard excellent reviews from those I know who train with them.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

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STOP Doing This!! Your Shoulders are DESTROYING Your Bench Press

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Your shoulders might be ruining your bench press, and if they are, you probably aren’t aware of it.

There are two potential mistakes in this scenario, so let’s identify and fix them quickly.

Mistake #1: Lack of Shoulder Retraction
You don’t want shoulder protraction when setting up to bench, i.e., you don’t want your shoulders pulled forward (Figure 1).

figure 1: mike demonstrates the incorrect position of shoulder protraction (i.e. ,shoulders forward).

Instead, you need to pull your shoulders back, and more specifically, you want to pull them back as if you’re trying to grip the bench with your shoulders and down as if you’re trying to touch your scapulas to your butt (Figure 2).

Pull them back and down before you unrack the barbell and do it again before you start your first rep as you may have lost a bit of positioning during the unracking process.

figure 2: mike demonstrates the correct shoulder positioning: shoulders back and down.

Finally, pull them back and down yet again before every succeeding rep in case you lose some shoulder positioning when you lock out the previous rep.

When you think “pull the shoulders back and down,” remind yourself to drive with your legs and lift your chest as this helps with the down aspect of the cue.

Compared to a position of shoulder protraction (i.e., shoulders forward) as shown in Figure 1, you are now putting your shoulders in a stronger, safer position as shown in Figure 2. You get a wider base of support on the bench, and pulling the shoulders back and lifting the chest also shortens the range of motion a bit.

The range of motion that is lost when retracting the shoulders is an artificial, unstable range of motion (akin to squatting up on your toes), so eliminating that artificial portion of the lift is useful indeed.

Mistake #2: Popping the Shoulders at Lockout
At the end of each rep, you should maintain shoulder retraction, but many lifters allow their shoulders to come out of retraction - the shoulders pop up off the bench a bit and are thus in a poor position to start the next rep.

To fix this, remind yourself to “finish the rep under control.”

You can also cue yourself to “lockout only with your elbows.” In other words, you are cueing yourself to bench only with your elbows with no shoulder involvement. This is an overcue, of course, as the shoulders are heavily involved in the bench press, but the cue often proves very useful.

Finally, you can cue yourself to “finish the rep with short arms.” The arms need to be straight at lockout, of course, but the bar will be several inches farther away from your chest at lockout with shoulders protracted than with shoulders retracted, so you are simply reminding yourself to finish with the bar as close to you as possible (again, with straight arms).

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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10 Bench Press Pro Tips ("Don't Bench Vertically" and more)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

The bench press looks simple—but small mistakes can hold your numbers back for years. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 10 practical tips, including why you shouldn’t bench vertically.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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How Many Lifters Are Actually Using the Wrong Grip on Bench Press and Press?

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Are you using the right grip on the bench press and press? Many lifters aren’t—and it’s costing them strength and consistency. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers gives you the grip that sets you up for stronger, more effective lifts.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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