The hardest part about power and strength training is making sure you are always getting stronger. Many may think it is simply getting use to moving a particular weight until it gets easy enough to go up in weight.
This is so not the case.
Power and strength training is much more intricate and detailed than many may think. It is form, posture, technique, and breaking down that 1 rep to see where the flaws lie so you can attack them and get stronger!
Maybe the most popular movement in the gym is the bench press. Everyone wants to push a lot of weight on here. Power lifters of course are no different. Being one of the 3 big lifts when it comes to competitions (deadlifts and squats are the other two), a weak bench can make or break you in competition.
One needs to observe their rep. Check the form and technique. Bench press involves numerous muscles as well that also need to be developed to move a good chunk of weight. When we lift weights, we have what is called a “sticking point”. This is the weakest point in the rep. This weak point is based on the individual but can be attacked and overcome. Many people looking to increase their bench press never attack their sticking-point so the entire rep is in a sense flawed.
Go get you a bench press board.
Depending on the size of the board, this is an awesome way to find your sticking point and attack it by overloading the weak area and training it, not around it. The board simply rests on the chest and bar is brought down to the board (not the chest) and then max effort is used to push the weight back up to a lock out position.
Along with helping out with increasing/fixing sticking point strength, bench press boards help with:
- Tricep development
- Confidence
- Rehabilitation
- Working on particular parts of the bench movement/rep
As noted, the board come in different forms and sizes. To keep it simple, bench press boards in general go from a 1 board all the way up to a 5 board. The higher up the board, the more the shoulders become involved for stability. If you want to save on the shoulders and not do a full press, use a 1 or a 2 board.
There is much more involved than just pushing a heck of a lot of weight 1 time. A bench press board will help increase your bench press and help out with muscle development in other parts of the body.
Tackling weaknesses, not strengths, is the secret to getting stronger in the gym, and in life.
