Tag: training

How to Get a Bigger Bench Press – The 666 Bench Workout

Every lifter wants to add some serious numbers to their bench press. The bench press, while seeming like a simple exercise, is one of the most technique-heavy movements anyone can do. But this 666 workout is the key to busting through your plateau and making some real gains!

Why is it that whenever I’m in a gym I see people benching the same weight at each workout?  It usually goes like this...

 A person performs a few reps at 185 pounds then at 205, and maybe 225 and then they get stuck.  At this point the individual moves to another exercise, most likely the incline bench, and does the same kind of thing.  You would think that after a year the weight they can bench would be through the roof, but unfortunately they haven’t seen continued improvement because most people don’t know how to maximize their strength training capacity.  They don’t know how to initiate progression. The potential for increasing muscle size just isn’t being met.

Though we, at SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING, have different bench routines for each of our athletes, the one I want to outline here is a favorite because it helps the athlete gain not only strength, but also size.

So, how do you get a bigger Bench press?

Basically the workout consists of 6 sets of 6 reps but with drop sets.  Of course, after finishing this workout, many of our athletes feel like their body has been to hell and back!  

Here’s how the program works from a physiological standpoint.  An important factor to consider when working to increase strength and muscle size is to maximize motor unit activation.  To better understand this, think of your body as containing a pool of motor units. By performing the 666 bench workout, which consists of lifting at, or near, maximum capacity, you would activate almost all of those motor units.  The type of motor units we are aiming to recruit are the “fast twitch” or the type IIb muscle fibers.  Fast twitch fibers are associated with high threshold motor units and are evidenced by power, speed and explosiveness.   SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING encourages their athletes to recruit the fast twitch fibers because this optimizes the most potential for building both strength and size.  And who doesn’t want to have a bigger bench press?

The 666 workout is also an effective tool when used to build up the legs, but for now let’s look at increasing bench performance.

About Tempo: Tempo refers to speed of   movement. The first number represents the speed, in seconds, when lowering the weight or letting it down with gravity. The second number refers to the pause between lowering and raising. The third number refers to the speed of raising the weight.

For an example, look at the chin-up tempo. The tempo is 211; therefore the athlete would lift himself up over the bar in one second, pause for one second and then lower himself for 2 seconds.

For the most efficient workout SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING pairs exercises together.  For instance, you would do A1 immediately followed by A2 as the first pairing, and then repeat until all sets have been completed.  At this point move on to B1 and B2 and follow the same pattern.

Here are a few tips to get a bigger bench press:

Three different grips are used for bench work:  Differing the grip and varying the load, increases muscle tension and motor unit activation. By varying the grip you maximize muscle recruitment thus increasing the potential to build muscle mass.

How the rep scheme is broken down: SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING recommends starting with a weight that is near your maximum ability for one rep. Lift this weight for 2 reps. Wait 15 seconds then use a weight that is 5 to 10% less and perform a single rep at maximum tension.  Repeat with this weight until you have completed 6 reps in total.

Alternate bench work with chin-ups/pull-ups: Research has shown that by working opposite muscle groups overall strength is improved in the most beneficial manner. Perform all 6 reps of chins and pull-ups at the same time with no rest in between reps. When you are able to perform all 6 reps with ease add more weight.

It is important to rest between sets: There is a 15 second rest between reps when doing bench lifts which allows the body to recover and to recruit maximum motor units for every lift.  By lifting in this manner, the athlete is able to tap into the higher threshold motor units.  By using the maximum tension in every lift, you can expect to make tremendous gains in strength and start to build up size. 

This Bench press workout is demanding but the results are well worth the effort.  Perform your workout once every 4 - 5 days for a month and let me know what you think.

Increase your Bench Press by up to 40 lbs in 12 weeks! GUARANTEED

Click Below for your  “Tips to get a bigger bench press!”

Click Here

Larry Jusdanis is the owner of Sports Specific Training Inc. and has trained thousands of athletes from a variety of sports ranging from your Weekend Warrior to the Professional. 

If you would like more information about SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING please visit our website at www.Sst.training

Our favorite Recovery Techniques for Athletes!

The foundation on which all success is built for any athlete, is strong muscles. Without them, it is impossible for athletes to achieve the highest level of performance in their chosen Sport.

One of the biggest obstacles to improving strength and increasing athletic performance is muscle recovery, the process in which muscles receive nutrients and repair themselves after intense use. While some recovery time will always be necessary for human muscles, there are a few muscle recovery techniques for athletes that are designed to minimize the amount of downtime that the muscles require. This means that an athlete has more time to spend improving their skills at their chosen sport.

Stretching Intensity

Stretching is among the best muscle recovery techniques because it improves the flow of blood to the muscles that are being stretched. In this way, it speeds up the recovery process by allowing the muscles to more readily receive the nutrients they need.

Both static and dynamic stretching are beneficial!

Get Enough Rest

Although many competitive athletes aren’t fond of the idea of limiting their activity, adequately resting muscles that are being worked out is one of the most critical muscle recovery techniques for athletes. When the body is asleep, it goes through several important processes that repair muscle tissue and restores balance to the rest of the body. Sleep is especially important for those athletes who want to improve their muscle mass; some medical specialists believe that a lack of sleep can actually contribute to the loss of muscle mass, based on the hormonal changes that occur while a person is asleep.

Even the most elite athletes in the world do not neglect their sleep. Tennis legend Roger Federer is known to sleep between ten and twelve hours a night, as does basketball star LeBron James. In late 2014 it was reported that NFL quarterback Tom Brady, goes to bed at 8:30 PM each night to make sure he can get enough sleep to wake up early and work on his skills.

Improving Blood Flow

The nutrients contained in the body’s blood are important because they eventually get sent to muscles that are recovering, allowing them to begin the process of restoring muscle fibers to make them stronger than they were before. Without sufficient blood flow, muscles will not receive these important building blocks, ultimately limiting their growth. Some of the muscle recovery techniques for athletes that can help contribute to blood flow include stretching and maintaining a diet of healthy foods that do not contribute to blocked arteries or veins.

Getting a Massage

Many athletes get massages frequently to alleviate tense muscles, so their bodies feel better and don’t give them as much pain. Receiving a massage can be one of the best muscle recovery techniques for athletes because it helps make the biological process of muscle recovery more efficient. In a post on The New York Times’ blog entitled Well, scientific research showed that people who received a massage had lower levels of cytokines, a compound that causes inflammation, and higher levels of mitochondria activity, which helps convert glucose into the energy that is important for cell repair.

Remember, if you are an athlete looking for recovery through massage, you don’t need to go to a professional each and every time. Learning a few different massage techniques and applying them yourself after a workout or competition can help you get many of the great benefits of massage without having to make an appointment with a massage therapist. There are plenty of massage products on the market as well, which are designed to work specific areas.

Drinking Enough Water

Water is important for many of our bodily functions; it is no wonder, when you consider that most scientists agree that the average adult human body is 55 to 60% water. While most athletes already know that staying hydrated is important during performance or training sessions, some may forget that drinking water is one of the best muscle recovery techniques for athletes today. This is because drinking water helps fill up the cells and prevent them from falling victim to protein synthesis. Hydration is also important for facilitating digestion, so that the body can receive all of the nutrients that are needed for proper recovery. Water helps contribute to a healthy digestive process.

The standard suggestion for water consumption each day is 64 ounces or about half a gallon. However, some athletes may need to drink more than that to be adequately hydrated. A good tip for drinking enough water each day is to take a reusable water bottle with you to work or school so that you can space out your water drinking and maintain hydration throughout the day. Use your urine as an indicator of hydration… if its clear then you’re getting enough but if its yellow or dark you need to step it up!

Consuming Coconut Products

Why are coconuts considered valuable to the muscle recovery process? There are a few common reasons why coconut-based drinks and foods have become so popular with today’s athletic community. First, coconut products contain compounds known as medium-chain triglycerides, which are fats that the body can absorb into the bloodstream more easily than other types. This makes it an ideal form of fuel for the muscle recovery process.

Coconut water is becoming a popular alternative to traditional sports drinks for athletes, because of its effectiveness at restoring hydration after a workout. Coconut water contains electrolytes and plenty of potassium, which means that it is one of the best muscle recovery techniques for athletes who want to reduce their downtime between workouts. Many athletes have decided to stop drinking the traditional sports drinks on the market in favor of coconut-based juices and water drinks.

Rolling Your Muscles

Rolling your muscles is a great way to release tension in your body by removing knots in areas like the legs, arms, and sides. This can be done with a specialized foam roller, a medicine ball, or other similar devices that are meant to move easily along the muscles. There are different kinds of techniques employed for muscle rolling depending on the areas and specific muscles that need to be rolled.

When you roll your muscles, it results in better flexibility and less painful movement of the muscles in question, because you break up tightness and knots that cause stiffness and pain. Muscle rolling is one of the great muscle recovery techniques for athletes because it helps restore range of motion and eliminate the tightness and pain that often comes with inflammation as a result of intense competitions or training sessions. Muscle rolling is also a good recovery technique because it gives you more control over the specific areas that you target for recovery, which can provide highly effective relief.

3 Reasons Why Bench Press and Baseball Don’t Mix

Bench Press and Baseball are like Oil and Water; they do not mix.

Working with mainly male, High School and College age, Baseball players, I get a lot of grief about not including Bench Press in programs. Especially, when they see the Football and Hockey players doing it.

When I ask them why they want to bench press so badly I get answers such as; “it’s fun”, “I like lifting heavy” and my personal favourite, “it looks cool”.

It is widely accepted in the baseball world that the reward of getting strong on Bench Press is outweighed by the risk the exercise poses to the shoulders and elbows. My exclusion of Bench Press is not because I want to keep you from ‘looking cool’ at the gym. There are specific and scientifically proven and accepted reasons as to why overhead athletes should avoid this exercise.

Hopefully, this blog will also reach some of the NCAA college programs down south. It BOGGLES my mind when Baseball players in Division 1 Baseball programs come back with Bench Press in their strength programs! No, I am not kidding. It happens…all the time…

Here are 3 reasons Baseball athletes should avoid Bench Press:

  1. It Exacerbates Negative Adaptations Acquired from Throwing

When you throw thousands of baseballs every year there are a few things that typically happen to the body:

  • Increased glenohumeral (shoulder) external rotation
  • Decreased glenohumeral (shoulder) internal rotation
  • Decreased elbow extension
  • Decreased scapular (shoulder blade) upward rotation
  • Decline in the quality of the tissues surrounding the shoulder girdle
  • Abnormal spinal curvature (usually in the thoracic and lumbar areas)
  • Decreased hip mobility

In laymen’s terms:

  • Your shoulder gets loose in the front
  • Tight in the back
  • Elbow doesn’t straighten all the way
  • Your shoulder blade doesn’t move well
  • The tissue around your shoulder is gritty
  • Your spine it hyperextended
  • And your hips don’t move

Not a pretty picture. And how does Bench Press help this situation…

IT DOESN’T!

Bench Press actually causes stresses to the body that are extremely similar to those found during a throwing motion:

  • Spinal extension
  • Scap retraction and depression
  • Humeral (upper arm) movement without scaps
  • Heavy loads placed on the shoulder girdle

In any sport we use the off-season to re-establish proper movement patterns and mobility, give our arm/shoulder time to rest and correct instabilities and dysfunctions. So why would we want to perform an exercise that does not allow this to occur and can actually exacerbate these dysfunctions?!

Much of exercise selection for athletes comes down to a risk vs. reward. Is the reward (strength gains) worth the risk the exercise places on my athletes? When it comes to Baseball players and Bench Press the risk FAR outweighs the benefits.

  1. There is Little Direct Transfer to Playing Baseball

Another factor in exercise selection is specificity to the sport. Does this exercise mimic anything the athlete is doing while they are playing? To decide this we need to look two things:

  1. The plane of movement of the exercise
  2. Where the movement falls on the force-velocity curve.

Research shows us that power development is highly plane-specific. Meaning that many traditional sagittal plane power movements (vertical movements such as; jumps, sprints, cleans, snatches) have little transfer into throwing. Frontal and transverse plane movements (lateral and rotational) have much more correlation (skaters, medball throws and banded rotations). So, while Bench Press may be a great exercises for an athlete in shot put or kayaking it has little use for a Baseball athlete.

Thanks to our hunting ancestors, humans have mastered the throwing motion. And it has been widely recognized that pitching is the fastest articulated motion a human can produce! This puts throwing a ball at the velocity end of the force-velocity curve. It is a very light load moved incredibly fast. Whereas the Bench Press movement is at the other end; a heavy load moved slowly. The movement is too removed from any movement that occurs in Baseball and therefore, will have little impact on performance.

 

  1. The “Meat Head” Factor

Let’s go back to the reason’s my Baseball athletes give for wanting to Bench Press:

  • It’s fun
  • I like to lift heavy
  • It looks cool

People (especially young, hormone driven males) have a tendency to overestimate their strength capabilities while Bench Pressing. I have done it myself and I have seen countless others do it as well.

 

If my number one goal as a Strength Coach is to keep my athletes healthy and second goal is to improve their performance then I need to choose exercises that are going to keep their inner meat head at bay!

Bench Press done with heavy loads and poor technique can put their most prized possession, their shoulder, in a very vulnerable position. Yes, people will argue that any exercise done with high load carries risk. However, a failed rep in a Push-up has less risk than Bench Press. Risk vs. reward!

“So, watch your athletes and make sure they use proper technique”.

Okay, valid point. However, have you ever tried to coach multiple athletes at one time? Even on my best day it is impossible to see EVERYTHING on the gym floor. And any coach that tells you different is lying.

As a coach I have to pick exercises that are self-limiting, safe and effective, whether I am watching them every second or not. This can mean different things for different sports, positions and individuals. Hence, why I may program Bench Press for a Football athlete versus a Baseball athlete. Have I mentioned risk vs. reward yet?!

The exclusion of the bench press in our baseball programs goes beyond “it’s dangerous for your shoulders.” Even if coached and performed perfectly, our athletes won’t get as much transfer from it as they would from other pressing exercises.

Check back for Part 2 of this Blog where we discuss pressing exercises that are much better suited to baseball players and other overhead athletes!

Email Bskinner@sstcanada.com to book your personal training sessions and shake off quarantine!

Are You Explosive Enough In Your Sport?

One of the most important aspects of training an athlete is plyometrics. It is crucial in making an athlete more explosive. Here is the key piece with Plyo’s with young kids. They are great but an athlete needs to be assessed before to correct all of their deficiencies. If an athlete is not strong it is very hard to make them explosive. It’s a very simple equation, you must be strong before you can be explosives. Here are my three favorite plyometric exercises!

Box Jump:

Everyone does this! It’s a great way to train jumping! Here is my biggest tips with regards to box jumps. The landing is the most important part. The landing needs to be soft and you shouldn’t hear it. If you can hear the landing make the box smaller and land soft. One way to spice up box jumps is too jump out of a seated position! My personal favorite way to take this drill to the nest level is to make the athlete jump on que, that’s the way sport is played; very rarely do you get to pick and choose when you want to react!

Depth Jump:

This is an awesome one for young athletes but also older athletes. This is so important on training not only plyometric strength and isometric strength. This exercise allows you not only to learn how to land which is so important, but it teaches your body how to take a load through the ground which is important. One cool way to do a depth jump is to add a box jump too it. Have a player jump off a box take the load thru the ground, then jump up into the air!

4 Dot Drill:

My personal favorite! This drill is basically 4 dots on a mat, and the athletes will jump in different directions from dot to dot. The best way to do this drill is in short bursts, 5-10 seconds. You can make this drill harder by changing the way the athletes faces during the drill, flipping his hips during the drill. My biggest tip for this drill is to make sure the athletes keeps his or her eyes up. You can make them focus on some sort of visual cue!

Plyo’s are so important to creating an all around great athlete. But like I previously stated, young athletes need to be “strong” before we worry about Plyo’s!

Email Bskinner@sstcanada.com to schedule a free demo session or to ask about out vertical jump program or our strength and conditioning programs.

Using The Gym To Mentally Prepare For Competition.

One the biggest problems with young athletes today is that they don’t know how to completely focus all the time. You can also see it during their competitions. Athletes get out of place or don’t react fast enough because they didn’t see something or couldn’t see something because it was happening to fast for them. Here are three tips to use to increase an athlete’s focus!

Eliminate Technology In the Gym; Athletes and people are way too reliant on technology. When athletes lift, they should not be on their phones. It should not be used in between sets. They do not have cases to their phones during their competition, so don’t let them use a phone during training. When athletes are resting during sets, I teach them how to breath and give them a skill they can us on the field of competition. This is a learned skill set that can be practiced instead of being on a phone.

Quiz Them In States Of Exhaustion; This could be my favorite of all time. When I work with my Offensive Lineman, I often ask them question right when they finish working. They are tired and this is when their brains sometimes don’t want to work. I try and mimic this so that when they are tired they are used to thinking, and it’s not new to them. Something as simple as asking them what 8×7 is when they are huffing and puffing. It’s really simple yet so darn effective.

Simulate Game Situation In Group Training; Make your athletes work as a team when they train as a group. For example when doing the fictional training with hockey players I like to make one athlete of “off” and have one athlete run “on” to start and finish their set. This simulates a shift change. You can also do to with 5 players at a time if you are working as a big group. Something as simple as that will help them get used to stay mentally focused during their competition.

Come in to SST Burlington to put these and more training tips into your training routine!

FOX40 – High Performance Football

THIS PROGRAM IS GEARED TOWARDS FOOTBALL PLAYERS LOOKING TO MAKE SERIOUS GAINS IN SPEED, ACCELERATION, STRENGTH & POWER THIS OFF-SEASON!

2019 CAMP START DATES:

SST Burlington:

8 WEEKS (3 sessions per week) – WEEK OF JULY 2nd, 2019

SST Mississauga:

8 WEEKS (3 sessions per week)- WEEK OF JULY 2nd, 2019

 

If you are a serious football player ranging in age from 8-25 years old then this is the program for you. Follow SST’s proven training method for football players and expect only one thing from SST’s Highest performing camp: RESULTS!

SST’s High Performance Football Academy (HPFA) is developed to get you maximum results this off summer!

SST was ranked in the top 15 for speed development in NORTH AMERICA!

The only facility in Canada!!

SST’s High Performance Football Academy is for all football players who want to achieve one thing: RESULTS!

WHAT WILL EACH PLAYER RECEIVE OVER THE DURATION OF THIS TRAINING PROGRAM?

Athletes can train up to 4 workouts per week at an SST facility consisting of strength training, Olympic lifting, plyometrics and what SST athletes know as Functional Fridays!

What are functional Fridays or the Blitz workout? It consists of athletes being put through a grueling workout using unusual implement training such as 800lb tractor tires, car pushing and pulling, sledgehammer work and many more unorthodox training methods which will convert to more power and functional strength on the field!

SST has been featured on CFL Snap on the Score network, Fox Sports in Buffalo and Ticats TV!

To see some great athletes in action please take a look at:

SST’s YouTube Channel

To register for SST High performance football program please contact you local SST

Should We Be Training To Failure?

With the popularization of high intensity training, Crossfit, and other intense training methods, the idea of training to failure has become increasingly more popular. The idea of working so hard that you cannot possibly complete another rep is seen as an important part of training. However is this necessary in athletic training when we are after strength and size gains?

With the popularization of high intensity training, Crossfit, and other intense training methods, the idea of training to failure has become increasingly more popular. The idea of working so hard that you cannot possibly complete another rep is seen as an important part of training. However, is this necessary in athletic training when we are after strength and size gains?

Some athletes and coaches may feel that if they are not going 100% every single time, they enter the gym then they are not getting better. Is this necessary? The simple answer is NO. In fact, it is not advisable to train to failure for any extended period of time. The adverse effects of such training far outweigh the potential benefits. The important factor is planning. During the planning process there will be times of higher and lower intensity, as well as higher and lower volumes. All of these factors come together to elicit the types of adaptations in the specific order that will allow for the athlete to improve their specific qualities related to performance.

However, do not confuse training to complete muscular failure with training to technical failure. Technical Failure refers to when an athlete can no longer complete a repetition with proper technique due to fatigue. This is an important concept because technical failure should almost always be utilized in strength and conditioning settings, so as to maximize adaptation and ensure safe training at all times.

So how should we train for size and strength?

What seems to be a determining factor in the types of adaptations that athletes will be receiving during training is volume and intensity. Both of these factors are intimately linked to the types of adaptations we can expect to see from athletes during the training process. Furthermore, to stimulate muscle growth, volume load seems to be the most important factor (sets x reps x intensity). Many papers will show that athletes performing higher volume loads will produce greater hypertrophic responses than those performing lower VL. When size gains are your primary goal, maximizing VL in a systematic fashion seems to be the best approach. Does this mean we need to create muscle damage or train to failure to do so?

Well more recently, a paper by Flann et al. (2011) showed that muscle damage may not be necessary for size, strength and power gains. They had 2 groups of athletes performing exercises, one created lots of muscular damage, and the other group did not. Without getting into the specifics here, what is important is that when equated for volume load, both groups had similar gains in both size and strength of the trained muscles. This suggests that increasing the amount of training is more important than training for failure.

Another important piece of the puzzle is that when preparing athletes for their sport, we are in the business of managing their fatigue. How many of you have woken up from a training session the previous day too sore to train the next day? Well for athletes who are required to perform their sport, this is simply unacceptable. If we are constantly crushing our athletes so that they are unable to perform in their sport, then we are not performing our duties as strength coaches and enhancing their performance. The way around this is planning. Periodization is the process by which we plan out an athlete’s training process so as to maximize their qualities at the times when they are needed and prepare athletes for the rigors of competition. Without this planning process we are simply asking athletes to work hard with no framework as to why they are doing so. As such, this is not doing justice to the importance of their performance.

In a study conducted by Behm et al. (2002) it was shown that completing sets of 20 to failure had a 4x higher time to recover than completing a set of 5 to failure. The relationship holds true between different rep ranges such as 20RM, 10RM, 5RM etc.

This suggests that when training to failure we may be increasing recovery time to the point where we are losing out on additional training.

This increase in fatigue may actually inhibit the athlete’s ability to gain size or strength in the long run because of a constant state of recovery and limited training volumes. Think of it this way, if an athlete has trained so hard as to reach muscular failure, said athlete could lose 2–3 training days due to recovery. Then this athlete has now missed the opportunity to increase their qualities 2–3 times in the long run and had one training sessions where they may have been able to have a total of up to 4. When we add up the total work done in these situations it will almost always favor limiting training to failure so as to increase the amount of training days the athlete can perform.

Failure and Injury

Finally training to failure may also increase the athlete’s likelihood of injury, both of overuse injuries and acute injuries. Willardson (2007) did a review of this topic and found that training to failure may increase the risks associated with overtraining, and overuse injuries. It was recommended that training to failure falls within the context of the overarching periodized plan, and be cycled such as any other training variable (volume, intensity, etc.) Again, this will come back to the periodization (planning) process so as to train the specific qualities at specific times to increase performance.

Summary

Quite simply athletes that are not using pharmacological help will not have the ability to continually recover from training sessions that are pushed to muscular failure. They will be in a constant state of trying to catch up to their recovery and perhaps be pushed into an overtraining syndrome. This can lead to a myriad of negative effects. Athletes’ training loads should be monitored and adjusted accordingly so as to fit within the overarching context of the plan and continually increase the specific qualities needed for championship performances. The volume and intensity relationship when planning the training process is far more important than pushing the body to failure when looking to elicit specific training adaptations. Consider this the next time you are planning for your athletes.

Author:

Dave Scott-McDowell, MExSci, BPHE, CSCS