3-17-14 – Working Towards a Strong Bench

Today’s bench session was heavy three’s and they all felt fast and explosive. I maintained tightness with every set, which helped me keep the weight steady and also drive it up.  I went up to 195 for 3, which weren’t extremely heavy, but it was a weight that I could handle. Keeping my technique and pushing back on my heels has helped me tremendously with my bench press. The one thing that I am focusing on now is keeping my elbow straight as I come up. I keep my elbow tucked in going down but as soon as I push the weight up my elbows flare almost instantly. I have incorporated more tricep work to help me keep my elbows straight as I push the weight up.  One movement that I feel has helped me is the Dave Tate press.  I feel that this movement has helped strengthen my triceps and also by core strength as well, because I do these sitting straight up. One thing that I took out was doing too many accessories for chest, which in reality only made me sore and caused my shoulders to be in a lot of pain.