TIPS TO OVERCOME THAT DARNED BENCH PLATEAU!!!
THE LOUIE SIMMONS PRESCRIPTION TO YOU R BENCH PRESS WOES.
Louie Simmons is known in many circles as the "Powerlifting GURU". He is the owner of the Westside Barbell Club in Columbus, Ohio. Louie was formerly the Head Strength Coach of the NFL's Green Bay Packers, and is himself a world class powerlifter. He has written many books and has many training videos on the game of POWERLIFTING. At Westside Barbell Club, he has 19 members of his gym that can bench press over 500 pounds!!! That's incredible!!! I've experimented with some of his training techniques and have known several lifters that swear by him. He is also a writer for Powerlifting USA Magazine. After experimenting, reading his articles, and watching his tapes, I will explain to you Louie's program for taking your bench press to another level...........
Louie Simmons
In Louie's program, you train the bench press lift two days per week, either Monday and Thursday or Sunday and Wednesday. Day one is a dynamic (speed) day, where the speed and explosiveness of the bench press is trained. On this day, you perform 8 sets of 3 reps in the barbell bench press at 60% of your 1 rep max. Every rep is performed explosively with a controlled eccentric (downward) motion and an explosive, fast concentric (upward) motion. Day two you train for absolute strength in the bench press. On this day, after warmups, you perform 3 reps each set, adding weight until you get to a point where you can no longer get 3 reps. Then you go to single reps each set as you continue to increase in weight until you eventually fail on a single rep attempt. On this day, you seldom ever do flat bench press, but different variations of the bench press which work the same muscle groups, such as close grip bench press, incline press, close grip incline press, and close grip decline press. You pick two of these core lifts to do in each 4 week cycle and alternate performing them each week on the second bench day of the week. So, for example you may choose close grip declines and close grip inclines as your core lifts for your current cycle. On this Thursday, you go heavy and do 5-6 sets of close grip declines before doing assistance work. Next Thursday, you do 5-6 sets of close grip incline press before doing assistance work. Every "Heavy Day" you attempt to achieve a PR ( Personal Record) in that lift. At the end of the four week cycle, you switch to two different core exercises. Speed day always remains constant, 8 sets of 3 reps at 60% 1RM. Now that I've given you the basics of Louie's program let's look at the other variables.
Bench Press
Let's look at the technical aspects of benching. What is the best form for handling those enormous poundages? It has always been thought that you should push the bar back over the face towards the spotter. However, according to Louie, it makes little sense to do so. When the bar moves over the face, the delts are placed under great stress, especially the rotator cuffs, which is bad! Also the lats are no longer involved in the lift when the bar goes over the face. The bar should be lowered with the lats, not the arms. Without strong lat involvement, there is little chance that the bar will be placed on the chest correctly. It may land too low or too high. Proper bar placement ensures that an equal amount of delt, pec, and triceps are involved in the concentric (pressing) phase. Failure to place the bar in the proper position can result in pec and delt injuries while bench pressing.
Also, the delts are almost always overworked, and the triceps are underworked. You see a lot of delt and pec injuries, but rarely do you see tricep injuries. When the triceps, upper back, and lats are the strongest muscle groups, the bar will travel in a straight line, making the distance to lockout much shorter. Also, it does not require that the arms rotate out, which causes injury to the pecs and rotator cuff.
If your bench press is not progressing, it could be poor form or one of your muscle groups involved in the bench press could be lagging in strength and development. On both bench training days, push your assistance exercises to the limit. Do tricep extensions of different variations, delt raises, lots of lat work, forearm exercises, and curls. After your core lift of the day, pick 3 or 4 exercises, and always work your triceps first and forearms last. You workout should never last longer than 60 minutes.
Does the program work? Westside Barbell Club is home to 3 of the top 10 World Records in the bench press. Seven men bench over 600 lbs. at the club. Bill Gillespie, strength coach for the University of Washington Huskies has gone from benching 480 to 628lbs. in 5 years and has passed every drug test he was given. According to Louie, this system will work for anyone.
GIVE IT A TRY!!!
For more information on Louie's training techniques and the Westside Barbell Club, call
(614) 276-0923