Bench Press Max

[Sohan]

Whats your 1 rep max in Bench Pesssing? Mines only a meare 80lbs. [/b]

I dont do weights like bar bell jockeys.

I dont need slow lifting power I need explosive functional strength.

Its far better for a fighter to do 100 pushups than bench press 200 lbs slowly.

Most people who lift heavy weights cannot do 100 pushups because it takes endurance.

I have challenged many people who can bench press 250-300 lbs to do 100 pushups (proper ones) and they cant do it.

Bar bell jockeys? Guess that includes Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Bruce Lee, Lennox Lewis, Matt Hughes, and Georges St Pierre. I hear they've dabbled in the iron game a bit themselves.

FYI, strength training with heavy load free weights is recognized as one of the best ways (along with plometrics) to train fast twitch muscle fibers, which are of upmost importance to martial artists interested in speed of movement. I would rather bench 300 than waste my time doing lots of pushups. I know, because I've done both.

Perhaps we should call the National Football League and warn them that their athletes are getting slower because they are wasting their time doing 500 lb bench presses and 700 lb squats. Certainly they should be doing pushups and burpees instead...

With respect,

Sohan

Perhaps I didnt explain what I meant properly. We use the term bar bell jockeys for body builders who are only interested in developing mass and not functional power. Big loads and very low reps.

I have used weights for years. Properly designed for fighters.

Someone who lifts a heavy load slowly is not doing so by choice. They do it because the load will not permit faster movement. This doesn't mean that the fast twitch fibers are not being recruited, but rather just the opposite. The heavier the load, the more total fibers recruited in the muscle, therefore heavy weight with low reps is quite useful to the martial artist because it more fully trains all the fibers of the muscle, while facilitating positive neuromuscular adaptations as well.

You want to get faster, heavy weight training will help get that done. I dropped my 40 by half a second in college by training heavy squats alone, pushing my max to over 600 lbs in competition.

And BTW, bodybuilders usually train in the 8-10 rep range, not the big load/very low rep range that you describe. It's powerlifters who lift the big iron for 2-5 reps in training. Don't fool yourself into thinking they're slow. I assure you they are not.

With respect,

Sohan

[RicksonFan]

I'll go ahead and say it- I don't care! Maxing on benchpress is not important to martial artists. In fact, with the really high weights, you're much better off using dumbells than a barbell. And while I'm at it- benchpress is the least effective exercise for punching power. The back is more important, and the legs and core more still.

[AnonymousOne]

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/strengthvsconditioning.html

About the Author - Ross Enamait is an innovative athlete and trainer, whose training style is among the most intense that you will find. Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high performance conditioning and functional strength development. He has a sincere interest in helping today's athlete in their quest for greatness."

[Sohan]

I'll go ahead and say it- I don't care! Maxing on benchpress is not important to martial artists. In fact, with the really high weights, you're much better off using dumbells than a barbell. And while I'm at it- benchpress is the least effective exercise for punching power. The back is more important, and the legs and core more still.

A few points:

1. Pursuing a max bench for the sake of a max bench is certainly not the most productive use of a martial artist's time. I agree, if this is indeed what you're saying.

However, pursuing greater strength throughout the entire body, which for upper body horizontal shoulder abduction and triceps extension (the same biomechanical movement as a punch) is measured by strength training pros around the world by the 1 rep max bench press, is indeed useful to a martial artist. If not, why would some MMA athletes take steroids to increase their strength?

2. As far as dumbbells go for heavier weights, your statement is opposite of what the pros recommend. Heavy weight dumbbell presses are less stable than heavy barbell presses, which leaves far more room for getting out of "the groove", and thus injury risk is MUCH higher for heavy dumbbells than the equivalent in barbell training.

3. I would like to see some research to back up the statement that bench press is the "least" effective exercise for punching power. How about calf raises? Leg extensions? I would offer that these are far less effective for punching power than the bench press. Perhaps this is your opinion, and I can respect that, but there are young men reading these statements that may be influenced by a statement that isn't backed up by credible research.

4. "The back is most important". OK, what part of the back? The spinal erectors? The latissimus dorsi? The trapezius? I don't agree with this statement. Biomechanics researchers I have read have identified the hips as the first and most important element of the kinetic chain that transfers the power for the punching action.

I'm not referring to you, necessarily, but I usually find that the guys who talk about how heavy barbell bench presses are "useless" are typically the guys who aren't very good at it. I have never met a guy who benched 350-400 who complained he couldn't punch very hard.

With respect,

Sohan

Edited August 4, 2006 by Sohan

[Sohan]

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/strengthvsconditioning.html

About the Author - Ross Enamait is an innovative athlete and trainer, whose training style is among the most intense that you will find. Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high performance conditioning and functional strength development. He has a sincere interest in helping today's athlete in their quest for greatness."

Edited September 7, 2006 by Sohan

[wolfen]

fun story:

I have a semi psychotic "friend" who prides himself on doing stupid things. he once did a rep of 500 lb leg steightening, when he tried a second rep, he couldn't (and got injured). not quite relevant but my personal word against 1 rep maxing

[kenpo.stylist]

well, he most likely wasn;t warmed up and most certainly shouldn't have been handling that weight if he wasn't used to it.

Anyway, I press in the area of 350. I really don't know my one rep max because I don't only do one rep and have never tested it. My lowest rep set is 3-5 reps and is in the 315 range.

[bushido_man96]

My last set of 1 is at 270.

[parkerlineage]

I'd love to try this in the gym, but I'm terrified that:

a) I'll hurt myself, because I won't have anyone to spot me.

b) I'll hurt myself, because I've never had proper training on how to bench.

c) I'll end up with a really low weight and be horribly ashamed and never be able to post on this site again.

I will say that lifting weights - other than bench pressing - has made me faster and stronger in terms of MA, so I disagree with whomever that was that was saying we should do pushups instead. Done lots of pushups in the last 12 years, and I've seen more improvement in the last three months (strengthwise).

[bushido_man96]

I'd love to try this in the gym, but I'm terrified that:

a) I'll hurt myself, because I won't have anyone to spot me.

b) I'll hurt myself, because I've never had proper training on how to bench.

c) I'll end up with a really low weight and be horribly ashamed and never be able to post on this site again.

I will say that lifting weights - other than bench pressing - has made me faster and stronger in terms of MA, so I disagree with whomever that was that was saying we should do pushups instead. Done lots of pushups in the last 12 years, and I've seen more improvement in the last three months (strengthwise).

If you are lifting at the gym, get an employee to show you how to bench properly, and to spot for you. That is what they get paid to do. Most of them probably lift on a regualr basis anyways, so they should be able to help.