3x5 squat @ 300 (easy PR tie)
4x6 2 or 3 block bench press @ 145
3x6 shrugs @ 275 (no chalk so 315 was out after a set)
3x10 back extensions @ 25
3x75s planks
So if you don't have trouble at lockout during your bench, 2/3 board presses IMO are pretty useless. The problem is that all this geared lifter training shit (box squat, board press, chains, bands) is told to the public by influential people like Louie Simmons who TRAINS GEARED LIFTERS without the qualifying statement that they're not designed for raw lifting! Gear gets you a ton of help at the bottom position, so most geared lifters get stuck at lockout. That's why you 2/3 board press, and why you band deadlift, and you box squat. For a raw lifter, it's useless because raw lifters almost always get stuck at the bottom (when you're mechanically disadvantageous). Raw lifters almost never get stuck at lockout.
i look at it as a good way to train a limited ROM for a movement. It wasn't precisely what I wanted because I was pressing out of the fixed safety bars on a squat rack (ideally I would have been at the other gym that has adjustable safety pins), but I wanted to isolate my sticking point. I can always get the bar off my chest, but it grinds to a halt mid press. I don't think those strategies are necessarily limited to geared lifters, bill starr advocates limited ROM movements for addressing sticking points. and he's like the jesus of lifting, so there!
i guess ideally I should have been pressing from the chest or a little above and stopping short of lockout? i wanted to get some flat bench work in mid week without a full on bench press workout that might interfere with what I have going on already.
Do you actually get stuck at lockout? If so then yes, maybe 2/3 boards will work for you. Honestly for the best way to test this, do paused benching until you fail. When you finally do, where was the sticking point? You say that you get the bar off your chest but a lot of people use the bounce to get off the bottom position; this is why paused bench is always gonna cut a few lbs off your touch and go bench.
So if you don't have trouble at lockout during your bench, 2/3 board presses IMO are pretty useless. The problem is that all this geared lifter training shit (box squat, board press, chains, bands) is told to the public by influential people like Louie Simmons who TRAINS GEARED LIFTERS without the qualifying statement that they're not designed for raw lifting! Gear gets you a ton of help at the bottom position, so most geared lifters get stuck at lockout. That's why you 2/3 board press, and why you band deadlift, and you box squat. For a raw lifter, it's useless because raw lifters almost always get stuck at the bottom (when you're mechanically disadvantageous). Raw lifters almost never get stuck at lockout.
ReplyDeletei look at it as a good way to train a limited ROM for a movement. It wasn't precisely what I wanted because I was pressing out of the fixed safety bars on a squat rack (ideally I would have been at the other gym that has adjustable safety pins), but I wanted to isolate my sticking point. I can always get the bar off my chest, but it grinds to a halt mid press. I don't think those strategies are necessarily limited to geared lifters, bill starr advocates limited ROM movements for addressing sticking points. and he's like the jesus of lifting, so there!
ReplyDeletei guess ideally I should have been pressing from the chest or a little above and stopping short of lockout? i wanted to get some flat bench work in mid week without a full on bench press workout that might interfere with what I have going on already.
Do you actually get stuck at lockout? If so then yes, maybe 2/3 boards will work for you. Honestly for the best way to test this, do paused benching until you fail. When you finally do, where was the sticking point? You say that you get the bar off your chest but a lot of people use the bounce to get off the bottom position; this is why paused bench is always gonna cut a few lbs off your touch and go bench.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about lockout, it's more mid-press with me. My elbows are probably at about 90 degrees and the bar is 3" off my chest.
ReplyDeleteI don't bounce at all, my goal is to touch my shirt and not my chest.