The
Reverse Band Press is extremely useful for muscle-building
purposes. When you perform the Reverse Band Press, you won't
get the same elastic tension on the way up (that you work
against for explosive pressing). What you will get is a
lot of help at the bottom of the bench, which gradually
decreases as you press the bar up. When you get near the
top, you're doing the majority, if not all, of the work
yourself.
This
is the exact perfect strength curve of the bench press and
it will allow you to use a heavier overall weight when pressing.
Since you're at maximal tension the entire way up, you'll
be doing a much more efficient pressing workout.
CLICK
HERE to find out where to get a good set of training
bands for a very good price - this is where I got mine.
To set
this up, you'll need to do your bench pressing in a rack.
Set the flat bench in the rack and set your safety rails
and racking pins at the appropriate heights as you do if
you were doing a regular bench press. Use the thicker bands
for this as they'll match the strength curve of the exercise
better. Hitch the bands to the upper crossbeams of the rack.
You can choose from two places to hitch them up - the first
is the side upper crossbeams The second is the front or
rear top crossbeam of the rack. Be sure to use the same
hitch on both sides so that the lengths of the bands are
even on the bar.
The
main benefit of hitching to the side upper rails are that
the bands get a straight up and down line of pull on the
bar, maximizing the help they'll be able to give during
the exercise. The downside is that you MUST hitch the bands
exactly evenly on the side rails - if you don't, the bands
will pull the bar in a rotational pattern and you will find
one shoulder getting a lot of torque.
If you
have a felt marker, you can measure and draw exactly even
lines on your rack or, if you're in a public gym, use something
else to measure (e.g. a weight plate or your hand) so that
you get the same distance on both sides. Do a test rep with
light weight to make sure the bands are even before beginning
the real workout.
When
you hitch the bands to the front or rear crossbeam, it's
much easier to get an even pull on the bar as you can just
hitch the bands right next to the uprights on the rack (as
far wide as you can hitch them). That way, you'll know that
they're even. The downside is that you don't get a direct
upwards pull from the bands but an angled pull. When pressing,
this will mean the amount of help the bands give you is
reduced.
Once
the bands are hitched to the upper crossbeam (whichever
method), loop the other ends onto the barbell (after you've
added the weight - you can go heavier than you normally
would for the same reps when using the bands, e.g. add about
50 to 70 pounds to the bar - you'll need to play with the
amount of weight you use).
You
can loop the bands on the bar on the outside of the weight
plates or on the inside. If you go inside, put the bands
on the bar before you load the weight plates. Be very sure
the bands don't line up with where you're racking the bar
- if you rack the bar on top of the bands, you may damage
the bands.
If you
loop the bands on the outside of the weight plates, put
the bands on THEN put the collars on the outside of the
bands. This will keep the bands from shifting on the bar
as well.
You're
ready to press! Lie under the bar, grip it as you normally
would, then lower it to your chest. You'll notice that it
feels lighter at the bottom and you'll be able to accelerate
the bar off your chest better. But as you come up, it gets
harder and harder and you have to squeeze harder and harder
to keep the bar moving. Lock it out and squeeze the chest
hard, then go again!
The
Reverse Band Press will help your body get used to pressing
heavier weights and will really help you increase your power
in the lockout phase of the bench press.
The
Reverse Band Press can also be done with both Incline and
Decline presses in addition to the Flat Bench version listed
here. You'll need to experiment with band setups for the
varying heights.
As a
special note on the decline version, I've found the decline
reverse band press to be one of the most powerful chest-building
exercises I've ever found. It allows you to not only use
the most weight of any of the bench press variations but,
because the bands are stretched over the ENTIRE range of
motion, it more closely matches the strength curve of the
exercise.
As an
example, in the pictures below, I'm using 455 lbs on the
decline bench with the reverse bands. My actual maximum
flat bench press is more then 100 lbs less than that! This
puts GREAT tension on the pecs as well as really helping
build the connective tissue, allowing your body to more
comfortably handle heavier weights.
The
first video below is using 405 lbs. The second video below
that is with 455 lbs and it's also a GREAT example of why
you should ALWAYS use a rack when bench pressing...
