Reverse
Band Bench Press for Increasing Bench Press Lockout Strength
FAST
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...
