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...
