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Pausing your bench pressing is awesome! You're already one step ahead when it comes to the training effect off the chest. However, it's not enough...How do we continue to improve? The quality of our pauses need to improve. Pausing does you good but pausing with control and intention does you better!How do we do this? What is the control center of the bench press? The back!So we have to gain better back control by locking each joint down and tapping into our back. Wrists can be accounted for by squeezing the bar. Elbows can be accounted for by bending the...

Cues I hear often regarding shirted work is spread and tuck. Spread as in create that outwards tension like a band pull apart, and tuck as in allow the elbows to travel in as you descend with the bar. These are all great, but let's kick it up a notch!The issue often times with these old cues is that it is really easy to do these exact things in absence of involving the back. Etc. Biasing the wrist and elbow joint and not really including the backI can spread the bar with simply my hands and I can tuck my...

Shoulder retraction is the name of the game with benching. If you want you use your back effectively, you NEED to do this well! If you want to cut range of motion and make your life easier, you NEED to do this well! If you want to prevent injury, you NEED to do this well! Let's start with, well, what exactly IS shoulder retraction? How do we perform it?This is an action we can practice outside of benching. This is something we can do in our warm ups to further our ability to perform this motion.This is the "pinch" portion...

Now I'm all for a big bench belly! In a sport where I see the trend of getting lighter and leaner become more prominent, I respect those who lay the big ole belly on the line!While it absolutely does help! You need to be careful of something I see all too often.The greatest advantage when it comes to a big bench belly is less range of motion. However, in an effort to make the most of this, many big belly benchas try to touch the peak of their belly heightWhat's the problem with this? It's not a good touch point....

This drill is going to be a game changer in your training! While it may initially look weird as you try this in the gym, you'll gain a newfound appreciation for leg drive and hip tension! As I've said in the past, with half the bench missing you should still be able to bench in the same exact fashion. The only points of contact we need to have are the traps and your two feet. The rest of the body including the hips are not bearing weight.Your entire body needs to create tightness in order to transfer that force from...