Russian press competition rules and training program for Russian press

The bench press (on a bench) is a basic free weight exercise. It develops the muscles of the chest, shoulders (front deltoids) and arms (triceps). This is the most effective exercise for developing strength and building muscle in the upper body because you lift most of the weight above you (more than with a chest press). The larger the bench, the larger your chest.

The correct starting position for starting this exercise is lying on a bench, legs on the floor, resting with the entire foot (shin perpendicular to the floor). Lift the barbell from the rack with your arms straight. Lower the barbell to the middle of your chest. Raise (Press) the barbell up until your elbows are straight. Keep your pelvis on the bench. The bench press consists of 5 repetitions in a 5x5 program (workout A).

how to properly perform a bench press (on a bench): lower the barbell to the middle of your chest. Press (raise) the barbell upward until your elbows are straight.

To avoid shoulder pain, keep your elbows at a 75º angle when lowering the bar. Do not try to stretch your chest by raising your elbows to 90º. You injure the shoulder joint when the base of the forearm is perpendicular to the body. Keep your elbows apart (keep your elbows) at a 75º angle to avoid pain.

Unlike the squat or deadlift exercise, the barbell does not move in a vertical plane when you perform the bench press correctly. It moves diagonally to the middle of the chest above the shoulders. Thanks to this, you can avoid shoulder injury. This is the most effective way to perform a bench press with a heavy weight.

Power rack training for experienced athletes

After 3-6 months of training in the power rack according to the first program, swap the usual variations of exercises and those you do in the rack. Also, add partial deadlifts to your program to ensure your deadlift keeps up with your squat and bench press. Eliminate the regular deadlift from the program - if you do both deadlifts in one program, you run the risk of overworking - given that your lower back and legs will be loaded both in regular squats and in squats from the bottom point. Use a power rack or weight bars to keep the bar (regular or trap) at knee level. Start with moderate weight. Then, once you get used to the movement, start increasing the weights. When the weights get serious, you'll see that the partial row does for the pulling muscles what the bottom squat and bottom bench press do for the rest of the body.

A three-day program might look like this:

Monday

1. Squats from the bottom point in the rack - five singles with a gradual increase in load to a heavy, but not maximum weight.
2. Parallel squats (regular) - five sets of three repetitions, gradually increasing the load to a heavy, but not maximum, weight for three repetitions.
3. Grip – three exercises, four approaches each with a gradual increase in load.
4. Raises of the torso with legs bent at the knees from dumbbells on the chest - one set, 15-25 repetitions.

Wednesday

1. Bench press from the bottom point in the rack - preferably with a bar 7.5 cm thick - the pattern is the same as in the squats from the bottom point on Monday.
2. Bench Press (Regular) – The pattern is the same as the regular Monday squats in this program.
3. Pull-ups or rows - four sets of five reps with gradually increasing weight.
4. Grip – two exercises – four approaches each with a gradual increase in load.

Friday

1. Deadlift from the knees (with a regular or trap bar) - five singles with a gradual increase in load to a heavy, but not maximum weight.
2. Standing barbell press - five sets of 3-4 repetitions with a gradual increase in weight.
3. Bag curls - four sets of 5 reps - same weight for all sets.
4. Farmer's walk - four walks. Try to go as far as possible.
5. Take a heavy bag or barrel, press it to your chest and walk as far as possible - two walks.

Another option is to put squats on one day, and deadlifts and presses on another, and leave one day exclusively for exercises with barrels and bags; This is a VERY difficult program, but also very useful for athletes - in particular, rugby players and wrestlers.:

Monday

1. Squats from the bottom point in the rack - five singles with a gradual increase in load to a heavy, but not maximum weight.
2. Parallel squats (regular) – four sets of five reps, gradually increasing the weight to a maximum of five reps.
3. Head strap neck exercise – four sets.
4. Grip – two exercises – four approaches each with a gradual increase in load.

Wednesday

1. Clean and press heavy bag - five singles - either one weight for all sets, or gradually increase the weight for each set.
2. Barbell shoulder lift - alternately on the right or left - four times on the left shoulder and four times on the right... consider each lift as a single, i.e., lifting on the right shoulder is one single, then rest, then lifting on the left shoulder, rest, etc.
3. Bag curls – two sets of five reps with a five-rep maximum weight
4. Lifting a bag or barrel onto your shoulder and running or walking with it as far as possible - twice for each shoulder. Climb up hills or steps if possible.
5. Take a heavy bag or barrel, press it to your chest and walk as far as possible - two walks.
6. Take a heavy bag, stretch your arms with it in front of you and walk as far as possible - two walks.
7. Lifting a heavy barrel by the edges and holding it for a while - twice.

Friday

1. Deadlift from knee level - five singles with a gradual increase in load to a heavy, but not maximum weight.
2. Bench press from the bottom point in the rack - preferably with a 7.5 cm thick bar - five singles with a gradual increase in load to a heavy, but not maximum weight.
3. Bench press (regular) - four sets of five repetitions with a gradual increase in load to a maximum weight of five repetitions.
4. Leg raises – one set of 15-25 with additional weight attached to legs
5. Grip – two exercises – four approaches each with a gradual increase in load.

Principles of strength training

It is believed that to increase the maximum result in the bench press, you just need to press 1 time, or regularly do passes. However, practice shows that this approach, if effective, is not on a permanent basis.

Indeed, we will leave the postulate “To reap a lot, you need to reap a lot” intact. In building a strength result in the bench press, it is the bench press that is important, and not the auxiliary exercises, which we will talk about later. At the same time, we will move away from the standard practice of strength work and confidently state that for maximum results in the bench press for 1 rep you need to regularly press 4-6 reps.

This is also strength work, but increasing the number of repetitions to 4-6 allows you to remove the load from the central nervous system, which will “pass out” after a few weeks if you regularly push your maximum in each workout.

In addition, approaching a more or less solid result, we will be forced to abandon linear progress. With each added kilogram on the bar, we need to recover longer and put in more effort so as not to drive ourselves into overtraining.

We can confidently say, based on our own experience: the central nervous system cannot withstand long-term linear progress in strength work. The body may process such training through adaptation, but it is much more difficult to adapt the nervous system to overload.

Apathy towards training arises, and the sight of the barbell begins to make you vomit. Such overload of the central nervous system is less likely when working in several repetitions. Thus, we will build our training program on three principles:

The beginning of the way

1. You need good physical fitness. Therefore, if you have not been to the gym yet, choose the right one and go train.
2. For beginners, we recommend exercising under the supervision of a trainer for the first months in order to develop the technique of performing exercises and get acquainted with the basics of sports life (healthy lifestyle, nutrition, training programs, proper use of sports equipment).
3. Test all the available directions in the sports complex and understand which one is closer to your spirit.
4. Meet other already experienced athletes. Establish regular contacts with them.
5. Constantly progress in the sports field (reading professional literature, attending thematic master classes and seminars, meeting professionals, etc.).
6. If you feel that you are ready to compete, then search the Internet on the relevant sites for information about competitions, read the conditions and start preparing. If you are still working with a trainer, then puzzle him with this question.

The process of preparing for a particular competition can last several months, in some cases even several years. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the athlete and the type of competitive discipline.

RULE

– For bench presses, there is a proven rule of 40 repetitions. You do either 2 sets of 20 repetitions, or 3 of 13, or 4 of 10

After such work, the bundles have already received their due and therefore it is necessary to load them with additional work with great caution. Additional exercises must have a reason - for example, the lag of some muscle involved in the bench press

But even in this case, the weights should be light and the number of repetitions large.

How to identify weak muscles? That's how.

If you easily push the barbell somewhere to the middle of the amplitude, but it doesn’t go any further, it means that your triceps are really weak.

If you can’t lift the barbell from your chest, the shoulder girdle as a whole. You also need to do dumbbell chest presses while standing.

If the barbell slows down in the middle of the amplitude, the deltas, in particular the middle beams, give the slack. They need to be pumped up by raising dumbbells to the sides.

The main thing here is to analyze from the very beginning how the bench press is going and identify a weakened muscle in time.

“Okay,” Wayne said. – Let's say I worked with this intermediate program for 3-4 months, and I feel that I got everything I could out of it. What's next?

– Then you increase the total load. This can be done in different ways: add main sets or vice versa – additional ones. Or do both.

– Can’t you be more specific?

- Fine. Let's say, on that very difficult Monday, when you did 3 warm-up sets of 5 repetitions and 3 main sets of 5, 3 or even 2 repetitions, you can start doing 5 instead of 3 main sets. And instead of one additional set, do two . This will be an increase in the total load.

- Well, okay, a few more months will pass. So what is next?

I glanced sideways at Wayne.

“Are you going to plan your training right up to your deathbed?” Then I will advise you to practice according to the system of Hepburn, the famous Canadian strongman, record holder in the bench press.

First, 3 warm-up sets of 5 repetitions, then 5 sets of one repetition - with maximum weight. Then you reduce the weight by 25 kg and do another 5 sets of 5 repetitions.

This system does not provide any additional sets. If at least one repetition fails, you work with the same weights for the next week. You can start with a slightly modified version: 3 one-time sets and 3 x 5 repetitions, and then gradually increase the load and start working in full.

– So this is a system for experienced people!

I nodded: “That's it.”

https://youtu.be/KaZCD1IEnBk

Bench press according to Vladimir Kravtsov’s system (Dmitry Tambovtsev)

5 / 5 ( 1 voice )

Bench press according to Vladimir Kravtsov’s system. Author: Dmitry Tambovtsev

I, like many powerlifting fans, have special respect for bench press training. And here’s an interesting thing I discovered: at a certain stage, when the bench press exceeds 200 kg, the muscles of the whole body develop. Or rather, in order for the bench to grow further, you need to develop all the muscles. In this article I will describe my four-month experiment in preparation for the 2007 Russian Championship.

The previous start, which was the 2006 European Championship, I finished with a zero score, although I expected to set my personal record. Indeed, in preparation for this tournament, I used in training the principles set out by Vladimir Kravtsov in his book “Unlimited Power”. By doing this, I increased my bench press result from 190 kg to 230 kg, without changing anything in my lifestyle and the “chemistry” I used! Frankly speaking, this result shocked me. Before I started training according to Kravtsov’s system, my result in the bench press did not want to move from the “dead point”, despite all my desperate attempts. At that time, I was firmly convinced that only a significant increase in the dosages of steroids used could help me, but, having added 40 kilograms in the bench press in 4 months just by simply changing the training complex, I firmly believed in the correctness of the approach used by Kravtsov. Right there, at the European Championships in Togliatti, I approached Vladimir. “So and so,” I say, “Vova, I worked according to your system, there is a result, but I would like even more.” Vladimir immediately “caught fire” and began to draw up a plan. We agreed like this: I perform one microcycle, send it to him via the Internet, he looks at it, corrects it, and so on. Work has begun.

Preparation before preparation

In any business, for everything to work, you need to prepare. In the car - change the oil before the cold weather. When building a house, compact the soil before laying the foundation. It’s the same in competitive preparation. In order for all body systems to work without failures, it is necessary to perform a “cleaning”. For a strength athlete, the liver and blood vessels bear the greatest load. I started with them.

There are many ways to cleanse the liver. But they all boil down to one thing: to ensure the outflow of old bile so that new bile is more actively produced. Here, as they say, everyone can try anything. And olive oil with lemon juice, and sorbitol. I prefer Heptral. This drug gently and, at the same time, intensively ensures the outflow of bile. It is administered intravenously, the minimum course is ten days. By the way, you can easily check how much a particular liver cleansing method helps you. A few days after cleansing, you need to drink your usual dose of alcohol, and even exceed it a little. Exceed it so much that you usually get a headache the next morning. So, if you feel normal the next morning, or rather, better than usual, then the cleansing was successful. After Heptral I used lecithin. Moreover, the intake of lecithin did not stop right up to the competition.

The vessels were cleaned in the old way - fish oil and sorrel. This is done like this: in the morning, as soon as your eyes are opened, you take fish oil - 2-3 tablespoons. Ten minutes later - freshly prepared sorrel juice, also 2-3 tablespoons. And only after half an hour you can have breakfast. In the evening, just before going to bed, do exactly the same procedure. The course is one month. True, it’s difficult to say to what extent the vessels have been cleaned - you can’t look inside. But these products definitely won’t make you worse, and faith in their usefulness works wonders. Some of my friends got rid of vascular atherosclerosis in this way.

Workout

When Kravtsov wrote the training plan, I was simply shocked. What is it?! The normal bench press is once every ten days. There are a lot of purely “bodybuilding” exercises. We are all accustomed to the fact that in order to bench press a lot, you need to bench press a lot. And then, Kravtsov himself, in his book “Unlimited Power,” argued that, for example, the French press is a harmful exercise. I resisted as best I could, but Vova only said: “You understand, the book contains general recommendations. And people are all different. All this suits you, but it may not suit someone else.” The original plan looked like this:

Day 1 Bench press – 5-6 sets of 4-6 reps Bench fly – 4x6-8

Day 2 Standing barbell curls – 4x6-8 Concentrated biceps curls – 4x8-10 Cable arm extensions – 4x10 French press – 4x8-6

Day 3 – rest

Day 4 Dumbbell rows to the waist – 4x8 Vertical block rows to the chest – 4x10 Barbell shrugs – 4x12

Day 5 – rest

Day 6 Bench press – 4x10 Lying dumbbell flyes – 4x12 Standing barbell curls – 4x12 Concentrated biceps curls – 4x12 Arm extensions on a block – 4x12 Arm extensions from behind the head, alternately – 4x12

Day 7 – rest

Day 8 Horizontal block rows to the stomach – 4x12 Vertical block rows to the chest – 4x12 Barbell shrugs – 4x12

Day 9 – rest

Starting from the tenth day, the microcycle is repeated again. On days 6 and 8, the load is light to medium.

On my own behalf, I immediately added bent-over dumbbell flyes for the rear delts. In the bench press, the rear delts act as cushions and additional shock absorbers.

October The first month did not produce any special results. I got used to it. Some exercises I haven't done for many years. It was being worked on. I listened to myself. Once every 10 days I sent reports and thought: “I’ll pump up like a bodybuilder, but the bench press won’t be good.” It was reassuring that Kravtsov himself, being in peak shape, looked a lot like a man who was preparing to compete in bodybuilding competitions! “If he can look so good and at the same time lift weights that no one in Russia can do,” I thought, “it means that the complex for a security officer can be similar to a “bodybuilder.”

Read on topic: Trainings of Vladimir Kravtsov (Dmitry Kasatov)

November The body has gotten used to the training. Kravtsov writes: “Now you have to show everything you’re capable of in every hard training session.” And off we go! The weights began to grow by leaps and bounds. Every ten days my bench press gained five or even ten kilos! There were no special changes in either nutrition or pharmacology in relation to the previous preparation. So it's all about training. Vova sometimes radically adjusted the plan along the way. For example, instead of light bench presses, heavy push-ups were sometimes done. The microcycle turned out to be completely heavy. But the next microcycle proceeded as usual - the damaged muscles were restored. And - a new leap forward. At this time the microcycle could look like this:

October 30, 2006, Monday Bench press – 20x2x20; 50x1x10; 80x1x5; 110x1x4; 130x1x4; 150x5x4 Lying fly – 24x1x6; 30x1x6; 40x2x6

October 31, 2006, Tuesday Standing biceps with dumbbells – 12x1x12; 14x1x12; 16x1x10; 18x3x8 Concentrated biceps curls – 12x4x12 Triceps on the block – 50x2x20; 70x1x12; 85x1x12; 100x3x12 French bench press – 50x4x8

November 2, 2006, Thursday Bent-over dumbbell row – 24x1x8; 35x1x8; 50x2x8; 50x1x5 Upper block thrust – 50x1x10; 70x3x10; 80x1x8 Shrugs with a barbell – 20x1x12; 70x1x12; 110x1x12; 140x3x12 Bent-over dumbbell fly – 14x1x20

November 4, 2006, Saturday Bench press – 20x1x10; 60x1x10; 90x1x5; 120x1x3; 150x1x1 Negatives in a T-shirt – 180x1x2 (15 cm); 200x1x2 (15 cm); 220x1x2 (10 cm); 240x1x2 (5 cm); 250x1x2 (5 cm); 260x1x2 (5 cm); 270x1x2 (5 cm); 280x1x1 (5 cm); 290x1x1 (2-3 cm); 300x1x1 (2-3 cm) Bench press – 120x4x10 Standing biceps with dumbbells – 14x1x12; 18x3x12 Triceps on the block – 50x1x20; 70x1x12; 80x3x12 Standing dumbbell extensions – 12x3x12; 12x1x4

November 6, 2006, Monday Lower block thrust – 50x4x12 Upper block thrust – 50x1x12; 70x3x12 Shrugs with a barbell – 20x1x12; 120x1x12; 170x3x12 Bent-over dumbbell fly – 14x1x15

From push-ups and negative presses, the triceps tendons became thick, like ropes. Despite the heavy load on the joints, there were no “breakages”. This, apparently, is the main art of a coach - to find the optimal balance between destruction and restoration.

Separately, it is necessary to say about boosters. I believe that this exercise should move from the category of auxiliary to the category of basic for any competitive bench presser. Strictly speaking, the modern competitive bench press is a combination of precise lowering of the barbell and powerful push-up. The push is always done in a T-shirt. On Kravtsov's advice, I used a board 10 centimeters high. There is no point in using a higher height, Vladimir explained to me, and he also insisted that I do presses in a different bench shirt, and not in the one in which I planned to compete. This is done because, in his opinion, the T-shirt stretches precisely in the phase in which the main work occurs. The T-shirt will stretch in the upper part of the trajectory in which push-ups occur, and at the bottom it will be super tight - and all the strength will be spent on lowering. In general, you need to have two T-shirts. And in a competition shirt, do only full presses, and then only a little - two or three times during the entire preparation, closer to the competition. The weight of the barbell in push-ups should be significantly greater than what you plan to bench-press in competitions. For example, I planned to bench press 250 kg, and did push-ups of 270 kg in three sets for three times.

Bench in a T-shirt. There are some peculiarities here. I benched in double Rage. But, in principle, the features of the bench press in any double jersey are the same. The WPC/WPO rules allow you to begin lowering immediately after removing the bar from the racks without additional commands. Therefore, you need to lower the barbell immediately, without fixing your straightened arms with the barbell at the top. Next: when lowering, the elbows should go parallel to the sides, and not to the sides. After the barbell touches your chest and the command is given, you need to hit the floor hard with your feet and, if possible, squeeze the barbell with maximum speed. In this case, the trajectory of the rod must be vertical. Some people press, moving the barbell towards their head in the last phase of the movement. Of course, whatever is more convenient for you. But remember your school physics course, draw vectors and calculate forces. The conclusion will be clear.

January The last month of preparation turned into a continuous sleep with breaks for training and meals. Kravtsov was clearly driving me into overtraining. To my cries that the weight was not growing, Vova calmly replied: “We will rest for the last ten days before the competition - and everything will be fine.” At this time the training looked like this:

January 3, 2007, Wednesday Bench press – 20x1x20; 50x1x10; 90x1x5; 120x1x3; 140x1x3; 150x1x5; 160x1x5; 170x1x2; 180x4x2 Lying fly – 20x1x6; 30x1x6; 40x1x6; 50x1x6

January 4, 2007, Thursday Seated press – 20x1x20; 60x1x5; 70x1x5; 80x1x5; 90x1x5; 100x1x5; 105x1x3 Standing biceps with EZ-bar – 30x1x8; 40x1x6; 50x2x6 Concentrated biceps curls – 18x3x6; 20x1x6 Triceps on the block – 40x1x20; 50x1x12; 60x2x10 French bench press – 50x2x8

January 6, 2007, Saturday Bent-over dumbbell row – 30x1x6; 40x1x6; 50x1x6; 60x1x6 Lat rows – 90x4x8 Shrugs with dumbbells – 60x2x12 Bent-over dumbbell flyes – 12x3x12

January 8, 2007, Monday Bench press – 20x1x20; 60x1x10; 100x1x5; 120x1x3; 140x1x3; 160x1x3 Bench presses in a T-shirt (“jeans”) – 200x1x3; 220x1x3; 240x1x3; 250x1x3; 255x1x3; 270x1x3 Lying fly – 16x4x12 Standing biceps with dumbbells – 12x3x12 Triceps on a block – 40x3x12

January 10, 2007, Wednesday Lower block thrust – 50x4x12 Upper block thrust – 50x2x12; 55x2x12 Shrugs with dumbbells – 40x4x12 Bent-over dumbbell flyes – 12x2x15

Another interesting feature of training according to Vladimir Kravtsov: auxiliary exercises are done almost before the competition. The weights are reduced slightly, but the exercises themselves remain the same. Usually, benchers remove all the “back room” two to three weeks (or even a month and a half) before the competition, leaving only the bench press. But during this time the muscles become untrained. Why then do auxiliary exercises at all? Somewhere in Simmons I came across the same approach and the same logic of reasoning. Both Simmons and Kravtsov proved the effectiveness of their postulates in practice.

Nutrition

Over many years of playing sports, I have developed an “iron” rule for myself: eat only when you want, and only what you want. Each person's body is unique. What suits one may not suit another. There are individuals whose digestive system is similar to that of a crocodile. Whatever you eat is good for you. There are other extremes. The general rule is this: you need to eat enough so that the total number of calories approximately matches your needs.

The method for calculating the basic number of calories is known, and I will not dwell on it in detail. But within that calorie count, the ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates can be very different for different people. Some people thrive on surprisingly little protein but cannot do without fat. Some people do the opposite. The criterion of truth here is your feelings that this particular food is good for you. For me, for example, eating even 100 g of protein from regular food is problematic. The solution I found was to carry a jar of amino acids with me and consume them approximately every hour.

The main thing in catering is not to fall into the trap of dogma. Vince Taylor, for example, generally ate once a day and felt great. Some people cannot have breakfast in the morning, while others cannot survive without a second dinner at night. I know one lightweight who eats literally everything, and it seems like non-stop. We once tried to calculate the calorie content of his daily diet. It turned out to be 4200 kcal, crazy! He weighs almost half as much as me, and eats twice as much. In general - to each his own.

Biochemistry

Anyone who understands at least something about modern sports also understands the fact that without “pharma support” there is no way. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an Olympic sport or not. And it’s great that there are federations such as WPC/WPO.

Healthy cynicism is, of course, good. But often he is just unhealthy. And when I hear a famous bodybuilder say that he only uses nutritional supplements, I laugh. And if I wrote here that I ate only ascorbic acid, I would cause the same laughter among my fellow powerlifters. That’s why I write it as it really is.

initial stage

Actovegin: This drug is made from calf blood. Its function is tissue regeneration. And it copes with this function well. The inconvenience is that this drug is administered intravenously, and even in a stream. Agree that lying under a drip before every hard workout is not very comfortable. However, it's worth it. Actovegin is especially good in the absence of heavy “pharmacology”. I also noticed that if you use Actovegin immediately before training, the blood supply to the muscles greatly increases. Some will say that a powerlifter doesn’t really need this. But when you do repetitions two or three times, and the muscles swell as if there were twenty repetitions, it helps. And then the recovery goes better. Based on my observations, I noticed that it is better to exceed the dosage recommended by the manufacturer twice as much. There are practically no contraindications, and the returns are much higher. Suffice it to say that in cases where urgent tissue regeneration is really needed (wounds, burns), 200-300 g of Actovegin are infused. In this case, no “side effects” are observed.

Mildronate: Again, in the absence of “heavy artillery,” this wonderful drug makes it easier to bear stress and recover. Mildronate has a pronounced anabolic effect. It should be used in the morning, gradually increasing the dose to 5-6 capsules per day. It also has virtually no side effects. Of course, when it comes time for serious chemotherapy, mildronate can be excluded.

Creatine: Well, there's not much to say here. Every fan of “iron sports” is familiar with creatine. In my opinion, its phosphate form is better, but, as they say, this is not for everybody.

Ascorutin: Since I had problems with blood vessels, it was impossible to do without ascorutin. The rutin it contains strengthens the walls of blood vessels. But rutin is absorbed only in an acidic environment, so it was combined with ascorbic acid. For me, this drug was also a source of vitamin C, so I ate it both day and night. A dose of 2 g per day, in my opinion, is quite acceptable. If there is less, there will be no visible effect. I started with 1 g, but only when the daily dose exceeded 2 g did the blood vessels on my face and eyes stop bursting.

Vinpocetine: It is not enough to strengthen the walls of blood vessels. It is also necessary that the lumen in the vessels themselves be optimal. At the moment of heavy bench press, the blood vessels of the brain experience enormous overload, and a stroke is not far away. Vinpocetine dilates blood vessels in the brain and improves blood supply. And in general you begin to think better.

Terraflex: This drug combines chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine. These two substances “hold” the joints. I am a principled opponent of diclofenac. This is, so to speak, the salvation of a drowning man. If you need diclofenac, it means you are doing something wrong, and for a long time. At the same time, chondroitin and glucosamine are drugs with rather a preventive effect. You need to start taking them from the first day of preparation.

The above drugs must be used in the period between AAS cycles, and ascorutine and vinpocetine - during the “course” too.

Three months before the start

Three months before the start, heavy “pharma” began. Methandienone came first. It retains water well - the joints seem to be lubricated. The first month - 20 mg per day. The second – 30 mg each. The third – 50 mg each. On training days, be sure to take one tablet before training, one after, along with a protein drink.

Again, three months before the competition I started using testosterone enanthate. First - 250 mg per week. Then - 500 mg per week. A month before the competition, the enanthate was changed to a drug containing a mixture of several testosterone esters. A week before the competition, testosterone propionate was used - 100 mg daily.

Before the competition

Four days before the competition, I managed to catch the flu. The temperature is low, but nasty. And besides, 600 km driving from Perm to Chelyabinsk didn’t add any health benefits either. The mood, to be honest, is not combative.

In Chelyabinsk I’m going to the station to meet Kravtsov. Vova reacted somehow calmly to my complaints about the temperature. “You've already done everything. The muscles are ready. And you can’t spoil anything in two days. And, besides, this is not a marathon. But there are some things that can be improved.” Vova smiles slyly: “There is a proprietary secret from Kravtsov. I’ll tell you in the evening.”

We lived in the same hotel. In the evening I read a text message: “Take beer and salted fish. The beer is as light as possible.” I'm going to buy it. Kravtsov arrives. A leisurely lecture about the benefits of beer begins. “You see, on the day of the competition you need to be flooded with water. The bigger, the better. Joints love water. You have to get up in the morning, and your face shouldn’t fit into the mirror. And the fingers on the hands should bend with effort, be heavy and full. Then it will be easy to reap. The easiest way to achieve this is to eat something salty the evening before the competition and wash it down with beer. Just don’t get carried away too much – a bottle or two, no more.” No sooner said than done.

Psyche

Often at powerlifting competitions you can see how athletes set each other up for an approach. Here slaps in the face, rubbing of the ears, screaming, and other techniques from the arsenal of wrestling without rules are used. This helps some people. I delved into textbooks and specialized literature for a long time, and this is the conclusion I came to. All motor reactions in the human body to an external threat last hundredths of a second. For example, you were hit, or your hand was burned, or some other unexpected and negative action occurred. So, the conductivity of nerve fibers is very high, and your response action takes place literally within 0.01-0.1 seconds. That is, the speed of nerve impulses is higher than the speed of current in copper wires. Taking this into account, the ears should be patted when the athlete has already removed the barbell and began lowering. Otherwise, this is what happens: the athlete’s nervous system has been aroused by slaps in the face, he is angry, and thinks that he is ready for the approach. He goes to the bar, lies down, takes it, all this happens for long seconds. The nerve impulses have already passed. And then the BRAKING begins. It's braking.

Therefore, my scenario for performing the approach to the maximum weight is as follows. There is no need to “waste your nerves” before the approach. The approach needs to be fun. It’s as if this is training, and absolutely nothing depends on this approach. When the descent begins, you need to disconnect from the outside world, forget about the existence of assistants, and imagine that these are the last seconds of life. If you don’t press the barbell now, you will be crushed, and no one will help, because there is no one. You can yell as the bar moves upward. After all, you save a life. This is where the nervous system will respond quickly and mobilize all its reserves.

This method does not work right away, but you can learn how to do it. For example, at the moment of the maximum bench press in competitions, even my hearing turns off. But during training, it is better not to use this method of psychological adjustment, or to use it as rarely as possible until you learn how. And then use it only in competitions. Otherwise, the central nervous system will be severely overloaded.

Bottom line

In the morning, on the day of the competition, the temperature did not go away, but there was an excess of water in the body. The first approach is 230 kg. Successful! There is a personal record! This is the MSMK standard. I lower it for a long time, but it presses very easily. For the second approach I order 250 kg. This is the WPO Elite standard! Not very easy, but quite confident. Third approach – 260 kg. I had to struggle in the last phase of the push, but I still pushed through. The plan worked. Over the course of a year, practicing according to Kravtsov’s system, I added 70 kilograms in the bench press, increasing my result from 190 to 260 kilograms! And this means something.

Similar

Goals as the basis for training

To answer the main question of the article, you must first decide on your goals in the gym. Namely, what do you want to achieve? This could be strength in multiple exercises, strength in a single exercise (such as the bench press), endurance, muscle gain, or simply staying in good physical shape. Your training regimen will depend on what goal you have set for yourself. There is no universal answer to the question: “how often do you do the bench press?” - does not exist. It all depends on what you want to end up with.

Let's consider, for example, the 2 most common goals - gaining mass and increasing strength.

Goal: gaining muscle mass (muscle pumping, definition, etc.)

For the purpose of muscle growth and gaining muscle mass, it makes no sense to perform the bench press more than once a week. This is due to the fact that on each training day we pump certain muscle groups, so doing the bench press more often during the week will lead to damage in pumping some other muscle group.

In bodybuilding training, we only perform bench presses on chest day. That is, our goal is not to develop performance in one or several exercises, but to load the target working muscles. And the bench press in this case acts only as a means of providing this load.

Goal: increasing strength in a specific exercise

This goal is usually set by athletes who want to engage closely in powerlifting, bench press, or simply want to bench press a lot without competing. In this case, the training will differ significantly from bodybuilding, since the basis will not be pumping each specific muscle group, but increasing performance in one or more exercises.

For this purpose, the bench press can be performed 2 times a week. In this case, one of the workouts should be heavy (low number of repetitions, maximum working weight, one-time maximum training), and the other should be light (many repetitions, many approaches). Thus, specifically the bench press will be trained both in a heavy strength manner and in a high-repetition volumetric manner.

The main mistakes athletes make when training bench press strength are doing heavy bench press training too often, which seriously depletes the nervous system and leads to long-term stagnation in performance. The optimal method is the one given above, which is based on a combination of heavy strength and high-repetition volume training.

Conclusions of the article

Thus, the optimal frequency of performing the bench press is 1-2 times a week (depending on the training goals). More frequent training has no benefits in terms of either strength or mass gains, and can lead to overtraining and stagnation.

Safety

How to urgently complete a bench press: lower the barbell to the middle of your chest, flatten your chest (exhale) until the barbell touches the holders (frame). Crawl out from under the bar.

You will never get stuck under a barbell with weight if you bench press inside a power rack. The power rack has horizontal holders that can pick up the weight if the barbell fails to lift. Install the horizontal holders slightly below the extreme lowering point of the bar. If repeated successfully, the holders will not interfere with you. If you fail to lift the weight. In this case, lower the weight to the middle of your chest, flatten your chest (exhale) to lower the barbell onto the holders (frame). The power rack bench press is the safest way to perform this exercise.

Performing a bench press without a power rack or an assistant is dangerous. If you are crushed (stuck under) a barbell, then the only way to get out from under it is the “Bundle of Shame”. Lower the barbell to the middle of your chest, “roll” it to your stomach, then raise your body and lift the weight (the article says - do a deadlift). This will not be very pleasant and may leave bruises on your stomach. An alternative way is to do the bench press without weight clamps, in which case you can tilt the bar to one side and drop some of the weight (plates) onto the floor, although by doing so you will violate the rules of the gym by roughly dumping the weight on the floor.

The dumbbell bench press looks safer, but it's not entirely true. Although it should be noted that you will never get stuck under the weight. But if you fail to lift the heavy dumbbells, they may fall on your face and seriously injure you, or you may throw the dumbbells on the floor, which will also not please the general manager. The power rack bench press is the safest way to perform this exercise because the horizontal holders can catch the weight if you fail to lift it (if you get stuck under it). The power rack will also prevent the barbell and weights from falling to the floor. But even a power rack won’t help if you can’t handle the weight of the dumbbell.

It's normal to be afraid of hurting yourself while doing the bench press. People die from barbell accidents. To avoid this, always hold the barbell with a full grip (your thumb should be opposed to the others), this will eliminate the possibility of the barbell rolling and falling onto your chest. Do not bench press with heavy weights without a power rack. Start with light weights, focus on the technique of performing the exercise, and only then gradually increase the weight. Following safety rules will give you confidence and you will overcome fear. Don't forget to position the horizontal holders even if you think you can handle the weight.

Answers from famous athletes

Naturally, such a serious and pressing question was asked to almost every athlete who has reached significant heights. However, their answers did not lead to a single solution - they all named different numbers and justified them with arguments. Yes, this, in principle, is not necessary - just looking at their names and photographs is enough to understand that their method gives a significant result.

Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to the most famous bodybuilder in the world, the optimal number is 5 sets for each exercise. He justifies this by the fact that this way you can fully load the muscle fibers without achieving overtraining.

Mike Mentzer. But the American professional bodybuilder, famous in the 70-80s, calls a completely different number - only 1 approach.

Ronnie Coleman

Answer from another eminent American and multiple winner of the Mr. Olympia tournament: it is important to follow the principle of periodization, regularly changing the software package. But as for repetitions, his answer is more specific - 12-15 times in each approach.

Jay Cutler

Another “Mr. Olympia” prefers to stick to the golden mean: 2-4 working approaches, each with 8-10 repetitions.

Even these 4 examples can show how difficult it is to achieve a specific answer to the question of how many approaches to do. Next, let's look at what exactly can influence the choice of this number.

Program for beginners

So, let's move on to more specific recommendations. Let's move on to the program for beginners. In it we will use only the first two principles, since linear progress is still possible at first. So, an approximate program for a beginner who benches 60 kilograms at a time, but wants to improve his strength performance:

Monday

• Bench press - 50 kg for 4 repetitions in the maximum possible number of approaches.
• Squats - 5 sets of 10 reps. You select the weight individually.
• Pull-ups - 5 sets of 10 reps. You can replace it with lat pulldowns on a machine if you don’t know how to do pull-ups.
• French bench press (flyes for pecs and flyes for deltoids) - 5 sets of 10 reps. We choose one of the exercises depending on which muscle group you are lagging behind. If nothing lags behind, skip the fourth point.

Thursday

• Bench press – 50 kg, 4 reps. In this case, you need to try to do at least one more approach than in the previous workout (on Monday).
• Exercises for lagging muscle groups.

Saturday

• Squats - 6 sets of 10 reps.
• Pull-ups - 5 sets of 10 reps.

On Monday we add 2.5 kg to the barbell, after which we press the barbell for the maximum number of repetitions. On Thursday we consolidate progress by adding one or more approaches. On Saturday we increase the working weight or approaches in other basic exercises.

This program is relevant for beginners and intermediates with up to two years of experience. The only point is that as your experience increases, you will need more time to recover. This means that your next bench workout will not be done after 72 hours, but after 96 or 120 hours.

You should understand by your own feelings when the time comes to increase the rest between workouts.

How to increase your bench press - advice from professionals

Each type of muscle fiber and muscle function requires different training and different recovery times. In order to take these differences into account and get the most out of training as many functions as possible, professionals use periodization (load cycling to train the appropriate type of muscle fiber or individual function).

For example, by training high-threshold BMWs with push-ups or negatives, their recovery period extends to two weeks or more. At the same time, muscle energy is restored in 2-3 days. What to do? Alternate workouts. Something that recovers faster needs to be trained more often and more than something that recovers slower.

It turns out the following training plan - heavy training, which occurs less frequently, alternates with light training, which occurs more often. This microperiodization allows you to effectively develop several muscle functions in one training cycle.

Three types of training should be distinguished - training for the development of MPM (slow partial repetitions), training for the development of MPM (training of many bodybuilders) and finally, training aimed at developing high-threshold MPM (high load in a small number of repetitions - presses, negatives, singles). repetitions) etc.).

Training slow-twitch muscle fibers can give the fastest results. So let's take a closer look at the key points of this workout. The fact is that many people ignore this approach to obtaining maximum results. The experience of Vladimir Kravtsov suggests the opposite.

So, several important requirements must be met.

The movements are performed very slowly to turn off the BMW. The amplitude must be partial. This way we achieve constant tension

The vessels are pinched and the outflow of blood is hampered. It is very important to feel the burning and withdrawal within a certain time range of 30-45 seconds. The workout involves a triple series of approaches with a 30 second pause between them.

This workout works and brings a noticeable effect after 1-2 sessions. After all, you awaken sleepy slow fibers, which do not work at all during bodybuilding-style training.

This principle (microcycle) allows you to gain both muscle and strength without sacrificing either. A very popular mistake is frequent (and hard) training. Without taking into account the recovery time of various muscle functions, you will accumulate under-recovery, which will ultimately result in overtraining, regression, or worse, lead to injury.

Interview with organizers[edit | edit code]

Source Iron World No. 4

Muscovite Andrei Luchkov, together with like-minded people, has been holding “Russian Bench Press” competitions for a decade, formed a federation, and managed to “infect” friends from many regions of Russia and Ukraine with his noble ideas. One of the first to hold a tournament in Ukraine was the famous Crimean functionary Vyacheslav Gorbunov. True, the Ukrainian version of the “Russian Press” differs slightly in rules and is called “Extreme Press”, but Andrey Luchkov supported the initiatives of his colleague from Ukraine and is a regular participant in the extreme “Russian Press” tournaments in Crimea. The date July 4th for many is primarily associated with the Independence Day of the United States, and for the masters of the “Russian Press” this date will go down in history as the day of the premiere European Championship in extreme “Russian Press”.

Andrey Luchkov, founder of the Russian Bench Federation[edit | edit code]

ANDREY, HOW DID THE NAME “RUSSIAN PRESS” COME TOGETHER?

The name arose, first of all, because it was in Russia that such competitions began to be held according to the current rules. And also because the main physical quality for successful progress is strength endurance. And when passionate fellow fans shout encouraging words to an athlete, the most common phrase is “Be patient!” And patience is one of the main traits of the Russian people. This is the rationale for the name of this sport. And one more thing: it so happened that after the collapse of the USSR, many Russian-speaking citizens ended up in various “abroads”. So, the Russian bench press is like a certain piece that unites us. But perhaps I and my comrades are the only ones who think so, otherwise higher officials don’t even consider our movement to be a sport. And they don’t seem to see any real benefit from it...

THE “RUSSIAN PRESS” COMPETITION HAS BEEN HELD FOR 10 YEARS. WHAT WOULD YOU HIGHLIGHT OVER THE TEN YEAR PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE “RUSSIAN PRESS”?

Yes, the competition has been held for 10 years, but only in 2008 did an active movement to popularize the “Russian Bench” begin. And it all began within the walls of the State University “Higher School of Economics” on May 6, 2000. Our first competition, the weight of the barbell is “anniversary”, in honor of the 55th anniversary of the Great Victory. Then - the first rules, rank standards, additions, changes, etc. And already at the end of 2007, a group of like-minded people - Alexei Kutsenko, Vitaly Mashkevich, Andrei Petrovsky, Alexey Kholodov, Sergei Cheberin - organized ourselves into an interregional public organization, which we named after our favorite sport - the Federation of Russian Press. At first, the MROO "FRZ" included only two regions of Russia - Moscow and the Moscow region, and now the Ryazan, Vologda and Tomsk regions have been added.

TELL US ABOUT THE RULES. HOW IS THE WINNER OF THE RUSSIAN PRESS COMPETITION DETERMINED?

The rules of the MROO “Russian Bench Press Federation” are slightly different from the rules adopted in Ukraine. The winner of the nomination is determined among athletes competing with the same barbell weight. According to the “Athletic Formula” (FA): the weight of the barbell is multiplied by the number of repetitions and divided by the weight of the athlete himself. This value was called the “Athletic Quotient” (AC). All places are allocated based on the highest “Athletic Quotient” (AC). It is for this reason that the KA is awarded the ranks and titles of the MROO "FRZh". In Russia, two rests with a barbell on the chest are allowed and there is a time limit for performing the entire exercise - 5 minutes. This, we believe, makes it possible to perform additional repetitions for athletes engaged specifically in the Russian Press, and, ultimately, affects the development of strength endurance. That is, it serves the progress of results in the “Russian Press”. When there is talk that this is “tedious” and uninteresting for spectators, I agree with this, but with a caveat: competitions are for athletes. Viewers have always been interested in shows and “weights” in any strength sport where there are weights. Let this be too categorical a statement, but even the names of individual champions, which at least every hundredth viewer - a fan of power sports - can name, will overwhelmingly belong to the “heavyweights”. Whether it's wrestling, or weightlifting, or powerlifting. Therefore, it is necessary to organize a show for the audience! For these purposes, other competitive options have been invented and tested in the Russian bench press, such as “Press Marathon”, “Devil’s Dozen”, “Russian Bomb”, etc.

FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE HAVE BEEN WORKING IN TANDEM TO DEVELOP THE “RUSSIAN PRESS”. WILL THERE BE AN EXPANSION IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN THE RUSSIAN BELIEVE COMPETITION?

Ukraine actively holds tournaments, mainly according to our rules. And even though these tournaments are called “extreme bench press,” we are always together. This year several similar competitions were held in the Republic of Belarus. Interested people from Azerbaijan asked about our rules and features. Even if there, in Azerbaijan, this sport will be called something differently, but we will be able to actively cooperate and compete with everyone who wants to improve the health of their people while preserving their own strength traditions and the opportunity to participate in international competitions. And the “Russian Press” is very harmoniously suitable for these purposes.

THERE ARE “ATHLETIC”, “RUSSIAN”, “EXTREME” PRESSES, ESSENTIALLY REPRESENTING THE SAME SPORT WITH SMALL DIFFERENCES IN THE RULES. WHY IS THERE NOT A SINGLE NAME? A SINGLE ORGANIZATION?

I will say more, there is also the “People’s Bench” - this is the brainchild of the Russian powerlifting federation WPC/WPO. But there is a significant, even, in my opinion, radical difference from the “Russian Press”. There is no most important thing - the independent choice of weight category by the athlete. There, any athlete must compete with a barbell no less than his own weight. It seems like nothing bad, but again - weight categories (a lot of “champions” and “record holders”), new rules for counting the absolute champion (according to the Glossbrener formula), although why, when, for example, in the Russian bench press all champions are “absolute”? I think that there is nothing “scary” in different names; time itself will tell you what is the best name for our new sport for the development of strength endurance. And it will depend only on the people what name will unite them.

WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE EUROPEAN EXTREME “RUSSIAN PRESS” CHAMPIONSHIP IN GURZUF?

I’ll say right away: the tournament was a success! Maybe some objective reasons did not allow us to complete the maximum program, but the hospitable attitude towards the athletes has not changed. This is very important, it gives hope for new joint starts. Undoubtedly, the level of competition participants has increased, but, as one of the judges of this tournament, I will say that many athletes began to look for “easy” ways. And often the exercise for developing strength endurance, shown on the platform by these athletes, began to look like a specific “masturbation with a barbell.” Sorry for the harshness! I, as a judge on the platform, simply did not expect such a not “one-off” performance! And precisely among adult men! Women and veterans can bench press according to the rules, but men, you see, almost all have sore elbows! I gave out penalty reps of 2 and above, but many did not learn from other people's mistakes! We need to fundamentally fight this. With the help of certified judges, for example. With the help of additional amendments to the competition rules. It will take some time, but it needs to be done. In the Russian Federation MROO “FRZh” there is practically one person - the chairman of the technical committee Andrei Pavlovich Galtsov (city of Zhukovsky, Moscow region) who put a lot of effort and ensured that athletes follow the basic rules governing the performance of the “Russian press” exercise on the competition platform. And the judges of the MROO “FRZ” are actually entitled to impose penalties on negligent athletes. And this “tandem” of judges and athletes, through mutual efforts, formed what can be called the “Russian press” technique. WHO ARE THEY “STARS” AND HEROES OF THE “RUSSIAN PRESS”? This is a very large group of people! These are young men, veterans of all ages, women, younger girls, and, of course, men. The table of records is constantly updated. Once upon a time, I “hastily” announced that I would pay 1000 rubles for each record from the “general money of the federation.” But now this is almost impossible. Firstly, we finance ourselves through annual fees and sponsorship donations, but this is not enough to hold competitions. And secondly, at almost every competition of a more or less serious level, 5-10 records are set! In April 2008, 17 records were set in one tournament! Since then, new competitive nominations have also been introduced, for example, “junior boys” and “junior girls”, “men veterans, over 70 years old”, “women veterans, over 40 years old”, etc. Now the issue with the disabled movement is gaining momentum. Soon we will have to introduce the competitive category “disabled women (support workers)”, and then “disabled women veterans”, and again “girls”, etc.

Vyacheslav Gorbunov, organizer of the European Extreme Bench Championship[edit | edit code]

HOW DID THE IDEA TO HOLD THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP COME UP?

The idea of ​​holding a European championship in extreme “Russian bench press” did not arise out of nowhere. After all, Andrei Luchkov held his first competitions in Russia back in 2000. And since then, this sport, undergoing various changes during its development, has steadily gained popularity. In 2007, his fame reached Crimea. And at the first “Tavrika Cup 2007”, as a show, we tried to hold a competition in the bench press weighing 100 kg at times. Then, at the end of the same 2007, we held the first Crimean Championship according to the rules of the “Russian Press”. To date, the Crimean Association of Powerlifting and Extreme Bench has held three Crimean championships and three times this type of bench press has been included in the program of the international tournament “Tavrika Cup”. In Russia, literally not a single significant event in the life of the country is complete without competitions in the “Russian Bench Press”! So the idea came to hold the European Extreme Bench Press Championship in Gurzuf immediately after the Tavrika Cup. Moreover, if the attitude of athletes towards this type of bench press has always been rather as fun, then this year the status of the European Championship brought it to the first place in importance. Athletes from Ukraine, Russia, Armenia and Georgia took part in the competition. Unfortunately, our friends from Belarus did not come, although they were very interested in the championship. Well, never mind, we'll wait for them next time.

WERE ALL ORGANIZATIONAL IDEAS MANAGED TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO LIFE DURING THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP? WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE DURING ORGANIZING THE COMPETITION?

And we didn’t have any difficulties! It’s just that our team, including the assistants and the judiciary, did an excellent job. In addition, the local authorities in the person of the council deputy Andrei Nikolaevich Sandul helped us a lot. Thanks to which the European Extreme Bench Championship was held in a beautiful modern concert hall, the athletes were awarded exclusive medals, and the teams were awarded cups. By the way, the national team of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea confidently won 1 team place, Ukraine took second, and the Russians took third. I would like to express the hope that the first European Extreme Bench Championship will take this sport to a new qualitative level, make it more popular among the masses, and, as a result, , we will see new names and new records in competitions.

Bench press for number of repetitions

In the Sports section, the question How many sets and repetitions should you do on the bench press to build muscle mass? Or is it better to make it a pyramid? asked by the author Vlad Kislenko, the best answer is a variant of the repeated-serial method with a significant increase in muscle mass based on the intensification of metabolic processes in the muscles (anabolic training). The option involves intense muscle work, with the primary involvement of the glycolytic mechanism of ATP resynthesis, in which proteins are broken down especially strongly. During rest, their synthesis unfolds, all the more pronounced. The more the protein content decreased. It should be borne in mind that the activation of protein synthesis develops very slowly and after hard work lasts 48-72 hours. The main features of anabolic training are expressed as follows; 1) the weight of the burden is not maximum. But sufficient to stimulate significant stress; 2) the work is long-term. In one approach, it is performed in an anaerobic (glycolytic) energy supply mode until fatigue (in some cases, “to failure”) 3) pauses between rests are shortened (1-2 minutes); 4) the muscles should not be relaxed between lifts in one approach; 5) the work is local in nature. Perform 2-3 approaches per muscle group. In one training session, (2-3) muscle groups are worked out; 6) from lesson to lesson, loads on muscle groups alternate in such a way that the rest for them is 48 - 72 hours. To increase training effects when developing maximum strength with an increase in muscle mass, you must follow the following rules: 1) increase only one variable of the training load - weight of weight or number of repetitions; 2) increase the number of repetitions and sets before increasing the weight; 3) reduce the number of repetitions as the weights or number of approaches increase; 4) gradually reduce the rest pause between approaches. This version of the repeated-serial method is good for maximizing strength for slow movement conditions, but is ineffective for developing explosive power and speed of movement. Therefore, it is advisable in a small volume at the beginning of the annual cycle. A few examples of this option: 1. Weight weight 75 - 80%, movements are performed slowly until obvious fatigue (10-12 repetitions), 2-3 approaches with a rest of 2 minutes. In a training session, exercises are selected for 2 -3 muscle groups. 2. Weight weight 80%, 3 -5 sets of 8 - 10 repetitions with a rest of 2 -3 minutes per muscle group. With significant fatigue, the rest time between approaches increases to 5 minutes. 3. Weight weight between 60 - 70%, 3 -5 sets of 15 -20 repetitions with rest 3 - 5 minutes. 4. Weight weight 85 - 95%, 3 -8 sets 5-8 reps with rest 3-5 min. If the last repetitions in the approach cannot be completed due to fatigue, the partner assists in lifting. 5. With a weight of 85 - 90%. The optimal number of lifts (to failure) is performed, followed by 2-3 additional movements with the help of a partner. 2 approaches with voluntary rest. 6. Performing the same number of repetitions per approach, but reducing the weight of the weight in each of them. For example: 65x10.60x10, 55x10.50x10. Pause between approaches 1 – 2 minutes.

Muscle mass

During the training period, proper nutrition is very important, and when a person gains muscle mass, diet and eating habits are important. Despite the fact that, in theory, the load of such a training process in the Russian bench press should “dry out” the muscles, practice shows the opposite. Athletes who have been involved in this sport for a long time, on the contrary, gain muscle mass.

For example, Eduard Vasilenko is a record holder in this sport, weighing more than 140 kilograms. A good increase in muscle mass is typical during the transition to working with the heaviest masses.

WHERE TO START TRAINING IN THE POWER FRAME

The best way to become familiar with the power rack is to perform squats and presses from the bottom position AFTER the same exercises, performed in a normal manner. This will allow you to start training on the rack with light weights without losing any size or strength during this “introductory” period. In addition, this will allow you to maintain correct technique in the usual version of the exercise. (If you don't do regular squats and bench presses, any rack work will make you STRONGER, but you probably won't be able to demonstrate this new strength in your normal movements because moving with a heavy weight will feel "uncomfortable" and "unusual" to you. Of course, you will be able to regain your technique very quickly, but if your goal is to maintain the ability to squat and bench with heavy weights in normal movements, then you are better off combining regular training and power rack training).

Reverse Bench Press

Position the bench so that your thighs are higher than your head.
You need a bench with a reverse incline and a leg lock so that you do not slip into them during the exercise. Lie down on a bench, grab a barbell, lower it to your chest, and then press it up. We recommend performing this variation of the press with an assistant who can pick up the weight if the repetition fails. Many people do reverse bench presses to tone their lower chest. The reverse bench press is a waste of time. You won't be able to isolate the lower chest because the chest muscles act as one unit. It's like doing half a squat. Just improve your bench press and your lower chest will grow.

Technique for performing the classic bench press

Starting position: lying on a bench, head, shoulders and buttocks touching it, feet shoulder-width apart and pressed to the floor, shoulder blades retracted.

Next, you should remove the barbell (by yourself or with the help of a partner) from the racks with straight arms and lower it down.

The end point should be the lower area of ​​the chest, approximately in the area of ​​the nipples. The projectile should only slightly touch the chest, and not rest on it.

While moving, make sure that your forearms always remain perpendicular to the floor. The hands should not be twisted too far back, as this places excessive stress on them and can disrupt the balance of the movement.

The elbows should not be spread too far and pressed too close to the body; their optimal position is 45 degrees in the horizontal plane.

Lowering the barbell should be done quite slowly, while lifting it is carried out with a more explosive movement. Inhalation is done while lowering, exhalation is done while lifting.

Additional recommendations

1) A strong back arch, known in powerlifting as a “bridge,” is undesirable in the bodybuilding press. The bridge aims to maximize the weight lifted by distributing the load throughout the body and taking some of the load off the target muscles, which is called a cheat.

In addition, a good bridge requires its installation with a trainer and sufficient stretching, and therefore, during independent exercises aimed at muscle growth, its use can be hazardous to health. Allow only a slight, natural arch of the back.

2) The need to warm up is obvious; in the bench press, you should pay attention to warming up not only the pectoral muscles and shoulder joint, but also warming up the feet and wrist joint, as well as the lower back; a significant part of the passive load is placed on them. 3) Progression in both strength indicators and muscle mass is possible by including auxiliary exercises in the training program that work the muscles involved in the bench press in different ways

These can be dips, bench press and dumbbell flyes, pullovers, etc.

3) Progression in both strength indicators and muscle mass is possible by including auxiliary exercises in the training program that work the muscles involved in the bench press in different ways. These could be dips, bench presses and dumbbell flyes, pullovers, etc.

4) The increase in weight on the bar should be gradual: there will be greater benefit from adding a kilogram per week than from adding five kilograms at a time at the end of the month. It is easier for the body to adapt to such a smooth increase in loads, but it may not be able to cope with a sharp jump in weights, and the result will be stagnation.

5) It is advisable to have a partner who will help remove the barbell from the racks, provide insurance and be able to correct the technique while observing the process from the side.

If you do not have a partner and you are working out alone, it is not recommended to attach locks to the barbell, since if you fail to lift the weight, you should always be able to drop it to the floor.

Runtime errors

Failure to follow the technique and recommendations inevitably leads to errors in the bench press. Let's briefly list them:

1. Lifting your heels off the floor and your feet “walking” along it.
2. Non-adducted shoulder blades, as a result, loose shoulders on the bench and excessive activation of the trapezius muscles.
3. Forearms and hands thrown back.
4. Unstable elbow position.
5. Cheating with a powerlifting bridge, especially if the athlete does not engage in special strength training.
6. Neglecting warm-up, belaying and other safety precautions.
7. Too sharp an increase in weights, a fanatical desire to constantly increase them at the cost of developing the technique of execution.
8. Lifting the pelvis off the bench

Narrow grip

Close grip bench press. Set up the bench in the same way as for a regular bench press. Lie down on the bench. Raise your arms up. Take the barbell with a narrow grip (hands shoulder-width apart). In the upper position, the hands should be above the shoulders, and in the lower position, next to the body. This is the same grip you use when doing overhead presses. Lower the barbell to the middle of your chest and press it back up.

The bench press with a narrow grip is more difficult to do than with a medium grip. The trajectory of the barbell is longer because in the top position your arms are vertical. This is an exercise to develop the triceps, so the pectoral muscles work less. While using the same muscles, the close-grip bench press puts 20% less stress on the chest muscles.

The close grip bench press is a good complementary exercise. A close grip keeps the elbows close to the body. If your shoulders hurt when doing the bench press correctly, change your grip to a narrower one. Many people who suffer from shoulder pain with a medium grip can perform the bench press with a close grip without pain. You'll lift less weight, but it's better than not bench pressing at all.

Just don't grab the barbell with a too narrow grip. Your hands should not touch each other. In this case, your hands are too far from your forearms - your hands will hurt, and it will be difficult to keep the barbell in balance. With a narrow grip, your hands should be approximately shoulder-width apart.

Work on your overhead press

For a lifter who gets to this point, I would suggest starting to do heavy overloads on the overhead press in a power rack. This exercise was loved by many athletes of the past. William Boone, Paul Anderson, and John Grimek have all done this exercise and had success. Piri Rader raved about it in back issues of IRON MAN magazine, and Harry Paschal praised this exercise to the skies in his books. Grimek became so powerful in this movement that he could handle weights of 360-450 kg.

Think about this for a minute. Here is a man who, training decades before the advent of Dianabol, Nautilus machines, nutritional supplements, or computer studies of biomechanics, lifted FOUR TIMES HIS OWN WEIGHT during a bench press lockout. What power! How many guys today - even very serious athletes - can do at least a quarter squat with a weight of 450 kg? Frankly speaking, not much. How many lockouts can they do with a weight of 450 kg in the bench press? A little. But John Grimek, training in the 30s, did lockouts in the standing press with a weight of 363-454 kg! Too many athletes today have lousy overhead press results. Don't be one of those people who can bench press a ton but lifts ridiculous weights on the overhead press. Use the power rack to develop incredible shoulder power.

What is the bench press: what muscles does it train?

This is a basic multi-joint exercise that allows the athlete to effectively work with free weights. What’s interesting is that there are practically no restrictions on the load when performing it. You can bench press absolutely any weight available to a particular athlete.

This exercise is designed to pump up the muscles of the upper body. The bottom is not involved in the process. When it is carried out, the following develops:

• Pectoral muscles.
• Press.
• Triceps.
• Anterior delta bundle.
• Latissimus dorsi (bench press with bridge).

As you can see, the exercise has universal significance in strength training. It involves several important muscle groups at once, on which the shape and relief of the body depend.

PART 1 SIZE, TOUCH, USE

Size and specifications

There are many boards. Starting from 1 and up to 5 boards. There are also various soft pads and of course the Manpon from EliteFTS. Each pressing block has its own characteristics. Here are some general characteristics from Dave:

1 board The movement should be exactly the same as in a regular bench press. “I always tell guys, drop, tap, press and connect your elbows” - Dave Tate. 2 boards These boards will place the bar exactly where you start to push your elbows apart if you're not using a jersey. 3 boards These boards will force you to brace yourself. 4-5 boards “It's pretty much a muscle-only lift,” says Dave. “These are lockout boards.”

Manpon Manpon is a PVC roller cut in half lengthwise with a handle at the end. It is light and comfortable. You can slip it right under your tank top and don't have to be balanced across your chest like a board or tied with a belt. Manpon prevents your elbows from falling too low and also takes pressure off your shoulders.

Soft lining This is similar to Manpon. The soft pad doesn't restrict the trajectory as much as boards do. Therefore, you can lower the bar and still have support from the padding.

NON-STANDARD SPACERS

What boards should I use?

You can't just tell someone, “Oh, you've got a bad lockout. Use 3 boards." The position of the elbows is the criterion. You should look at the distance between your elbow and the floor, not at the boards and bar

“Keep in mind that even though everyone says 4 boards is a 2-inch lockout, it doesn't matter,” says Dave. “Everyone’s arm length is different, so one person will need 2 boards and another 3 for the same phase of the press.”

In general, 1 plank involves the chest and lats, 2-, 3-, and 4-boards involve more of the triceps. Therefore, the higher the boards, the more the shoulders are stabilized. If an athlete has trouble with the starting position on the bench press, high boards can help. Pause at the top. The lower the elbows go, the greater the rotation in the shoulder joints. Dave uses 1 or 2 boards so his elbows are level with the bench. Dave states, “It’s okay for me to do a full-range bench press, but I’m not going to compete. The risks outweigh the benefits."

What is a folk bench press?

The essence of the folk press is that athletes squeeze a barbell while lying on a bench, but in this case their task is not to lift the maximum weight, but to do the maximum number of repetitions per approach. The weight of the barbell is equal to the weight of the athlete himself, who is weighed a day before the competition.

For girls and boys 13–19 years old, the weight of the equipment can optionally be equal to half the athlete’s body weight.

When performing the exercise, the athlete can rest for no more than 5 seconds, holding the squeezed barbell with outstretched arms.

wpc and awpc standards

Standards of the World Powerlifting Congress (wpc) - a non-profit international organization of powerlifters, uniting 30 member states.

With its own weight

There are separate standards for the category of athletes 13–19 years old.

With 1/2 of your weight

Standards of the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress (AWPC) - an amateur league, the standards of which are much softer, but at the same time there is doping control at competitions.

With its own weight

The AWPC also sets separate standards for working with half an athlete's body weight.

With 1/2 of its own weight

Records

I would like to note several records.

WPC Records:

• Among boys under 19 years of age, we can note Maxim Chursanov, who set a record with a weight of 60 kg, squeezing the barbell 51 times in 2016 at the World Championships.
• Among the men, Silkin Alexander distinguished himself, who at the Russian Championship in 2020 pressed the barbell weight 112.5 kg 42 times.
• At the 2020 World Championships, Anastasia Chernousova set a record, pressing ½ of her body weight (25 kg) 52 times.

AWPC Records:

• At the 2020 World Cup, Nikita Sizonov, who was only 15 years old, set a record of 49 repetitions with 27.5 kg (½ weight).
• Among girls under 19 years old at the World Championships in 2020, Natalya Markushina set a record, pressing the barbell 40 times weighing 30 kg (½ her own weight).
• At the Asian Cup in 2020, Evgeniya Chekanova distinguished herself in the age category of 40–49 years, setting a record of 42 repetitions with a projectile weight of 32.5 kg.

Multi-repetition bench press technique

Before describing the training programs directly, let's look at the technique of the most high-repetition barbell press, adjusted for the division rules.

For a repetition to be counted in competition, you must work in full amplitude: touching your chest at the bottom and fully straightening your arms at the top.

Technique:

1. You need to lie on a horizontal bench on your back, with your shoulder blades, shoulders and buttocks pressed tightly to the surface. You cannot lift your pelvis off the bench while performing the exercise.
2. The feet should also not be completely lifted off the floor or touch the bench in any way.
3. The bar should be in front of your eyes.
4. At competitions, at least two people provide insurance. The spotters can be asked to help remove the barbell; in this case, it will be held at outstretched arms.
5. If you want to lift the bar yourself, use a closed grip to hold the bar. You can use a forward or reverse grip. The distance between hands should not exceed 81 cm.
6. After removing the bar from the racks, exhale and bring it to your outstretched arms above your chest.
7. After this, you can start doing the exercise. At competitions, this is permissible to do only after the senior judge’s command to “press.”
8. As you inhale, lower the barbell until the bar touches your torso. As you exhale, squeeze out.
9. In competition you will only have one approach.
10. The judge will count the number of repetitions. If the countdown starts again, it means that an error was made in the previous repetition.
11. You can rest with the barbell on your arms, as we noted earlier, for no more than 5 seconds. The judge monitors this and, after time has expired, repeats the command “press” again. If the command fails, the approach is terminated.

The athlete must wear a non-supportive single layer tights. It is acceptable to use a belt to protect the lower back. Socks are allowed. The athlete must also wear shoes. If necessary, you can use bandages or wristbands for your hands.