Welcome to this week’s Spartan Insider VIP Newsletter.

Spartan Training Club Kiama is into Week 2 of it’s Power Program and progressing along nicely at the halfway mark of Winter. It’s been  a good challenge for some guys who are strong but not necessarily powerful. These are the sort of challenges you need for your strength and conditioning programs in Kiama.

Learning the subtle techniques of power cleans is a bit more fiddly than some of the traditional weightlifting exercises but worth it in our long term quest for better athleticism and muscle development.

It’s true that Summer bodies are built in Winter so when the going gets tough stay focused on that ideal physique and you’ll be strutting from the surf James Bond style in no time.

Read on for this week’s news…

Bench Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Perfecting your technique on the Bench Press can make the difference between a shoulder injury and training hard for many years to come.  If you take your time and learn how to do it right, your bench press weights and your fitness goals will sky rocket. 

 

It’s important to realize that the bench press requires the entire body to work together.  Even though the focus is on the upper body, to get better at benching, you’ll need to learn how to ‘turn on’ your hips and legs. Using your legs correctly when you bench will allow you to create more tension from your feet to your shoulders, which is important for more stability and strength. 

 

To create more full body tension, plant your feet firmly on the ground and actively drive them downward during the lift.  The tighter you get in the lower body, the more control you’ll have over the weight.   Once you have the lower body all set, you’ll have to carry this tightness from your legs, across your core and into your upper body.  

 

Creating tension in the upper body starts with your grip on the bar.  Two cues to start thinking are ‘white knuckles’ or to try to ‘melt the bar.’  The harder you grip, the tighter your entire upper body gets.

 

As you lower the weight downward, drive your chest upward, set your shoulders back and down andkeep tight .

 

Once the bar touches your chest, drive it as hard as you can back up to lockout. The bar may move slowly, but your intent should always be to move it as fast as you can. 

Bench Press Summary:

Step 1:  Grab the bar around shoulder width, or slightly greater than shoulder width apart.  Squeeze very tightly to create tension in your hands, forearms, upper arms, shoulders, back and chest.

Step 2:  Take a deep breath, driving your chest upwards and pulling your shoulder blades back and down into the bench.

Step 3:  Plant your feet and drive them downward.  Squeeze your glutes to tighten up your hips and lock them into place.

Step 4:  Unrack the weight and move the bar directly over your chest WITHOUT losing the tension in your upper back or allowing your chest to collapse.

Step 5:  With your entire body as tight as possible, lower the weight downward under control until it reaches your chest.  Keep wrists and elbows in alignment. 

Step 6:  Without allowing your chest to collapse or losing any tension, drive the bar powerfully back to lockout.

Step 7:  Repeat for reps.

Lowering the bar with the elbows out at 45 degrees from the body (see picture above) allows more strength production because the chest, deltoids and triceps all play a significant role. More importantly though, it also reduces stress on the shoulder, which is critical when heavy weights are being used

 

 

Dan’s gettin his groove back

As a younger bloke, he had a good routine of bench press, bicep curls, chicken/broccoli and milk about eight days a week. This year life’s been a bit hectic, traveling early on, still running his construction and design business and recently selling his own house.

Recently he’s been gettin his consistency again and just last night bench pressed about 1.1 times his bodyweight for 4 sets of 5 reps. Love ya work bud, I’m awarding you this Bench Press Trophy for being a beast. Keep goin!

Sean Casey

Sean is a relative newcomer to Spartan and is only here for a short time whilst on 5 months Long Service Leave from the Army. He has served for over 18 years and built his fitness on an exercise routine consisting of push ups, chin ups and burpees to name a few.

Over the past month Sean has drastically transformed his usual routine mixing his impressive body-weight strength with great technique and effort with a barbell in his hands, something relatively new to him. Overall he seems hooked on the concept of Spartan style training and we’re glad to have him around at Spartan Training Club Kiama as long as we can.