01dragonslayer
Administrator
Ok, I get it the one arm bench press may not be the undisputed BEST assistance exercise for improving your bench press like my YouTube video title suggests but it is my favorite!
I believe it is one of the major reasons why I have been able to get my bench up to 350lbs at a bodyweight under 170! Don’t believe me? Go watch my new bench PR on YouTube!
Aside from the one arm bench press here is the rest of my top 5 exercises to increase your bench.
2. Standing Barbell Overhead Press – What??? A overhead press can increase your bench? Oh yeah! This is a great overall shoulder builder that transfers over to bench press strength greatly! Take a few weeks and focus on increasing OHP strength and see for yourself what it does to your bench numbers. An important point to remember here is that an overhead press is different from a push press. For our purposes here keep the reps strict!
3. Floor Press – This is an exercise I really “feel”. It seems like every time I consistently do it my bench goes up.
4. Board Press or Pin Press – I want to point out these are not the “same” exercises. Same range of motion yes but not the same effect. I prefer board presses but I realize not everyone trains at a facility that has them available. These movements are great if you have trouble in the top range of the movement like Kevin did in our bench press competition video.
5. Plyo Pushups – I am not a huge fan of speed benching. I will program it in occasionally but not very often. However, I do recognize the need for speed and more power in the bench so I commonly resort to plyo pushups with a med ball.
Bonus exercise: The Squat – Why? Well because the squat is the answer to pretty much everything in life. When in doubt, go squat something heavy! As always, email me with and questions, concerns, comments.
I believe it is one of the major reasons why I have been able to get my bench up to 350lbs at a bodyweight under 170! Don’t believe me? Go watch my new bench PR on YouTube!
Aside from the one arm bench press here is the rest of my top 5 exercises to increase your bench.
2. Standing Barbell Overhead Press – What??? A overhead press can increase your bench? Oh yeah! This is a great overall shoulder builder that transfers over to bench press strength greatly! Take a few weeks and focus on increasing OHP strength and see for yourself what it does to your bench numbers. An important point to remember here is that an overhead press is different from a push press. For our purposes here keep the reps strict!
3. Floor Press – This is an exercise I really “feel”. It seems like every time I consistently do it my bench goes up.
4. Board Press or Pin Press – I want to point out these are not the “same” exercises. Same range of motion yes but not the same effect. I prefer board presses but I realize not everyone trains at a facility that has them available. These movements are great if you have trouble in the top range of the movement like Kevin did in our bench press competition video.
5. Plyo Pushups – I am not a huge fan of speed benching. I will program it in occasionally but not very often. However, I do recognize the need for speed and more power in the bench so I commonly resort to plyo pushups with a med ball.
Bonus exercise: The Squat – Why? Well because the squat is the answer to pretty much everything in life. When in doubt, go squat something heavy! As always, email me with and questions, concerns, comments.