It is difficult for an athlete to put up with a lack of progress. The reason for this is the plateau state. Find out how professional bench presses reach their maximum? When an athlete is in a plateau state and this effect continues for a long period of time, then many make mistakes. This leads to an extension of the plateau time, which is very difficult to endure psychologically. Today we are going to talk about ways to overcome the dead center in the power bench press.
The reasons for the appearance of a dead center
In total, there are three reasons for the appearance of dead spots in any exercise:
- Technical errors;
- Psychology;
- Physical reasons.
Before you do anything, you must understand what caused the plateau in your case. Your further actions will depend on this. Based on practical experience, we can say that in 70 percent of cases this is due to technical errors during the exercise. Psychological problems account for only 10 percent, and the remaining 20? physical. Let's talk about them in more detail.
Psychological problems
Most often, these problems are observed in bodybuilders who switched to powerlifting. They are used to feeling the pectoral muscles, the training of which does not go as it should in the powerlifting technique. To succeed in powerlifting when performing a bench press in a lying position, the sports equipment must be pushed out with the whole body, and not only using the pectoral muscles for this. For this reason, triceps strength is primarily important here.
As a result, due to the specifics of the training used in bodybuilding, certain stereotypes are created in the subconscious.
Technical problems
There are three most common mistakes that hinder the achievement of high results:
- The first is the lack of sustainability. If you start to squeeze the shell right after you take the starting position on the bench, then you definitely will not achieve a good result. In powerlifting, there is a certain sequence of movements that allows you to squeeze out the maximum weight. You need to rest your feet on the ground and press your upper back firmly against the bench. To assess stability, ask a friend to push your knee joint. If you remained motionless, then everything was done correctly.
- The second mistake is imbalance. The sports equipment should be located at the level of the wrist and elbow joints. More often than not, athletes arch their wrists back and lose strength for this reason. Work on it and you will soon see that many issues have been fixed.
- The final mistake is not using leg strength. You should remember that in powerlifting, the bench press is a full-body movement. Watch the position of your legs so you don't lose strength.
Physical reasons
And again, there are three main reasons that prevent you from achieving results. First of all, this is not a powerful enough breakdown. To eliminate this, you need to use dynamic work at least once a week. Use dumbbells, press a barbell off the floor, etc.
Stopping in the middle of the trajectory can also be eliminated by performing dynamic work. If you have a weak compression, the third problem, then you need to additionally work on the triceps. It is thanks to this that the muscles you press the sports equipment.
How to eliminate weak points to overcome the blind spot?
When you find bottlenecks, then you need to work on eliminating them. The best option for your actions now would be to divide the training into stages. The first two stages should be devoted to the elimination of the found weaknesses. Board presses will be very effective for this.
As you already understood, the last stage of training should be given to the development of strengths. Any training program should be tailored to the individual characteristics of the organism. However, you can give some practical advice.
You need to perform each lesson in four movements:
- The first will be a speed press. Always remember to warm up and only start doing basic sets when you are fully confident that you are ready for them. Warm-up sets can be done with an empty bar.
- The second exercise there will be additional work. For this movement, you can use those exercises that allow you to develop strength. These include, say, dumbbell floor presses, triceps extensions, JM-bench press, bench press from low boards, etc. Do them in 1-3 sets with 3-5 repetitions.
- Third movement there will be an exercise that develops the strength necessary to perform additional exercises, for example, JM-bench press. This can be a pull in the direction of the face, push-ups, etc. The number of their repetitions ranges from 8 to 12.
- Fourth exercise aims to develop the required balance and stability of the muscles. This can be exercises for the posterior delta or for the development of the rotator cuff of the shoulder joint.
You need to perform these movements in each session, but at the same time change the exercises themselves. For example, today you used the floor dumbbell press as your second movement, so use the JM press the next time you workout.
For more information on ways to overcome the blind spot in the power bench press, see this video:
