Archive for September, 2008

Scott Mendelson 1015lb Bench Press

Is that Freaking or what !!!

The dude is 314 lbs and has abs. Not bad since most powerlifters tend to have a belly.

His are Tips as follows:

1) Put your back into it:

Big chests do not make big bench presses. Proper technique makes the primary movers the back (latissimus dorsi), triceps, and rear deltoids. On a standard 15-17″ bench, pull your shoulder blades together so the shoulders rest on, and not off, the bench’s surface. This shortens the distance from the chest to full extension and eliminates your arms’ weakest range

2) Lift with your legs:

Put your body into a near-full arch when performing a maximal-lift bench press: support your body on the toes or balls of your feet by putting your feet underneath your body and arching your back. Squeeze the bench between your thighs to stabilize your body and use leg drive to initiate the lift from the bottom.

3) Train for triples:

Dedicate one work-out per week to the bench press, performing 5-8 sets of 3 reps with 5-7 minutes between sets. Use 60% of your 1-repetition maximum (1RM), adding 5-10% per workout.

4) Emphasize tricep, rear deltoid, and brachialis development:

Following the above 5-8 sets of bench press, perform one exercise for rear deltoids, one exercise for triceps, and one exercise for the brachialis. Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 2-4 minutes between sets.

Rear deltoids-
Using a seated pec deck machine (used for crossing the arms in front of the body), reverse the motion by facing the opposite direction and moving your arms backwards.

Triceps-
Choose either A) tricep extensions or B) board presses (place a 4×4 board on the chest and perform bench presses within this partial range of movement).

Brachialis-
The brachialis is a muscle on the outside of the bicep that supports arm movement at the elbow. Perform hammer curls (bicep curls where the thumb is kept pointing to the ceiling and the palm is not turned upward) to address this bodypart.

5) For safety, do not use a “false-grip”, where the thumb is placed under, rather than around, the bar:

“Once I was bench pressing with a false-grip and I got 584 lbs. to lock-out. The spotters thought I had it, so they took their hands away. The bar slipped, and 584 lbs. bounced off of my chest twice. I couldn’t breathe properly for 2 months, but I had no broken bones-not even a bruise.” Moral of the story: Hold the bar at shoulder-width with your thumb wrapped around the bar-safety is a precursor to efficacy?and results.

Train systematically, train intelligently, and follow the guidelines of the world’s #1 bench presser to actualize your true genetic strength potential.

Yeah I hit my thighs today. Started off with a 15 minute HIIT session on the rowing machine.

It was good and as I have posted HIIT does the trick for cardio and fat loss. Normally after this I would do a bunch of stomach crunches but my guts was full from a gigantic feast.

Next I just went straight on to the leg press and did 6 heavy sets. Then I did a bunch of seated calf raises with all the weight on the machine.

Like I said I had a giant meal about 90 minutes prior to this workout so I was too stuffed to max it out.

Right now I feel like taking a sauna. Cheers.

The High Intensity Interval training definitely works. I have found that its not too difficult to break into. If you are a newbie you may find it a bit too much.

I definitely see some improvements in my physique and feel a whole lot fitter from a cardio vascular perspective. I will continue to train in this manner from now on. Its great !!!

Im having a day off today though – dont want to burn out. Cheers.

I am still planning on my marathon run. But over the last few weeks I have been doing HIIT training. This involves 30 seconds of super intense activity followed by 30 seconds of moderate activity – you continue this without rest for 15 minutes.

The beauty is you can do it with any form of exercise. My first HIIT workout I used the rowing machine for 15 minutes then the grinder for another 15. So it was 30 minutes in total then I did some abdominal work and some stretches.

Because HIIT workouts are so short you can still do your regular weights too – which I am.

High Intensity Interval Training has beed proven in scientific studies to be highly effective in combating stubborn abdominal fat. It is also more effective than traditional long slow aerobics at burning fat and speeding up the metabolism.