So I got given a Reactive Slingshot. I’ve used the red one at the gym, and the Reactive is definitely softer but I like how it doesn’t affect my groove at all.
Question is, how should it be integrated into my benching?
I’ve noticed recently that it’s become harder to bring my strength to bear in bench. For instance, I can hit 220x5 no problems but a month ago it was almost always with around three reps in the tank. Now, more like one to two reps left. Doesn’t seem to matter when I bench.
I bench every day I train, and in the last three months I’ve put around 30 lbs on my max and for the first time all my working sets are at 220 lbs or higher. My current max is 286 lbs, so still very low, but my max three months ago was 253 and I can hit that for a triple even on a bad day now.
Anyway, I was thinking for a while to maybe use the Reactive for about 75% of my sets. I’d do my heavy work workout, and the first working set of my practice sets without but the rest with.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
So I got given a Reactive Slingshot. I’ve used the red one at the gym, and the Reactive is definitely softer but I like how it doesn’t affect my groove at all.
Question is, how should it be integrated into my benching?
I’ve noticed recently that it’s become harder to bring my strength to bear in bench. For instance, I can hit 220x5 no problems but a month ago it was almost always with around three reps in the tank. Now, more like one to two reps left. Doesn’t seem to matter when I bench.
I bench every day I train, and in the last three months I’ve put around 30 lbs on my max and for the first time all my working sets are at 220 lbs or higher. My current max is 286 lbs, so still very low, but my max three months ago was 253 and I can hit that for a triple even on a bad day now.
Anyway, I was thinking for a while to maybe use the Reactive for about 75% of my sets. I’d do my heavy work workout, and the first working set of my practice sets without but the rest with.
Good idea? Bad idea? [/quote]
Sounds like you just hit a growth spurt. Just keep working. You’ll push thru eventually. Break it up every now and then, but try not to go too far away from what was working.
I’m actually planning a bench focused cycle where the majority of the work will be in a slingshot. My triceps are the weak point, so I’m hoping that overloading them for 12 weeks or so will fix them. I’m interested to see how it works for you.
I wouldn’t get too carried away with the slingshot, it’s useful but it can easily be overused. The only reason to do the majority of benching with the slingshot is if you are injured or compete equipped and don’t want to wear a shirt all the time. Too much slingshot work is like too much band work - it will make you weak at the bottom. The more force and speed you can generate at the bottom, the easier your lockout will be. Learning to engage the triceps sooner will help too, close grip bench and JM press help with that.
I use the slingshot sometimes, usually for a few weeks at a time. I usually treat it as a separate exercise, work up without it until things get heavy and then continue with the slingshot. I have also used basically for backoff volume after doing multiple raw singles with 90% or so. Just throw on the slingshot and do some AMRAP sets, not necessarily close to failure of course.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
So I got given a Reactive Slingshot. I’ve used the red one at the gym, and the Reactive is definitely softer but I like how it doesn’t affect my groove at all.
Question is, how should it be integrated into my benching?
I’ve noticed recently that it’s become harder to bring my strength to bear in bench. For instance, I can hit 220x5 no problems but a month ago it was almost always with around three reps in the tank. Now, more like one to two reps left. Doesn’t seem to matter when I bench.
I bench every day I train, and in the last three months I’ve put around 30 lbs on my max and for the first time all my working sets are at 220 lbs or higher. My current max is 286 lbs, so still very low, but my max three months ago was 253 and I can hit that for a triple even on a bad day now.
Anyway, I was thinking for a while to maybe use the Reactive for about 75% of my sets. I’d do my heavy work workout, and the first working set of my practice sets without but the rest with.
Good idea? Bad idea? [/quote]
Sounds like you just hit a growth spurt. Just keep working. You’ll push thru eventually. Break it up every now and then, but try not to go too far away from what was working.
[/quote]
That sounds pretty sensible, now I come to think about it.
I’ve got a heavy bench day coming up next week, meant to be hitting 264 for doubles. If I hit those well enough it’ll be an indicator that everything is basically on track.
Thanks everyone else for the input, likewise makes a ton of sense. I’ll incorporate the reactive sparingly and see how I go.
I’ve got the reactive slingshot myself and the way I’ve been using it is to get some extra rep work in after my regular bench sessions, I personally suffer with tennis elbow so have to stay away from extensions etc so this tool is a great way for me to get some triceps work in without making my elbow worse.
I just recently got the yellow full boar slingshot. First time ever using one so I don’t know how it compares to others.
Basically for a healthy person Mark recommends using it after your reg bench session is done as a way to overload with weight or reps…
On a wim- I just threw on a 25 on each side, additional to my top working weight and did some sets to near failure . Letting the reps regulate how much extra work I got in for the day… Seems to work for me so far.
I think I’ve figured out a good way to incorporate my Slingshot into my training.
Since I bench every time I train, I’ll use it for the last couple of sets if I’ve got heavy bench the next day, and on heavy bench day use it for the last set to get more reps out.