T Nation

Bench ROM Change with Weight Loss

Powerlifting
#1

Well I have recently dropped a fair bit of weight (98 to 86kg) and my bench is starting to suffer. Realiztically the problem appears to be arising for 2 main reasons:

  1. My chest is WAY less thicker so I find that my ROM has jumped up a fair bit
  2. Due to losing a fair bit of meat on my ass, I find that my butt pops up really easily and I am having trouble engaging any leg drive and really getting into a good arch without lifting off from the bench.

I was wondering is anyone has had a similar experience and has any suggestions for things that helped them develop a new bench groove suited to the increased ROM.

#2

  1. What’s helping me is widening my grip up more than usual. Helps a good bit. If your already on the brink of being illegally wide then your only option really is to get stronger… or bigger :-/

  2. Bring your feet into you as far as possible it took me awhile to get the flexibility but if you can get your feet back far enough that your knee is lower than your hips it is practically impossible to hip up off the bench… or go the other way and look at the Kara Bohigien benches and what she does with her feet and legs.

#3

Well man,

I think you are looking for advice from some more amateur people than yourself, especially since you have quite the impressive total already. However, I will give you some ideas of what I did when I lost some chub.

Chest and ass lost some size, thusly my stroke increased. The things I did were…

1.) Increase grip width, moved it out of index finger on the ring, even on raw work. If your technique is good, which I am sure it is. You will be fine with this grip.

2.) There is two things that could possibly be causing your butt to raise. If you tuck your feet back towards your head, then you are tucked too far back. Move them forward 3-4 inches. If your feet are out in front of you, put them out as wide as they can possibly go, and push your knees out as hard as you can. You will feel your hips/glutes tighten right up. I think of leg drive as a leg extension type movement. I find it puts a lot of momentum towards sending the bar off the chest. As you know, more momentum, more speed through the lift.

As I said man, these are just cues that helped me out. You are already on your way to a hell of a total and everything we say is simply here-say. Your a big boy, and a smart lifter.

Good luck brother.