Critique on Raw Bench Press

I have competed some, now trying to hit as much as possible, preparing for the IPF raw bench world championship, if there ever is one. Here’s a gym bench, with no pause

I do high frequency, low volume, always max speed and never grind. I don’t do any assistance work, as that just slows my speed and causes me to recover slower. Speed and bench press power is king and key! thoughts? hoping to hit 150 kg in a few workouts

Hey man, really nice bench, 145 @71 is pretty sick. You’re keeping your wrists in a good position and really using your legs well.

My one concern with how you’re using your legs, is it almost seems like you’re letting the bar dip a bit on your chest and you’re heaving a bit. You may get called on that. I’d recommend just keeping a bit tighter when it gets on your chest, and drive back with your legs instead of straight up. You butt may be a concern as well.

Remember, practice the way you want to compete, so if your butt is coming up now, it may happen when you’re under pressure in competition.

The other thing I noticed is that you’re losing your upper back when you unrack. Just get someone to hand off to you, doesn’t matter who it is, it can be an old lady and that would be enough, but you have to keep that upper back tight.

Those are really the only 2 things I’d advise you to work on.

Great benching, good luck at worlds.

Agree with Larry.

If I have any thought on the rest it would just be that at a certain point your bench numbers are going to stop increasing and hit the wall. The only way to increase from there is through assistance exercises. I mean at a certain point whether you like them or not, your going to have to incorporate accessory work into your program.

Still, impressive numbers at your weight.

Larry10, thanks! about the dipping and heaving, I’m currently using an olympic bar and benching like this guy: 2x217,5kg @7,5 - YouTube (fredrik smulter)

I know that I should probably switch to a powerlifting bar, and then I will lift like this guy:
RAW paused benchpress 2x212,5kg @ 105kg BW - YouTube (stefan jamroz)

the loosing of the back I think is because my bench is way to slim :frowning:

thank you very much for feed back!

tattoo: I didnt quite explain, I’m just skipping muscular assistance work, such as pushdowns, flyes, etc. I do some board benching, and I might incorporate some chains / pinpress sometime, but right now I think this “bench only” approach really lets me recover very fast and maintain really great speed! thank you for feed back!

gonna try and hit 150 and upload it, would very much appreciate further advice :slight_smile:

The second guy is way better.

I hear you about assistance work, but skipping back work could open you up to a pec tear. That being said, if you handle it, the no assistance work will really specialize you for benching.

But I would say def do some rows and rear delts, they’ll help you use your lats more, and that will get you a bigger bench.

keep practicing

Emergency gotcha now, you will love chain and band work when you around to it. Hit that 150kg like a Boss, dude!

Larry10, both won the IPF world championships this year :smiley: (with bench shirts) I do plenty of back work, did 8 sets of chins today. I tend to cut down on legs though, because I’m a slacker and it makes my lower back ache when I bench. ^^

tattoo, aye, they’re really much fun! thanks man!

[quote]Emergency wrote:
the loosing of the back I think is because my bench is way to slim :([/quote]

You know if you’re really serious into being mostly a bench specialist, I’m sure you know how worth your while it would be to have an actual competition bench to train on. I’m very fortunate that my gym has one. I almost can’t bench anywhere else I’m so spoiled now lol.

Anyway, something to ponder. The bench is wider, the correct height off the ground, thicker, and most importantly (IMO) grippier. I can get so much tighter on that bench than your typical commercial gym bench which feels like a damn slip-n-slide by comparison.

I like your style and your training methodology.

Was curious about your squat …

csulli; cant afford one :frowning:

field; thanks! I’ve done 110 kg x 5, so not very good^^

[quote]Emergency wrote:
csulli; cant afford one :frowning:
[/quote]

Well I couldn’t either. Do you train at home?

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]Emergency wrote:
csulli; cant afford one :frowning:
[/quote]

Well I couldn’t either. Do you train at home?[/quote]

Well I got my own gym, live far away from any city.

gonna attempt to do some more weights today, but if im feeling like crap I’ll just work out as usual :slight_smile: wish me luck!

sweet!