Hey guys, I am not much of a bencher, but recently switch my gym to the basement, where cielings are to low to OH press. Right now I am workint with weights in the low to mid 200s. I want to tighten up my form and protect my shoulders a bit, so I am going to buy a slingshot. But, which one do you guys recomennd the reactive (blue) the orginal (red)?
Reactive should work just fine.
Did you have good luck with it?
You could just do seated OHP or Zydrunas press.
To your question, though, I have the reactive and bench mid to upper 200s. If that helps. It definitely overloads the triceps.
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I do seated OH, just not the same, plus I always avoided the bench, cause I sucked at it. Now I am more motivated to do it. I hoping the slingshot helps my form more so then add weight.
It won’t help your form, I don’t know where you got that idea. You can use it to build your triceps as well as get used to the feeling of heavier weights in your hands but if you want to improve your bench technique you are going to have to bench more. Try 3 second pauses on your chest.
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Ya, I don’t use it a whole lot, but I haven’t noticed it improving my form. Honestly, if anything it’s probably bad for form just because it squeezes you so tight that you don’t need to really squeeze the lats (it does it for you).
Definitely good for triceps, though.
Mark Bell said it helps to keep the elbows in the right spot through out the entire lift. Allan Thrall and Mark Bell made a video on it. I am benching 2x per week, one day is max effort and the other is a lighter higher rep day.
He certainly knows better than me. I just haven’t noticed a difference form wise.
I’m not sure about that, it could just as easily be a marketing tactic. It makes you want to tuck your elbows (which you are not supposed to do, at least not a lot, for raw benching) but you get more help from the slingshot if you keep you elbows flared at the bottom. If you bench heavy (like 85-95%) you get the same effect, shitty form will show more than with lighter weights. You can record your work sets and if your form doesn’t look right then figure out what you are doing wrong and fix it, there isn’t a better way than that.
The slingshot is good, don’t get me wrong, but it seems that a lot of people (mostly novice lifters) get too excited about it. I think the main reason is that it allows you to handle bigger weights. Personally, I’m going to do more slingshot benching because my bench is stalled and I recently heard some people saying how training for equipped bench (using both a shirt and slingshot - no, not at the same time) increased their raw bench while barely doing any raw benching. I’m not going to buy a bench shirt, but I already have a slingshot so I will put it to use. For novice lifters with bad technique, the best thing would be to do more volume and stay a few reps short of failure. Grinding out reps doesn’t do much to improve technique, and especially not if you are doing high reps.
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Ya, I wasnt sold on it. I heard it works, but helping form im sketpical
I do not think my technique is awful, like any lift it can it approve. I upped my volumes and I will see how I do, before the slingshot. But, I also read it incases your bench and prevents injuries.
Yeah, its definitely easier on your shoulders. I heard Mark Bell originally made it so he could train around a shoulder injuries. But if you overdo slingshot benching then you will have a strong lockout and be weak off the chest, not exactly what you want unless you plan to lift equipped.
And to answer your original question about whether to buy the red or blue slingshot, take a look at the recommendations on his site. Personally, I use the yellow slingshot but I bench in the upper 300s, I can remember reading that the yellow slingshot is not appropriate for people who cant bench 300. If I put 275 on the bar it feels like I’m rowing the bar to my chest. So if you can handle the weights you need to be able to lift to properly use the red one, I would go with that simply because you will get more of an overload with it. Otherwise go with the blue one.
I don’t plan on ever competing. Lifting is just a hobby. I want to hit the 300,400,500 numbers. The bench is just frustrating me. My deadlift and squat went right up. I will def hit those numbers long before the 300 bench.
What is a zydrunas press? I am looking for different ohp to try.
I started out with red, start out light to get used to, i assume you train alone .
If that is case dont go gonzo and max out with, use for couple down sets , for triceps.
If you have 40 pounds over max and something goes wrong, your screwed.
Also i like a spotter and lift off as easier to set up with and slingshot dont move.
I find it makes benching easier on my shoulders and even elbows despite the triceps working harder. The same equivalent volume and intensity from sling shot work vs regular bench is so much easier to recover from as far as my joints are concerned so I can go harder and more frequent on bench now.
Granted, I doing a good bit of db benching and db flies to make up for the lack of chest work from that much slingshot work. I’ll just have to see if this actually leads to more pounds on my bench.
Save your money , buy something else for your gym.
Not an “expert”, but there are so many other things to try to boost your bench. Floor press, rack presses, board presses, lock outs, etc… If you are benching at home try all these things ( one at a time). Do a heavy day , rack work then some reps. Do a second day lighter or DB work for the bottom. So many options. Pick something,run it 12weeks and see what happens.