Bad in bench press

[justine108]

@jakesmith99 Do linear programming for your bench. It will go up a lot in 16-20 weeks

 

[kutloello]

@jakesmith99 Hand positioning helps. Grab a pair of dbs and use them to position the eyes of the elbows more forward than in. Mess around with angles til you find the sweet spot. Carry that over to bench such that you imagine bending the bar. Another thing that helped me was doubling up a hand and putting it around my arms when benching to help with engagement. Good luck and keep at it. Slow progress is solid progress

 

[adirtuval]

@jakesmith99 Besides you strength, Check your technique. There is a reason why powerlifters do that arch with their back - it is a movement that requires more than just the pectorals - unless your aim is to focus only on these muscles.

If you want a program, try looking for reverse juggernaut. It may not be the best, but it is easy to find.

 

[samerobert]

@jakesmith99 CrossFit loves to act like there’s no point to doing bench press, although EVERY coach and box owner will do it when the gym is closed. There I said it.

 

[david2001]

@jakesmith99 I'd gladly trade if you happen to be good at the Olympic Weightlifting. I'm very happy with my Squat/Bench(+Pushups)/Deadlift.... but feel like a POS when it comes to Clean/Snatch/etc/etc.

There are a lot of non-cross fit programs out there to increase strength on those moves. For pushups I used an app years ago called '100 Pushups' and then for bench I followed a program from Jim Stoppani called 'Shortcut to size'.... could easily just take the bench workout out of here and incorporate that once or twice a week into your routine. Gonna take some work. Good luck!

 

[morningcoffee]

@jakesmith99 What are your goals for bench, and why do you want to get stronger at it?

 

[rustedbeef]

@jakesmith99 What do you weigh? I find bench doesn’t correlate with your body weight as much as some of the other exercises like squat and deadlift. Anyway, if you want to get better at something, do it more

 

[crossworx]

@jakesmith99 I started benching 2x a week before class to improve mine. My gym doesn’t do bench often so I have to work it in outside of class time

 

[chismere]

@jakesmith99 I was in the same boat. Started doing what we called pyramid sets. 10,8,6,4,2. Increasing the weight on the way up. Then do it in reverse, decreasing on the way down.

Seemed to really help upper body strength. As well as confidence in the bench which in hindsight was also a limiting factor for me at least.

 

[leemills]

@jakesmith99 This was me. I had to build in bench work outside of CF. I would go to a globo gym or workout outside of class time. It helped tremendously. I just kept it simple - 5x5 at 75-85% once a week, adding incrementally each week if possible. Bench press isn’t programmed very often in CF gyms in part because the affiliates don’t have the equipment and it can be tricky if people need spots. You also could ask your coach about subbing in dumbbell floor bench press for other movements in workouts if that is something you want to focus on.

 

[james24essex]

@jakesmith99 How often do you bench at the moment? My bench went up significantly when I benched three times per week.

 

[glory2jesus]

@jakesmith99 I think training chest in crossfit is underrated. I do bench at least once a week and add some other chest excercises if it is not in the programming like weighted ring dips i.e.

My 1rm is not high and far from the weight i benched when i trained in a normal gym but it is good enough

e/ and i do train biceps+triceps isolated 1-2 times a week. just 10min in the end as accessory is more then enough and helps a lot

 

[james24essex]

@glory2jesus Direct work for biceps/triceps is the most boring thing ever imo, but you're right, it's totally worth it.

 

[drphileo]

@jakesmith99 Just make it a point to bench and do pushups during NFT. I sucked tremendously at double unders, so I worked on them for 5-10min after every WOD. In a couple months I was one of the best. I was never great at pushups so I would just do them every couple days. I never a beast but at my best I could knock out 40+. That'll take you a long way in regular WODs.

 

[blauaugen]

@jakesmith99 train shoulders and triceps and your bench will go up , obviously continue training chest also with not just bench but also flies and different angles like incline and decline to get more depth in the chest muscles

 

[dmissick]

@jakesmith99 If you want to get better, you need to do it more often... I think a coach should be able to prescribe you some plan to get better...

 

[castso]

@jakesmith99 Most gyms don’t do a lot of benching so if you’re interested in pumping that up I’d recommend strength sessions outside of class. As far as push ups go, I’ve found success doing EMOMs, for example the other day I did a 5 minute EMOM of 20 push ups which definitely tested endurance.

 

[reflectj]

@jakesmith99 Why worry about it, get to a level where you can do Murph in under an hour or so with pushups. But as far as bench it might be the most overrated exercise. Doesn’t transfer well to any area of life except being blowhard on IG and I can’t tell you how many people have shoulder problems from it. Crossfit is known for not benching and I’m happy for it

 

[unworthyacolyte]

@jakesmith99 I always had a real poor bench.

Tried those tips and my weights went up instantly.
Using the legs and "bending the bar with your pinkies " felt really good for me.

 

[tammy1ed2]

@jakesmith99 I know this is counter to the “hopper theory” of CrossFit, but honestly if you’re training exclusively CrossFit, you probably won’t be great at bench. Bench press is counter intuitive to the Olympic lifts, if I remember correctly it was Lu who said he explicitly doesn’t train them because it messes with over head pressing and overhead mobility.

Personally I don’t see much of a reason to be explicitly good at bench, I’d rather have my push up numbers or gymnastic numbers with pressing with the chest go up.