Hardgainer.com - Experiments in the Gym: The Bench Press!

[webmaster]

You should always experiment in your training. By performing experiments you can find out what "works" and what doesn't. This should be an on going process because something that works today may not work a few months from now. However, your experiments should always be performed from a foundation of common sense.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hardgainer6.htm

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Do not arch??

[brachilius]

Interesting article but at the end he states that skull crushers, tricep pushdowns, and close grip bench press don't do anything? Ummm....what am I missing here? Any thoughts out there?

[ACSM Man]

First off, what is the qualifications of this article's author? Any sports medicine researcher will tell you that in order to achieve optimum muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth), you must lift within 75% to 95% of your 1RM.

Practically, that means finding a weight heavy enough so that you cannot perform more than 8 repetitions, while light enough so that you can perform at least 3.

Even an exercise physiology student in their junior year would be able to tell you that lifting a weight that is 50% to 60% of your 1RM, which is a weight that only allows you to perform 12 to 15 repetitions, will not produce optimal results. Don't get me wrong: your muscles will still grow, just slower.

[JamesBarlow]

Originally posted by brachilius
Interesting article but at the end he states that skull crushers, tricep pushdowns, and close grip bench press don't do anything? Ummm....what am I missing here? Any thoughts out there?

I have been training at home for a while now, so I haven't had the chance to do pushdowns, but agree with him that they are overrated.

I also agree with him on skullcrushers. I know many people really like them, but once I started handling some decent weights my elbows really hurt. They always felt very akward to me, and the simple fact is that they are an isolation movement.

I was hesitant at first to start doing close grip bench press for triceps, but much like the author I was doing them with my hands to close. Once I adjusted them I found the movement to be much better than any other direct tricep movement.

I only use the exercise sparingly, since my triceps get hit very hard with flat bench and dips, but I think they are the hands down winner for dirct work.

[ACSM Man]

Originally posted by brachilius
Interesting article but at the end he states that skull crushers, tricep pushdowns, and close grip bench press don't do anything? Ummm....what am I missing here? Any thoughts out there?

Hey,

From my experiences and researches in weightlifting, muscle fiber recruitment, muscular hypertrophy, biomechanical advantages of muscles, etc, triceps dips and bench pressing are the two most effective exercises for your triceps. I prefer using bench pressing to develop my triceps simply because it kills two birds with one stone -- pectoralis complex and triceps brachii (not to mention also the anterior deltoids and the anconeus).

Bench pressing (along with triceps dips) places your triceps at an angle that gives it the best biomechanical advantage to handle resistance. This will result in more muscle fibers being recruited, thus more upsetting of your body's homeostasis, which results in a larger muscular overcompensation from your body.

Your muscles grow because a demand has been imposed on it. This is in accordance with the SAID principle, which stands for "Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands". Hence, if the demand that you impose on your triceps is a resistance that is 5% more than what it is accustomed to (which is what triceps kickbacks will do), then your body will adapt accordingly by adding an extra 5% to the strength and mass of your triceps. Likewise, if you impose a resistance that is 60% more than what your triceps are accustomed to (which is what close-grip bench pressing will do), then they will grow accordingly. However, if you impose a 70%-80% resistance (which is what bench pressing and dips will do), your triceps will certainly grow much faster than if you were to impose the other two demands mentioned above.

I have been using nothing but the bench press to develop my triceps for the past year and I have always been complimented on how massive my triceps are.

Thanks,
ACSM Man

[teenwantsmass]

Originally posted by brachilius
Interesting article but at the end he states that skull crushers, tricep pushdowns, and close grip bench press don't do anything? Ummm....what am I missing here? Any thoughts out there?

Yeah, you need to read closer. That's what you are missing:

Quote from the article on the close-grip: This exercise has been a mainstay in my routine and will continue to be until the last shovel full is thrown on top. In my early years of training, I did too many sets. Today, when I do the close-grip bench press, I do one all-out set. I use the same repetition range as the regular bench press.