Doing bench-press alone at home, what would you do if....

[Samraiwise]

It's funny, we are not the Borg, but we adapt when it's necessary.... j/k

I've been doing this for a long time (*see photos bellow). Once you get used to it, you could do it like power clean.
Since all of my Japanese friends, who have asked me how to do bench-press safely at home when you are alone, are doing fine without a single acciddent, I thought you, my fellow BB.com member, also might find the idea usefull.

*warning* When you try out this first time, have someone with you for safety and in case.
If no one is available, do this with very light weight. Even if you are an experienced lifter, no heavier than your body weight is recommended. Remember, later once you get used to it you have plenty of chances for your beloved heavy failure. *wink*

1) Using a bench with a leg attachment is recommended(preferable), easy to hook your legs under it. By the way, you do not need much weights which you put on the attachment, for the direction of force does not match with that of leg extention. A little foothold, that's all you need. A pair of dumbbells on the floor also could do but you have to make sure it doesn't role away from you. (I've never tried this without something I could hook my legs to.)

2) Do not put the whole weight of the bar onto your chest, always your arms should support some of the weight.

3) Although you could do this with sort of power clean fashion, you could do this also more slowly and cautious fashion and it might be safer.

4) I don't recommend this for your negative-rep training when the load is far beyond your max.

5) Never use a belt, any kind. The bar will get stuck and you will never get up. Wear a T shirt for it makes things smooth some degree and especially if you have a sensitive skin.

6) Don't look at my ugly face too long, you may be getting sick. *ahem* I'm handsomer when I am not lifting. Maybe that's why my wife always goes out and leave me alone whenever I start lifting. *shrug*

Enough said, please follow your own good judgement and have some fun!!








OP's NOTE:
Actually I did the same maneuver twice for this pseudo(of good will) sequential 6-shots since my digicam's self-timer enables me to take only three shots at a time. ( You could see that by the position of the grip part of the plate in each photo.) I really wish I had a videocam. Because I just found out this self-timer duration is too painfully long for this kind of shooting, I have to pose and wait at those difficult positions during its countdown until each shot to be taken.

[FullSack]

i've gotten stuck 3 times, alone, i don't have the weights secured on the bar, so i am able to tip the bar to the side, the weights slide off one side, then obviously the bar flips up and the weights rip the bar down on the other side and the weights come crashing down. Lots of banging and crashing but it works.

[AlexMR]

Why do we always have to work the damned chest to failure?

I dont know but i think this might be one of the reasons why we plateau so easily on this exercise.

Just work the chest as any other body part. If you dont have company stop one or two reps BEFORE failure.

This has happened to me twice already and it s not fun. Good that there are like 2389472499023trainees in the gold's gym.

[jdmalm123]

Welcome to: At-Home Gym Survival 101

If you fail the course, you die!

[I dont work at Ballys]

damn you turned red as a tomato hahahaha

[BostonBlue]

FullSack I've done the tipping thing.......it flies out of control all crazy, its a little scary, esp if you've got more than a 45 on each side. I've practiced a few times, it does work. You just gotta be ready when that one side slides off cause that other side drops FAST

[tommytom]

this a joke?

[GoJu]

get a power rack

[AD1985]

get a power rack

That'll limit ROM.

Good thread!

[ezekielq]

u will wreck your back lifting like that

that 4th pic imagine all the pressure on ur spine.

y not just dumble press to failure?

might smash ur electronics.

[yabbayabba]

That'll limit ROM.

Good thread!

Put the pin one notch below your chest level. Sure it won't keep the bar from hitting your chest but it will keep it off your neck. Unless you are a fat bastard it just takes a little push and the bar is completely off your body.

[ezekielq]

^yeh i do that.

what i do is either push the bar to my stomach which is lower than the safety catches or to my neck which is lower than the safetys. but have to watch for that sweet chin music

[superfunk]

u will wreck your back lifting like that

that 4th pic imagine all the pressure on ur spine.

y not just dumble press to failure?

might smash ur electronics.

Bollocks. I've had to do the same maneuver on BP a couple of times and there is no noticeable pressure on the spine. I do the exact same movement every week after finishing a set of skull crushers and i've never had problems. *shrug*

[rsheele]

Good info. I saw a guy do that at my gym....I guess he didn't feel like asking for a spot.

Personally I haven't touched a BB for benching in a long time. I'm just a DB guy now.

[ezekielq]

Bollocks. I've had to do the same maneuver on BP a couple of times and there is no noticeable pressure on the spine. I do the exact same movement every week after finishing a set of skull crushers and i've never had problems. *shrug*

it may b only noticeabble in the long term.

[Beowulf44]

Good info. I saw a guy do that at my gym....I guess he didn't feel like asking for a spot.

Personally I haven't touched a BB for benching in a long time. I'm just a DB guy now.

Yeah, I just use dumbbells. I can go as heavy as I want with those, ****.

[superfunk]

Bollocks. I've had to do the same maneuver on BP a couple of times and there is no noticeable pressure on the spine. I do the exact same movement every week after finishing a set of skull crushers and i've never had problems. *shrug*

it may b only noticeabble in the long term.

See the bold?

[yabbayabba]

The best advice is just not to goto failure. I always know when I'm not going to be able to put another one up so I don't even try it, but things happen. I lift in my basement with concrete all around and rubber mat under the bench, so I just don't use collars and if I have a problem I can just dump them. But since I don't try and play with fire I haven't done that in a long, long time.

[bodyfuel]

Great post !

[DiamondDelts]

get a power rack

We agree once again on something.

[Samraiwise]

I really appreciate your response all.

i've gotten stuck 3 times, alone, i don't have the weights secured on the bar, so i am able to tip the bar to the side, the weights slide off one side, then obviously the bar flips up and the weights rip the bar down on the other side and the weights come crashing down. Lots of banging and crashing but it works.

Glad you are alright.

Why do we always have to work the damned chest to failure?
I dont know but i think this might be one of the reasons why we plateau so easily on this exercise.
Just work the chest as any other body part. If you dont have company stop one or two reps BEFORE failure.
This has happened to me twice already and it s not fun. Good that there are like 2389472499023trainees in the gold's gym.

I agree with the idea, "not to failure always". My intention was never to encourage to go to failure. This is for an accidental failure. This is the same as a fire drill. Preparing well never hurts.

As for me, I do some single sets (near 1RM) as part of my rutine workout.
As you know, when you do a single set there is just "success" or "failure" and no between to go. Needless to say also there's no reps to spare before failure. Thanks for the opinion.

Welcome to: At-Home Gym Survival 101
If you fail the course, you die!

We all die someday, I'd rather die trying. j/k
The whole point of this thread is to be ready for a failure before it actually happens and to prevent what you've just suggested. Nobody wants to die including me.

damn you turned red as a tomato hahahaha

LOL, I just lazed in the sunshine and got a tan before the workout yesterday. I'll miss the fleeting summer...
And of course, I had to pose and wait till the shutter clicked at that position.

[Samraiwise]

FullSack I've done the tipping thing.......it flies out of control all crazy, its a little scary, esp if you've got more than a 45 on each side. I've practiced a few times, it does work. You just gotta be ready when that one side slides off cause that other side drops FAST

Like this?

this a joke?

Absolutely not. But thanks for reading.

get a power rack

I proposed an alternative here. This is for those who cannot afford it or their space simply won't permit it and so on. Life and the conditions it offers differ from person to person. Thanks for the suggestion.

That'll limit ROM.

Good thread!

Hi AD1985, I appreciate your positive response. Thank you and I'm honored.

u will wreck your back lifting like that
that 4th pic imagine all the pressure on ur spine.
y not just dumble press to failure?
might smash ur electronics.

Thanks for your concern. But with my knees bent, once the bar settled directly on my abs, sitting up couldn't be a problem. Rest of the movement is simmilar to rack pulls. I believe usually you could do rack pulls heavier than your bench, right?

Like I mentioned above, my ugly facial contortion and pink tomato color is from stoping and holding that pose for a extra seconds for the camera, not from the pain or any discomfort of this exercise itself.

I'd been training like this from age 25 to 32, and restarted my workout at age 47 last july. Never have smashed anything. But again thanks for your concern.

Bollocks. I've had to do the same maneuver on BP a couple of times and there is no noticeable pressure on the spine. I do the exact same movement every week after finishing a set of skull crushers and i've never had problems. *shrug*

Exactly.

[Samraiwise]

Good info. I saw a guy do that at my gym....I guess he didn't feel like asking for a spot.

Personally I haven't touched a BB for benching in a long time. I'm just a DB guy now.

Thanks my friend, I want to do DB too, but my DB shaft cannot hold more than 40kg( 88lbs ), I planned once to buy hex-DBs but not enough space and I need at least a few weights variations. I get stuck to training at home. Going to gym is out of question, I train five times a week at least but only holdays I could go to gym. I can't afford to pay that much only for twice a week.

Yeah, I just use dumbbells. I can go as heavy as I want with those, ****.

Thanks for reading. Yes, I like DB too.

The best advice is just not to goto failure. I always know when I'm not going to be able to put another one up so I don't even try it, but things happen. I lift in my basement with concrete all around and rubber mat under the bench, so I just don't use collars and if I have a problem I can just dump them. But since I don't try and play with fire I haven't done that in a long, long time.

Thank you, yabba. I agree with you. Train without a failure is one of the best concepts both for safety and for steady gain.

This is just a suggestion of an alternative for someone like me who wants to try "uncertain lift" at home by choice, without being hampered by fear of accidental failure.
Again, thanks for the reply, your opinion is always welcome. I really appreciate it.

Great post !

Thank you, Bodyfuel. I'm honored and feel real happy!!

We agree once again on something.

I really wanted power rack. If I could use 2 meter bar instead of 1.8 meter. Here in Japan, housing conditions are terrible, I mean space-wise.

[DiamondDelts]

Thanks my friend, I want to do DB too, but my DB shaft cannot hold more than 40kg( 88lbs ), I planned once to buy hex-DBs but not enough space and I need at least a few weights variations. I get stuck to training at home. Going to gym is out of question, I train five times a week at least but only holdays I could go to gym. I can't afford to pay that much only for twice a week.

Thanks for reading. Yes, I like DB too.

Thank you, yabba. I agree with you. Train without a failure is one of the best concepts both for safety and for steady gain.

This is just a suggestion of an alternative for someone like me who wants to try "uncertain lift" at home by choice, without being hampered by fear of accidental failure.
Again, thanks for the reply, your opinion is always welcome. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Bodyfuel. I'm honored and feel real happy!!

I really wanted power rack. If I could use 2 meter bar instead of 1.8 meter. Here in Japan, housing conditions are terrible, I mean space-wise.

I hear you bro. This is a good thread. And before I had a power rack I used all these tips you gave here to save my toasty ass on more than one occasion when I failed my last rep at home benchpressing in the past.

[staven]

there have been lots of times when benching that you think you probably have enough strength to lift it one more time, get the bar half way up and then get to the ooh **** I aint gonna make it point. You should prepare for any eventuality. I've done the rolling technique, which really doesn't hurt but can be scary with alot of weight. Just don't use collars and make sure nothing is in the vicinity that can be broken when the weights do come down.

[GeorgeWBush]

strong smiley faces

[jgreystoke]

I got secondhand plasterers trestles from a builders suppliers for 50 bucks. They are rated 900kg or 2000lbs and look like a crude version of Ironminds pillars of power. www.ironmind.com . They work just fine when I bother to do close grip benches, and will be good enough to act as a safety rack even when I'm a monster.

[JoeST]

I've found myself doing this a couple times, because I always lift by myself. Although I'm still lifting pretty light & the heaviest thing I've had to roll off was 160lbs. I think anything more & I would try to tip it off to the side.

[GoJu]

I proposed an alternative here. This is for those who cannot afford it or their space simply won't permit it and so on. Life and the conditions it offers differ from person to person. Thanks for the suggestion.

that's coo, I've rolled off 225 before on a free bench so I know how to do this but just letting the bar hit some pins would be way easier especially when you're at heavier weights.

[ahms]

I have done this many times when i used to train at home.
Your stomach is a little red after rolling the bar across otherwise its fine.