Take Out Phase RSS

How you get the bar from point A to point B is a very detailed step in the bench press! Especially as you work up in weight. A common mistake is simply pressing upwards to get the bar off the rackThe key component here is that we don't allow our shoulders to come out of position. This easily happens from unracking without a hand off or chasing the bar with a handoffThink of the unrack as a tricep extension out of the rack. The important element being that you're tight to the bar while it's still in the rack. This...

This cue is going to help you cut range of motion, strengthen your bench, and prevent shoulder injury!Think about driving your shoulders into the bench pad. Squishing the cushion of the pad as hard as possible!Just as demonstrated here, you'll feel your back get super tight and you will find a ton of new control and stability with the bar.Continue to try to squish the pad as hard as possible throughout your setThis is why I becomes more difficult to bench off a harder surface. In order to improve the cushion of a commercial gym bench, you can add yoga...

The take out (unrack) can be one of the most critical portions of the bench press. It doesn't matter how well you set up to bench, if you have a bad unrack, everything goes to waste.What's probably the biggest portion of this? Locking down the shoulder blades!We always hear drag it out with the lats but you can very well do that incorrectly. If I drag that bar out and don't move at shoulder level, I'm setting myself up for a very bad time!Instead, think about dragging that bar out with your shoulder blades. Yiu should see movement at the...

You may have heard someone tell you to take the bar out more aggressively before. What does that really mean though? How I perceive an aggressive take out is in two ways. Applying early tension to the bar in a big way, and making a spotter's job very easyWhen you're setting your hands to the bar, get aggressive with it! Crush it, bend it, rip it! I know someone is getting tight to the bar vs just placing their hands when I either see them shaking slightly or the bar vibrating.You should be pulling out on the bar aggressively enough...

These are common mistakes I see often! Make sure they don't happen to you! First would be lifting the bar out with your shoulders. I see lifters get into such great set ups only to see it fall to the wayside because of a poor takeout. What I tell lifters is if that bar doesn't sink lower after that initial lockout, then you haven't got it down yet! Learning how to... A. take the bar out with the lats B. how to set the bar into the lats is huge!!!Touch and Go benching, go figure! Not only do I discourage...