Military Bench???

[Tblock1]

So I was wondering, has anyone trying doing military bench presses?

Here's some vids:
YouTube - Military bench press 8* 100kg = 220.5 Pounds
YouTube - sotilaspenkki 180 kg - military benchpress

I just tried them for the first time today with a pause like in the second video. My last tested bench max was 255x1 a few months ago with no pause, and I got 235x1 today paused military bench pretty easily.

So what I am trying to find out is if you have done military bench press what is your pr military bench press compared to your regular bench? I am trying to see how much leg drive plays into most people's benching.

 

[Twenty4/7]

i do them a lot. a powerlifter i used to workout with did these a lot. he could do a set of 10 with 315 with pausing and breathing out at the bottom lol. he would do these with 405 and made it look like he was warming up with plates.

 

[ExtraMile]

No but I used to do a burn out set of bench after my 3-5 rep set with feet on the bench, so it took out all the hip drive. That just looks awkward though, seen a few people do it at the gym but never tryed it myself...

 

[oso0960]

lol I've always wondered what they were called. I've seen people in the gym do them also but never done them myself. I personally think that getting hip drive makes it a better exercise though because you can manage more weight from staying tighter which also allows more muscles to get involved which = better gains as long as your ROM is similar .

I would also like to see how much hip drive helps.

 

[Twenty4/7]

its shocking how weak you will feel when you try it.

 

[SouthernLord]

Good exercise if you are looking to get injured. Keep your feet on the ground. If you do want any leg drive in your press kick your feet out in front of you and don't push with them.

 

[lookinfit75]

Good exercise if you are looking to get injured. Keep your feet on the ground. If you do want any leg drive in your press kick your feet out in front of you and don't push with them.

+100000
If your feet aren't on the ground your have no balance or reinforcement which will eventually lead you to topple over and not only fuck yourself up but probably some innocent bi standard. If you want to mess yourself go ahead but don't do something that can potential hurt others in the process.

 

[JDid23]

i am going to give a different opinion. I know i am not nearly as knowledgeable as guys like SL, but please tell me if this makes sense.

When you do a conventional bench press, you're activating more muscles. You are going out of your way to arch your back, and pushing through your knees, which will activate your back a lot more.

However, when you put your feet on the bench and you don't arch your back as much, you don't get the same amount of force you get when you push through your heels, which would transfer the load more to your chest. Yes, you wouldn't be able to use as much weight as you would with a conventional bench press, but you would stimulate your chest more.


Again, please tell me if this is an inaccurate analysis of putting your feet up during bench. When i thought about this the other day it kind of made sense to me.

 

[bblazer]

I have said this before, and I am not name dropping or bragging. I seriously train with what some may call some of the strongest men in the world (I am below pussy level in their presence). You see them on ESPN all the time, and on various PLing comps. NONE of them do this. Is is a torn pec or blown rotator cuff waiting for a place to happen. You are not isolating anything. Instead, you are destabilizing everything. This is a recipe for disaster.

B-

 

[lookinfit75]

i am going to give a different opinion. I know i am not nearly as knowledgeable as guys like SL, but please tell me if this makes sense.

When you do a conventional bench press, you're activating more muscles. You are going out of your way to arch your back, and pushing through your knees, which will activate your back a lot more.

However, when you put your feet on the bench and you don't arch your back as much, you don't get the same amount of force you get when you push through your heels, which would transfer the load more to your chest. Yes, you wouldn't be able to use as much weight as you would with a conventional bench press, but you would stimulate your chest more.


Again, please tell me if this is an inaccurate analysis of putting your feet up during bench. When i thought about this the other day it kind of made sense to me.

There is no way you can fully exercise your chest in this manner. There is no support for the movement which in turn doesn't allow you to fully activate the muscle and like BBlazer said, due to said instability you WILL hurt yourself. If you are worried about your back arch (which you shouldn't because arching your back activates your back muscles - another set of stabilizing muscle which you need for maximal effort) then counter act your body's natural actions (which I wouldn't do) and lay flat on the bench.

 

[ExtraMile]

i am going to give a different opinion. I know i am not nearly as knowledgeable as guys like SL, but please tell me if this makes sense.

When you do a conventional bench press, you're activating more muscles. You are going out of your way to arch your back, and pushing through your knees, which will activate your back a lot more.

However, when you put your feet on the bench and you don't arch your back as much, you don't get the same amount of force you get when you push through your heels, which would transfer the load more to your chest. Yes, you wouldn't be able to use as much weight as you would with a conventional bench press, but you would stimulate your chest more.


Again, please tell me if this is an inaccurate analysis of putting your feet up during bench. When i thought about this the other day it kind of made sense to me.

This is my idea:

Lets say with no leg drive and no arched back you can bench say 200 pounds for 5 reps. Then you learn the technique used by powerlifters and arch your back, put your feet back and focus on recruiting the lats as a springboard, and from doing this your bench jumps up to 225 for 5 reps.

Now you see this thread and think hey why not try military benches, I bet you cant do 200 pounds for 5 reps, maybe you manage 185 for 5 reps purely because stabilisation and balance becomes an issue with feet in the air. But both ways - with feet on the floor but using no leg drive and with feet in the air with no leg drive didnt recruit the lats or use hip drive or use an arch to shorten the ROM. So if with feet on the floor you could bench 25 pounds more purely because you could balance better than why would you want to restrict your poundage and be wobbly on the bench, just because your using less poundage doesnt mean your chest will be doing more work.

It would be like squatting on a BOSU ball - yuor poundage would decrease cause balance would be an issue but that doesnt mean it would work your quads any harder...

 

[Tblock1]

This is my idea:

Lets say with no leg drive and no arched back you can bench say 200 pounds for 5 reps. Then you learn the technique used by powerlifters and arch your back, put your feet back and focus on recruiting the lats as a springboard, and from doing this your bench jumps up to 225 for 5 reps.

Now you see this thread and think hey why not try military benches, I bet you cant do 200 pounds for 5 reps, maybe you manage 185 for 5 reps purely because stabilisation and balance becomes an issue with feet in the air. But both ways - with feet on the floor but using no leg drive and with feet in the air with no leg drive didnt recruit the lats or use hip drive or use an arch to shorten the ROM. So if with feet on the floor you could bench 25 pounds more purely because you could balance better than why would you want to restrict your poundage and be wobbly on the bench, just because your using less poundage doesnt mean your chest will be doing more work.

It would be like squatting on a BOSU ball - yuor poundage would decrease cause balance would be an issue but that doesnt mean it would work your quads any harder...

Good points except I didn't feel off balance much. If I really did lose strength from that then I am pumped, my regular max must be way higher right now

The whole point of this thread was too see what leg drive contributed to benching. The reason people do military benches is the same reason powerlifters do floor press, it is a true measure of upper body strength without leg involvment. That is the point of having you feet in the air, there's np way you can get leg drive. Anyway thanks for the replies, I was hoping someone would say:

Bench max: xxx
Military bench max: xxx

 

[bblazer]

Good points except I didn't feel off balance much. If I really did lose strength from that then I am pumped, my regular max must be way higher right now

The whole point of this thread was too see what leg drive contributed to benching. The reason people do military benches is the same reason powerlifters do floor press, it is a true measure of upper body strength without leg involvment. That is the point of having you feet in the air, there's np way you can get leg drive. Anyway thanks for the replies, I was hoping someone would say:

Bench max: xxx
Military bench max: xxx

Sort of, but not really. It is mostly done to work on the top end of the bench/lockout. Think of board pressing, but without the board.

B-

 

[skinsfan]

If you are deadset on doing something like this then do it with the Dumbbells and not the bar.

 

[Tblock1]

Sort of, but not really. It is mostly done to work on the top end of the bench/lockout. Think of board pressing, but without the board.

B-

Yeah I know floor press is done to strengthen the top of the lockout, but it is also supposed to be a good true measure of bench press strength cause you can't use leg drive right? I think the idea behind military bench is solely using the upper body strength though.

 

[b fold the truth]

I have said this before, and I am not name dropping or bragging. I seriously train with what some may call some of the strongest men in the world (I am below pussy level in their presence). You see them on ESPN all the time, and on various PLing comps. NONE of them do this. Is is a torn pec or blown rotator cuff waiting for a place to happen. You are not isolating anything. Instead, you are destabilizing everything. This is a recipe for disaster.

B-

I concur Captain. You and I would be changing the weights for them if I were there. With an 800 lb deadlift I'd still be at the bottom of the food chain!

Only reason I can think of why this guy would do these is that he wanted to go to the gym 3 days post-meet and do "something" and that he can probably do in the 250-270kg range in a shirt...easily. His form wasn't near as bad as the first video posted. His freaking elbows were about 3 inches from the floor, bar was uneven on the press, elbows out, etc...ouch!

 

[bblazer]

I concur Captain. You and I would be changing the weights for them if I were there. With an 800 lb deadlift I'd still be at the bottom of the food chain!

Not quite. 800 gets them to stop laughing at you and calling you names.

I am still just there to hold the chalk, tacky and belts. Occasionally, I get to wipe the sweat off their foreheads if I am lucky.

B-

 

[ExtraMile]

bblazer whats your best raw deadlift?

 

[bblazer]

bblazer whats your best raw deadlift?

All of it.

B-

 

[Tblock1]

All of it.

B-

How many pounds was you best raw deadlift in gym or comp?

 

[bblazer]

How many pounds was you best raw deadlift in gym or comp?

OK, my best EVER was 755, done conventional and raw.

The first was totally clean so I tried for a double, but ended up hitching the hell out of it before I got it.

I think I weighed about 225 then, and was quite younger.

B-

 

[lweaver]

The most stable position for the spine is through spinal extension, and the most stable position for the rotator cuff is through scapular retraction...so from a kinesiological, functional, and safety standpoint the military bench press is bullshit.

I don't bench muchweight , but I know I can bench more, make better progress, and markedly reduce my risk of injury by keeping my feet underneath me, my ass on the bench, my back arched, my elbows tucked, and with my scapulae drawn in.

 

[Tblock1]

OK, my best EVER was 755, done conventional and raw.

The first was totally clean so I tried for a double, but ended up hitching the hell out of it before I got it.

I think I weighed about 225 then, and was quite younger.

B-

Wow that is 3.5 x bodyweight plus!!!!

 

[bblazer]

Wow that is 3.5 x bodyweight plus!!!!

And it still makes me the weakest of the guys I lift with.

Most of the guys can hit 800 for reps easily. One is a 900 lb'er & he weights 275.

B-

 

[Tblock1]

And it still makes me the weakest of the guys I lift with.

Most of the guys can hit 800 for reps easily. One is a 900 lb'er & he weights 275.

B-

I love deadlifting so much, by far my favorite lift That is ridiculous to be pulling 900 weighing 275