3 Tips for Increasing your Bench

1. Row, Row, and Row Some More- If you want a big bench you need a strong and powerful back.  The many muscles of the back, posterior deltoids, and scapular articulators, during the bench, are known as antagonists, or opposing, muscles. Their job is to slow down and control the movement, if they can't do that, they aren't going to allowing the agonist muscles(the ones doing the work), to press to their full ability. Sort of like a car with no breaks, if you can't stop the car are you really going to try and speed it up? If those muscles are not strong, they will not allow optimum pressing.  So bottom line, including plenty of rowing into your routine.  Try a 2:1 ratio of  rowing to pushing, so for every one pressing exercise, included two rowing/scapular retractor exercises. For example One Arm Dumbbell Rows and Band Pull Aparts.

2. Improve Your Form- No matter if your a seasoned vet at the bench or new to it, I'm willing to bet that most of you could use improvement in your form.  I even have things to work on.  Lifting is a continuous learning process.  With that said, if I was training you right now on the bench the first few cues I would give would be to squeeze your shoulder blades tightly, put the pressure on your upper back and traps by driving your feet into the ground, and to keep your elbows tucked at a 45 degree angle which will keep the bar path in a straight line.  There are other factors involved, but for now, focus on those three things and become really good at them.

3. Train Your Triceps-Don't begin to fall into the lie that the bench is a chest lift.  The bench is in fact a total body lift, from your tight grip down to your leg drive, the entire body is involved.  A problem that a lot of bencher's have is that they focus too much on chest and anterior deltoid strength and neglect triceps training, and no a few sets of kickbacks and pushdowns is not triceps training.  If there is a strength imbalance during the bench, and the back as been ruled out as the problem, chances are it is because of weak triceps.  Focus on heavy close grip press work and heavy extension work.

Kickback Free since 2006,

Kyle Bohannon, CSCS
Owner/Head Trainer
kyle@trainstrive.com
www.trainstrive.com

Break From the Norm

    A lot of times we can get so locked in on a style of training that we begin to lose sight of the big picture. While the plan your on might have given you results before, and maybe it still does, it is inevitable that the progress WILL come to a halt if you don't adapt and FORCE your body to change.  There is no such thing as a perfect program, which by definition, is a plan that would give you results forever.  No program, no matter what style you advocate will continue to bring that progress.  So what are you to do? You break from the norm!
    Challenge your body.   If your a strength and power guy who focuses on heavy lifting and sprinting(and not a competitive athlete), throw some distance running into the mix.  Pick a 2-4 week block and replace your sprint work with distance running, progressing in frequency slowly as to avoid injuries such as plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinopathy, and if you are higher in weight, knee injuries. If your an endurance person, do the opposite.  Begin a block of sprint work and slowly increase in frequency as the block goes on.  Begin with 4-6x30-50 yard sprints with complete recovery and go from there.  Not only will this be a kick in the butt, but it will also have a positive influence on your distance running once you return to it.  The sprint work will increase muscular strength, inter and intra muscular coordination, fast twitch metabolic properties, as well as power production resulting in improved distance running performance.
   The moral of the story is to always look for ways to challenge your body.  Never let it get comfortable in a certain training program.  If our goal is to live long, healthy, and active lives(Which it should be), continuing to adapt is the key to get there.

Never Accept Mediocrity,

Kyle Bohannon, CSCS
Owner/Head Trainer
kyle@trainstrive.com
www.trainstrive.com

5 Key Rules of Nutrition

Today I wanted to write a brief post about my 5 key rules of nutrition.  There is a lot of confusing and conflicting information out there which can leave anyone crazy not knowing what to do and inevitably falling of the wagon.  Thus I give you my 5 rules to help build the foundation for your nutrition and lifestyle.

1. Raw Foods-Eat raw, organic foods as often as possible.  With the overabundance of additives and preservatives in food these days, which for some of the substances you can't even pronounce, sticking to raw foods provides the way to only feed your body what it needs and nothing more.
2. Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables- This one goes without saying, but yet needs to be said. Tying in with the Raw Foods rule, choose only organic fruit and veggies and fresh over frozen if you can.  If you are eating plenty of these foods you can even rid yourself of your multivitamin, which will never be able to replace the abilities and benefits or real foods.
3. Avoid Dairy-Dairy consumption has been linked to acne outbreaks, an increased risk of cancer, obesity, while also being an inflammatory agent, which can cause arthritis flare ups amongst other things.  For some, dairy consumption is already out of the question because many are lactose intolerant and/or cow's milk intolerant (Which you may unknowingly be), which are different conditions  Lactose intolerant individuals lack the necessary digestive enzymes to breakdown and digest milk while cow's milk intolerant people are actually allergic to milk due to an immune system response.  Drink rice, coconut, and almond milks as they are the more preferred choices.
4. Consume 3-4 meals a day- There is no need to follow the adage of six+ meals a day. While I will admit I was once guilty of worrying about eating every two hours because of some evil disruption to my metabolism, I have since wised up.  Eating less frequent is actually healthier for you as the digestive process is extremely stressful on the digestive system.  Just like any other part of your body needs rest to recover, so to does your digestive system.  Another negative effect of frequent eating is that you become a slave to your diet, stressing out about getting in your next meal and turning your anger onto others.
5. Have a Cheat Day-One day a week allow yourself to satisfy your cravings WITHIN REASON. Don't be throwing down an entire jug of ice cream because 'Kyle said so!'  Lean towards healthier choices  like always, but don't be afraid to treat yourself. Try and limit the cheat to one meal on that day, however, don't freak if you have two.  The bottom line is to cheat within MODERATION. Following this one day a week will keep you sane.

Clean it Up,

Kyle Bohannon, CSCS

Owner/Head Trainer

kyle@trainstrive.com

www.trainstrive.com