Bench accessory movements

fstr03svtcobra

fstr03svtcobra

New member
Guys, what accessory lifts made your bench skyrocket? The one's I can think of are pec dec, any lat hypertrophy movement (for better leverages), heavy hammer curls, weighted dips, incline, close grip, heavy pushdowns, and of course lots of chest concentrated lifts. Is there anything else? I haven't concentrated on bringing my bench up in a while and want to get it insane. I'd appreciate any tips I can get.
 
I've always been a true believer that a stronger back helps increase your bench. Pullups for sure.... Other than that, Heavy Close Grip Bench
 
i know this may not be what your looking for, but dumbbell bench work for a year made my barbell bench go through the fucking roof! As for other exercise that have helped me, i have retarded strong shoulders and delta I'm sure that helps along with tight strong abs, to get a full tight strong contraction of the chest you need strong muscles around there to push off of or hold tight against, not sure I'm explaining that right but i know what i mean lol
 
I just listened to an interview with John Meadows and he talked about having really shitty rear delts back in the day. His buddy was talkin shit, and made him do 60 rep sets of rear delt flyes with 15lb dumbbells. After annihilating his rear delts, the dude had him try to bench 135lb, in an effort to show him just what lacking rear delts was doing to him. Meadows said his rear delts just couldn't support the weight on the way down and he was just dropping the weight. So I guess the take home message here might be to train and develop rear delts as well.
 
Pin presses will help as well. It'll help build your stabilizer muscles so that your body will be used to handling heavier weights as well.
 
teedubgee said:
I just listened to an interview with John Meadows and he talked about having really shitty rear delts back in the day. His buddy was talkin shit, and made him do 60 rep sets of rear delt flyes with 15lb dumbbells. After annihilating his rear delts, the dude had him try to bench 135lb, in an effort to show him just what lacking rear delts was doing to him. Meadows said his rear delts just couldn't support the weight on the way down and he was just dropping the weight. So I guess the take home message here might be to train and develop rear delts as well.
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Thats a great post bro!!!
 
Presser said:
i know this may not be what your looking for, but dumbbell bench work for a year made my barbell bench go through the fucking roof! As for other exercise that have helped me, i have retarded strong shoulders and delta I'm sure that helps along with tight strong abs, to get a full tight strong contraction of the chest you need strong muscles around there to push off of or hold tight against, not sure I'm explaining that right but i know what i mean lol
Click to expand...
No I'm not anti dumbell at all and I've noticed that when I do dumbell bench my lats are always sore which proves how intensive lats are in benching. I appreciate the write up. I'll give it a try. As far as shoulders I train the hell out of mine. I recently did a 225x9 standing strict press.

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teedubgee said:
I just listened to an interview with John Meadows and he talked about having really shitty rear delts back in the day. His buddy was talkin shit, and made him do 60 rep sets of rear delt flyes with 15lb dumbbells. After annihilating his rear delts, the dude had him try to bench 135lb, in an effort to show him just what lacking rear delts was doing to him. Meadows said his rear delts just couldn't support the weight on the way down and he was just dropping the weight. So I guess the take home message here might be to train and develop rear delts as well.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I used to train rear delts a ton and sorta stopped recently so I'll get back on that. Thanks for the write up.
This is exciting guys - I have a lot of stuff I can bring up and that will hopefully make my bench skyrocket!

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big n wv said:
Pin presses will help as well. It'll help build your stabilizer muscles so that your body will be used to handling heavier weights as well.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, pin presses are harder for me than a paused bench. I'm explosive out of the bottom, so I should probably incorporate these as well.
 
I switch off between dumbbells and barbell bench press, honestly depending on if my wife is working out w me or not: she doesn't do barbell bench press. Going as heavy as I can w dumbbells definitely helped my bench go up some. I also began to try starting off with incline barbell presses before flat bench, so I can go heavier on inclines. Before, I ALWAYS started w flat, just so I could go as heavy as I could. I think just mixing it up has helped. I was stuck for quite a while and after doing this mix n match for a while started gaining some strength again.

What are pin presses?
 
What type of sets and reps are you doing per exercise? I usually bust through with rest pause or drop setting and agonizing forced reps and negatives. For me certain groups will react better with each of the above.
 
Masher59 said:
What type of sets and reps are you doing per exercise? I usually bust through with rest pause or drop setting and agonizing forced reps and negatives. For me certain groups will react better with each of the above.
Click to expand...
I've done everything from 5x5 to heavy singles, doubles, and triples, to linear periodization.

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bigdaddyo1617 said:
Have you try a sling shot
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I don't have one and don't use one because I am training for raw powerlifting. Honestly, I detest the bench, but if I want to compete in powerlifting I need to improve it. I'm decent at it, but think I have potential to be great at it since until this point I have not emphasized it.
 
raysd21 said:
I just read an article about lats helping your overall bench. Basic cable pulling exercises.
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I just reread it and more specifically it says the 45 degree lat pull down helps the most. So you lean back a little and go to town....latown...
 
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EMW14 said:
I switch off between dumbbells and barbell bench press, honestly depending on if my wife is working out w me or not: she doesn't do barbell bench press. Going as heavy as I can w dumbbells definitely helped my bench go up some. I also began to try starting off with incline barbell presses before flat bench, so I can go heavier on inclines. Before, I ALWAYS started w flat, just so I could go as heavy as I could. I think just mixing it up has helped. I was stuck for quite a while and after doing this mix n match for a while started gaining some strength again.

What are pin presses?
Click to expand...

Pin presses are presses done in a power rack with the pins placed high enough that you can fit just under the bar maybe a couple inches off your chest. You start with the weight at a dead stop just off your chest and basically just finish the movement. You can generally do more weight than usual because you're only locking it out, but it helps all around. The first rep is by far the hardest
 
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