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BodyQUICK
Athlete and Training
Profile:
World's #1
Bench-Presser, Scot
Mendelson
It's difficult to imagine a 314 lb. man
with a six-pack. Then again, it's difficult to
imagine any human being bench-pressing over 800
lbs.
Scot Mendelson is an NYU graduate and the
world's top bench-presser, with 5 world records
and a 782.6 lb. bench-press in competition. He has
bench-pressed 830 lbs. in training, more than most
professional athletes can squat and deadlift
combined.
Although Scot can squat 1,000 lbs., he
emphasizes: "I'm a bench-press specialist." For
aspiring bench-press specialists and every athlete
interested in developing upper-body power, Scot
offers 5 tenets he has used to become one of the
strongest men in history:
1) Put your back into
it:
Big chests do not make big
bench-presses. Proper technique makes the primary
movers the back (latissimus dorsi), triceps, and
rear deltoids. On a standard 15-17" bench, pull
your shoulder blades together so the shoulders
rest on, and not off, the bench's surface. This
shortens the distance from the chest to full
extension and eliminates your arms' weakest range
of movement.
2) Lift with your
legs:
Put your body into a near-full
arch when performing a maximal-lift bench-press:
support your body on the toes or balls of your
feet by putting your feet underneath your body and
arching your back. Squeeze the bench between your
thighs to stabilize your body and use leg drive to
initiate the lift from the bottom.
3) Train for
triples:
Dedicate one work-out per
week to the bench-press, performing 5-8 sets of 3
reps with 5-7 minutes between sets. Use 60% of
your 1-repetition maximum (1RM), adding 5-10% per
workout.
4) Emphasize tricep, rear deltoid,
and brachialis development:
Following
the above 5-8 sets of bench-press, perform one
exercise for rear deltoids, one exercise for
triceps, and one exercise for the brachialis.
Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 2-4 minutes
between sets.
Rear deltoids-
Using a seated pec
deck machine (used for crossing the arms in front
of the body), reverse the motion by facing the
opposite direction and moving your arms
backwards.
Triceps-
Choose either A) tricep
extensions or B) board presses (place a 4x4 board
on the chest and perform bench-presses within this
partial range of movement).
Brachialis-
The brachialis is a
muscle on the outside of the bicep that supports
arm movement at the elbow. Perform hammer curls
(bicep curls where the thumb is kept pointing to
the ceiling and the palm is not turned upward) to
address this bodypart.
5) For safety, do not use a
"false-grip", where the thumb is placed under,
rather than around, the bar:
"Once I was bench-pressing with a
false-grip and I got 584 lbs. to lock-out. The
spotters thought I had it, so they took their
hands away. The bar slipped, and 584 lbs. bounced
off of my chest twice. I couldn't breathe properly
for 2 months, but I had no broken bones-not even a
bruise." Moral of the story: Hold the bar at
shoulder-width with your thumb wrapped around the
bar-safety is a precursor to efficacy… and
results.
Train systematically, train intelligently,
and follow the guidelines of the world's #1
bench-presser to actualize your true genetic
strength potential.
Authored by Adaptagenix DC
Staff |
