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Expanding
your knowledge is the key to improving yourself.
The Index of all the Tips of the Week can be
found at
http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Tips/tip_index.htm
Beginner Tip
The
Three Stages of Form:
Form
is a cornerstones of weight training. It describes
how well (or how poorly) you are performing
an exercise. There are three typical stages
of form when lifting weights: strict, loose,
and sloppy.
Strict
form is perfect form executing the exercise
to the letter of the law. This is how you should
perform the majority of your exercises.
The
second stage is loose form. This allows for
some slight cheating movements, such as using
a little momentum to keep the weight moving.
When you can no longer perform an exercise with
strict form, you naturally move to loose form
to continue lifting and continue working the
muscle. It is a continuum of style.
Sloppy
form entails gross cheating movements and terrible
form. Examples of this include bouncing the
bar off your chest when doing a bench press
or pulling on your head, when doing abdominal
crunches or bending your back when doing push-ups.
NEVER
allow your form to go as far as sloppy. This
almost invariably leads to injury.
Intermediate/Advanced
Tip
Leg
Drive in the Flat Barbell Bench Press:
Driving
with your legs is a part of bench pressing few
people understand but it can give you increased
power out of the bottom of the movement.
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To
do this, your feet should be on the floor,
feet and legs parallel to the bench. Your
knees should be bent at about 80 degrees
with your heels dug into the floor.
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Squeeze
your glutes to raise your butt up (but not
off the bench) just before you get to the
bottom of the press. At the moment you begin
to push the bar up, drive with your feet,
pushing your heels hard into the floor.
In essence, try to use your heels to slide
your body up the bench.
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The
weight will keep you from sliding but that
push backwards will translate into an upward
push on the bar. That is why your lower
legs should be angled back - so they can
push.
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Practice
using your feet to slide yourself up the
bench with just the bar to get the feel
for the action.
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This
drive will translate directly into added
power out of the bottom of the bench press,
increasing the amount of weight you will
be able to press.
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