Old Forum What are exact benefits of bent pressing?

[Calthrop]

Hi. I am currently on old Program Minimum (snatches as much as you can 3 times a week and bent presses) and I spent a few last weeks putting more emphasis on bent press then I ever did before. Initially, I was able to bent press 32kg bell for reps. That has not changed by now - I'm still doing bent presses with 32, but my technique got way better. My upperbody goes down in different trajectory, I am starting to understand the concept of pushing myself away from the weight, I can feel my lats squeezing; I am folding nicely in my hip and so on.

But my point is, I am just curious. Something is definitely changing, I have a feeling of my body language changing, yet the weight stays the same. Can You tell me about exact carryover I should expect from this exercise?

 

[Al Ciampa]

Tamer may have missed this ... he could probably elaborate.

 

[Jason Ginsberg]

Well, one benefit is that you can put up more weight with the bent press than any other one arm lift; that's just cool all by itself. It also is a great way to progress up to a given size bell. You could, for instance, bent press it first, and slowly build volume, getting used to lowering the weight with a slow negative. Then get used to get ups with it, then push press, then strict press. Just one example.

I've also found that it did far more for my mobility than any "correctives" I've tried, and I've tried a lot. People say you should work on mobility to do bent press, I say you should get Iron Tamer's book when it comes out, follow his progressions, and bent press to improve mobility.

Other carryovers include strength in a variety of shoulder and body positions (useful for us grapplers), better overall body awareness and coordination and control, and superior mind-body development, because it's such a technical lift, and there's an element of confidence involved in a way that I find unique to the bent press. It also sets you up to learn the two-hands anyhow, which is a very cool old-time lift, and a great way to put a good amount of weight overhead that's not olympic lifting.

 

[Iron Tamer]

Ginsberg for the WIN. Excellent response that said exactly what I was planning to say.

 

[Jason Marshall]

On top of the benefits mentioned by Mr. Ginsberg, I also use the Bent Press on a daily training basis as a loaded symmetry check.  Since I've used the lift this way, my bench press 1RM has gone up with pain-free shoulders.  My lat-triceps connection in my set up and drive phase of the bench has also never been better.  I do moderate singles (70-80%) on the bent press at the end of my deadlift/squat sessions and at the beginning of my bench press sessions.  Excellent, and very underrated, lift.

 

[Jason Ginsberg]

Wow, thank you Iron Tamer, high praise indeed! And thank you Mr. Marshall, those are excellent points; the bench press is not a lift I'm very skilled in, those are very valuable insights into it. Very much agreed on excellent and underrated.

 

[Calthrop]

Thank You! That's quite all-embracing anwser

 

[Sean Schniederjan]

http://www.strongfirst.com/how-we-train-for-the-tsc-at-tnt/

Also there's this:

"To gain strength in a maximal weighted pull-up, I would recommend performing bent presses often. During a near maximal effort bent press, your lat will be extremely engaged, and as a result your pulling muscles will be strengthened. At TNT, we wouldn’t perform more than 6 reps in a session, 1 rep at a time for a total of 3 on the left and 3 on the right. We will normally pair these up with heavy swings and carries in between reps. Use the Easy Strength or 80% rule with your bent presses. Perform the 6 reps at least once each month, and on weeks you do not do that kind of volume, at least perform 1 rep at about 80-85% maximal effort for fun after a great warm-up or as a demonstration at least 2 times each week. So that’s 1 rep each side at 80-85% maximal effort two times in a week in which you do not perform them during a workout with a volume of 3 reps each side. After about a year of this, your body will adapt and without practicing heavy pull-ups more than once every 3 months, your pull-up maximal strength will improve significantly."