Upper Back is the New Chest
How much do you bench?
An age old question, asked by bro’s the world over since the beginning of time.
The bench press is considered the ‘Number One’ exercise for developing the chest, and is also a massive ego exercise for every man. If I had $1 for every time I have had clients and friends come to me and ask, ‘How can I bench more?’, I would be a moderately rich man.
Generally, when at a bench plateau the answer is to do more chest and triceps. Not a bad idea, these are the prime movers in the bench press so it makes sense to train them up. Over the years, however, I have slowly shifted my perception of bench press and I now see it as a fundamentally whole body exercise.
To me the bench press is not a specific chest exercise. It is an expression of upper body pushing power. So if you want to pump up your numbers it’s time to start thinking outside the box.
If you want to improve your bench press – train your back.
Something all the world’s best bench presses have in common is the fact they look like they have a tortoise shell on their backs. A large bench press requires stability in the shoulder girdle and high quality scapula motion. A strong upper back will facilitate this outcome.
Three of my favourite exercises for upper back development are:
Banded Face Pull – I like to perform this in sets of 15 to 20, big focus on getting elbows above shoulders. Focus on keeping it upper back and shoulder - as you get tired you will try to turn this into a shrug
Underhand Band Pullapart – Done correctly this exercise will shred your lower trap and rear delts. There are many variations with this as well. Once my athletes are competent with this movement I like to add in a slight elevation of the band from chest to nose and back. This forces the athlete to maintain the lower trap contraction whilst moving the scapula into upward rotation. For this exercise I like 1 set of 100
Z-Press – Counter intuitive I know, but done correctly nothing will burn your upper back more than correct Z-pressing. As a movement it brings together both our face pull and band pullapart into the one motion. This is why I like to add the elevation element to the pullapart. When you come to overhead press you need to be able to hold some retraction whilst driving upward rotation of your scapula. You can program a Z-press in a number of different ways, however, for a beginner keep the weight light and work in sets of 15. Put a premium on quality of movement.
Upper back is the new chest (#lads) and you might be surprised to see how much your bench improves from adding in some of these simple exercises a couple of times a week into your training program.
Video through the CAMPVS YouTube channel is available for this article.
http://nathanielhodges.blogs.com/my-blog/2016/05/an-under-utilised-gem-in-the-gym.html
http://nathanielhodges.blogs.com/my-blog/2016/04/spirituality-for-performacne-tactical-breathing.html
for training goodness check out
Jonathon Danaher ǀ BExSS ǀ ASCA lvl 1
Head Coach – Valkyrie Strength and Performance
email: [email protected]
Instagram: @valkyrie_strength_performance
mob: (+61) 0439393904
********
Notes for those who want to do more research
Joe Defranco has been a big influence on how I coach and he is a massive fan of training up your #backboobs. I have unashamedly taken a number of cues from him in this area of training and for good reason. They work. So if you are looking for extra resources on upper back training check him out!
https://www.defrancostraining.com/upper-back-training-secrets-to-avoid-shoulder-injuries-increase-power/
Recent Comments