Weight releasers are a fantastic tool for building strength.
They allow you to load the negative portion of the rep heavier, then at the bottom, they release the weight and you power up to the top with a much lighter weight. They're a great tool for strength development.
When you don't have weight releasers (they're available from Rogue Equipment), you can do something like THIS...
Instead of release the weight at the bottom, we're going to use bands to instantly INCREASE the weight at the bottom.
You'll essentially be doing a reverse band bench press into the bottom position, then releasing the bands so you're suddenly using the ENTIRE load...then you have to press that up.
How to Set Up Weight Increaser Bench Press
First, you'll need a bar, a power rack, a bench and a couple of medium 42 inch bands (I'm using the greens bands for this - I found this size to work well for bench press... bands that are much bigger didn't sit under the fingers right and had a tendency to pull the fingers off the bar...light bands didn't give enough of a weight differential at the bottom).
The bands I'm using in the demo are from SetForSet.
Hitch the bands to the top side cross-beam of the rack. Let the bottom ends hang loose.
Load the bar with a weight you could normally do for 6-8 reps (you can adjust this once you get a feel for the technique). We want to use a weight you definitely CAN press, which is different than weight releaser bench press.
Now, the KEY with this technique is how you hold the bands.
You're going to grip the bands onto the bar underneath your second and third fingers ONLY. This leaves your thumb and fourth and pinky fingers to hold onto the bar.
Because at the bottom of the press , you're going to LET GO of the bands...and put the ENTIRE load of the bar on your body right at the bottom (more on this in a second).
Slide yourself up and under the bar so you're sitting behind it.
Get the bands under those two fingers, grip onto the bar in your normal grip width.
Now slide yourself around and under the bar and get setup for a bench press.
Unrack the bar and get it into position at the top.
Now the fun begins...
Lower the bar down into the bottom position under control, just as you normally would. The bands will stretch, taking up some of the load of the bar as you come down.
Now as close to simultaneously as possible (it's hard to be exact) RELEASE the bands from underneath your two fingers while keeping your grip on the bar with the rest of your hand.
The bands will snap up but they won't come anywhere close to you, so it's completely safe.
Now press out of the bottom with everything you've got!
Keep pushing as fast and as hard as you can until you get to the top (this is also known as CAT or Compensatory Acceleration Training where you compensate for the improving leverage as you come to the top by consciously trying to move the bar faster).
What you will likely find with this increasing-weight technique is that bar won't actually move any faster...it's the EFFORT to do so that's important.
Rerack the bar.
Do this for 3-6 total reps and 3-5 total sets, taking at least 2 minutes rest in between sets.
Why does this technique work so well for increasing power out of the bottom of the bench press?
The reason lies in the strong muscle activation response you get when you put a muscle under load suddenly (i.e. the myotatic or stretch reflex). The nervous system reflex kicks in without conscious thought, to activate the muscles strongly to prevent injury.
Imagine as though you're holding an empty tray out in front of you in one hand them somebody plops a heavy sandwich on it. Your biceps instantly fire to keep the try balanced and not drop the sandwich. This is an automatic reflex.
We're doing the same thing with weight and bands.
We lower down into the bottom, which puts the muscles under load and under stretch, then very suddenly add a lot more load to them...then we use that stretch reflex activation to instantly fire the muscles and push all the way to the top.
This teaches your nervous system how to more efficiently fire all the muscles and appropriate motor units simultaneously to maximize power out of that position.
Single Rep Cluster Training Pattern for Strength
Not only is the technique great for power, because you're taking about 10 to 15 seconds to reset for each rep, it's actually a Single Rep Cluster Set. This allows you to regenerate some of your energy from the first rep while maintaining the nervous system activation.
It's an amazing way to train for strength and it's built right into this method.
Learn more about Single Rep Cluster Training here.
You can also do Weight Increaser Squats as well...they work GREAT.
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