For high school athletes bench press is king. It’s what separates the alpha male from the rest of lifters in the gym. If you want to talk about deadlift or squat records you can go play with the rest of the betas getting tangled up in the resistance bands. I mean come on, it’s chest day!
The fact is, high school athletes immediately look towards bench press as the number one display of strength. Things were the same when I was in high school. There were about 15 times as many athletes in the 300lb bench club as the 500lb squat club. Our football team never threw the ball during the game, but the receivers and QBs would always leave on squat day (never on bench day!) to practice routes! Like I said, not a whole lot has changed.
Now I could untangle the previously mentioned beta male from those resistance bands and show you how his deadlifts and squats made him the more explosive and stronger athlete on the field. Not to mention, he probably doesn’t need a butt pad in order for you to make out his backside while in game pants.
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Despite the fact that bench is generally over-trained and over-emphasized by high school athletes (typically males), there are of course some benefits to adding this lift into many athlete’s strength programs.
So as long as you promise to not skip leg day, here are three tips to help you improve your bench press (and up your bragging rights…)Read the full article and get the tips to improve your bench press at www.skillofstrength.com.
For more tips and information on our high school sports performance training program at Skill of Strength, check out @SOSCompete on twitter and skillofstrength.com.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Sheppard is the head strength and conditioning coach at Skill of Strength. He specializes in working with athletes of all levels of competition and has a passion for using his knowledge to help his athletes reach their full athletic potential.
Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Exercise Science from Endicott College. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Steve is also a StrongFirst Kettlebell Instructor (SFG) as well as a Sports Performance Coach through USA Weightlifting (USAWL1-SP).
