Finsfan1984
Seasoned Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2006
- Messages
- 1,541
- Reaction score
- 1,123
Ive read a lot of people on this sight talking about the bench press...and i have also heard a lot of comments on the NFL channel about this...
I have been involved for years with athletic training, lifting and such for years, and, not to ring my own bell, but have an extensive amount of insight into this area. To those of you that are familiar with these insights, i mean no disrespect here at all, but to those of you who are not, maybe this can help out a bit.
When i watch the guys lift, i dont pay as much attention to the number as i do other aspects of the lift. Maybe this will explain it better.
There are 2 important aspects when measuring muscle strength and/or endurance; SLOW-TWITCH and QUICK-TWITCH muscles. As it pertains to football as well as other athletics, the most important is the Quicktwitch muscles. This gives an athlete tremendous, instantaneous response to the act that they are performing. Example of this is the 40 time, 2 people run the same 40 @ 4.5, but one guy is extremely fast out of the whole and is at full speed by 10 yards, the other guy got faster and faster, and was at full speed @ the 20. The second guy probably has a faster 100 yard time than the 1st but, whats more important. The same thing applies to the benchpress.
It is nice to have a player who can do a lot of reps at 225, but, when weighing 300+, you would expect them to lift it a lot of times anyway. A more appropriate lift would be 325 for those who weight 300+, and this is done in a lot of places instead of the 225.
Some things to consider here is, arm length and speed or explosion at which the person lifts the weight. This is largely overlooked by some, and gives a much truer assessment than just merely the number of times it is lifted. Longer armed persons have to use a lot more energy than do the shorter armed persons. So when a LT with long arms gets in the upper 30's, thats pretty impressive as opposed to one with short arms who lifts it maybe 3 to 5 times more. In other words, the longer armed person actually did more work, used more energy and endurance, and if you added all the distance of each rep with the next, moved it a further distance all together even though he did fewer numbered reps.
Also other things to consider is how they lift it. Are they bouncing the weight, or are they controlling the weight and muscling it up, and are they lifting the weight and locking out their arms. By bouncing and not locking out the weight, you save a lot of energy.
When a person bounces the wieght, they aren't using the explosion of the chest and shoulder muscles to explode the weight up, they are using the momentum of the weight to propel it past those muscles to their triceps. This is usually done by those who do not have as strong a chest and or shoulder muscles, but rather they have stronger triceps. Another thing that is overlooked, is when the bar is being lifted, is the person using their legs alot to help in the lift, or are they mainly lifting with the upper body. Most people are not aware that you can really use your lower body alot to help aid in the lift. Those that only use the upper body without the legs, show a more truer assessment of their upper body strength.
The speed or explosion that the weight comes off the chest with, without bouncing it, is a very impressive and a much more accurate way of judging someones strength in that particular area. I takes more muscle strength to do this, and gives a better assessment of that persons strenght and conditioning as it pertains to this particular area.
What is impressive is when a person controls the weight throughout the movement. Explodes up fast from the chest without bouncing it, and the bar is propelled up rather quickly. That shows pure strenght in all the muscle areas as well as endurance.
To play on the line, you have to not only have strenght, but maybe as important if not more important, you have to have EXPLOSION, the "PUNCH" as many coaches call it. The explosion is whats important, quick twitch muscles. Just like the legs when running the ball, that initial explosion. This is what separates the elite.
Hope this gives some of you some insight...and hope i have not offended anyone if to you i have stated what you were already aware of.
:bighug:
I have been involved for years with athletic training, lifting and such for years, and, not to ring my own bell, but have an extensive amount of insight into this area. To those of you that are familiar with these insights, i mean no disrespect here at all, but to those of you who are not, maybe this can help out a bit.
When i watch the guys lift, i dont pay as much attention to the number as i do other aspects of the lift. Maybe this will explain it better.
There are 2 important aspects when measuring muscle strength and/or endurance; SLOW-TWITCH and QUICK-TWITCH muscles. As it pertains to football as well as other athletics, the most important is the Quicktwitch muscles. This gives an athlete tremendous, instantaneous response to the act that they are performing. Example of this is the 40 time, 2 people run the same 40 @ 4.5, but one guy is extremely fast out of the whole and is at full speed by 10 yards, the other guy got faster and faster, and was at full speed @ the 20. The second guy probably has a faster 100 yard time than the 1st but, whats more important. The same thing applies to the benchpress.
It is nice to have a player who can do a lot of reps at 225, but, when weighing 300+, you would expect them to lift it a lot of times anyway. A more appropriate lift would be 325 for those who weight 300+, and this is done in a lot of places instead of the 225.
Some things to consider here is, arm length and speed or explosion at which the person lifts the weight. This is largely overlooked by some, and gives a much truer assessment than just merely the number of times it is lifted. Longer armed persons have to use a lot more energy than do the shorter armed persons. So when a LT with long arms gets in the upper 30's, thats pretty impressive as opposed to one with short arms who lifts it maybe 3 to 5 times more. In other words, the longer armed person actually did more work, used more energy and endurance, and if you added all the distance of each rep with the next, moved it a further distance all together even though he did fewer numbered reps.
Also other things to consider is how they lift it. Are they bouncing the weight, or are they controlling the weight and muscling it up, and are they lifting the weight and locking out their arms. By bouncing and not locking out the weight, you save a lot of energy.
When a person bounces the wieght, they aren't using the explosion of the chest and shoulder muscles to explode the weight up, they are using the momentum of the weight to propel it past those muscles to their triceps. This is usually done by those who do not have as strong a chest and or shoulder muscles, but rather they have stronger triceps. Another thing that is overlooked, is when the bar is being lifted, is the person using their legs alot to help in the lift, or are they mainly lifting with the upper body. Most people are not aware that you can really use your lower body alot to help aid in the lift. Those that only use the upper body without the legs, show a more truer assessment of their upper body strength.
The speed or explosion that the weight comes off the chest with, without bouncing it, is a very impressive and a much more accurate way of judging someones strength in that particular area. I takes more muscle strength to do this, and gives a better assessment of that persons strenght and conditioning as it pertains to this particular area.
What is impressive is when a person controls the weight throughout the movement. Explodes up fast from the chest without bouncing it, and the bar is propelled up rather quickly. That shows pure strenght in all the muscle areas as well as endurance.
To play on the line, you have to not only have strenght, but maybe as important if not more important, you have to have EXPLOSION, the "PUNCH" as many coaches call it. The explosion is whats important, quick twitch muscles. Just like the legs when running the ball, that initial explosion. This is what separates the elite.
Hope this gives some of you some insight...and hope i have not offended anyone if to you i have stated what you were already aware of.
:bighug:
