Lift Right - Quick Tips for Bigger Lifts.
James White
Want bigger lifts? Want to shift more weight in the gym? Want more muscle? Master the Power lifts and your on the way. Here are some key points for shifting heavy barbells.
The sport of power-lifting is all about lifting the heaviest weight you can in the three lifts:squat, bench press and dead-lift.
After you’ve had your three attempts in each of these lifts you then add the weights of the best lift of each discipline together and you have your total-this is what decides the winner. The most obvious ways to increase what you can lift are to train hard, eat more (of the right food), and rest sufficiently. However these techniques of getting stronger are very long term tactics that take weeks and months to see results from. You can improve your lifts instantly, this is not by getting stronger but by improving your technique!
Looking at each lift individually in the order they occur in competition, we are going to cover some basic and simple techniques that will give you instant improvements on your lifts.
Squat
To start with let’s look at the bar positioning on your back. I say on your back because that's where it should be. The bar should not be sitting on top of your shoulders as this lengthens your back which will increase the load on your lower back. The bar should be sitting lower down than this, have the bar sit above your posterior deltoid (back of your shoulders) and below your upper traps. When you bring your arms back to shoulder level you will see that a 'shelf' appears in this area for the bar to sit on.
Try to have your hands as close to your shoulders as possible. This will force your chest up and keep you in a tighter position for the squat. Work on your flexibility around the shoulder joint to allow this close grip to occur.
Take a wider stance than a conventional bodybuilding or gym squat. This will gives a number of benefits which include reducing the distance that the bar has to travel, lessening the angle that the knee has to go to, recruit more glute and hamstrings and allow you to stay more upright throughout the squat.
Point the toes out slightly and ensure that your knees track over your 2nd toe. This is as much a safety thing as much as being able to lift more weight. When the knee drifts inside or outside of the foot a huge amount of strain is placed upon the knee.
Increase the range of motion in your ankle. If your soleus is tight then your knees are not able come forwards as much as they should which will mean you have to lean forwards to counter balance yourself. Stretching the soleus will allow you to squat deeper without having to lean forwards for balance.
If your hips start to posteriorly tilt (roll under) and your lower back starts to round when you get to the bottom of your squat you need to stretch your hamstrings as they are at the end of their length and are pulling the hips round.
Bench Press
Squeeze your shoulder blades together. This will give your upper body a very tight and strong feeling and also gives a good steady base of support on the bench. This stable base of the bench means that more energy can be placed upon pressing the bar rather than stabilising yourself.
Arch your back – In competition you must keep your bum and shoulders on the bench but not your middle and lower back. Arching as much as you can not only brings your chest up to the bar which reduces the distance the bar has to travel and also puts the shoulder in a more favourable (decline) position for pressing. If you turn the press into a slight decline press by arching, you line up more of the pectoralis major for the press which means more weight shifted.
Keep the elbows tucked in at around 45 degrees. This will allow the triceps to do more of the movement and also reduce the angle that the joints have to go through.
Lift with your whole body. This just means that as you press, you contract your whole body and drive your feet through the floor (keeping your bum on the bench). Also you should be squeezing the bar as hard as you can and trying to pull your hands apart on the bar.
Deadlift
Use a split grip. Have one hand facing away from you and one hand facing you. This will reduce the chances of the bar slipping out of your hands.
Choose your style of lifting carefully – Try playing about with different ways to lift the bar until you find where you are strongest. Some lifters prefer the sumo style of lifting where you take a wide stance and keep your back very upright throughout the lift with your hands between the legs. Another way is the conventional technique of lifting where you place your legs closer together and your arms either side of your legs. The conventional style of lifting requires more lower back strength but the sumo style requires more leg strength.
Pull with your back – Try to avoid the 'lift with your legs' idea as I have found from working with many lifters in the past. If you start concentrating on lifting with the legs and not pulling with your back the upper body becomes bogged down and you will end up with a worse back position than you started with. Obviously lift with your legs as well but the main focus must be on your back and the bar. Consciously 'pull' the bar off the floor with your back strength and your legs will do their job.
Don't look down – If you look down your whole spine will follow that pattern and down is not where you want the weight to go. If you look at photographs of dead-lifting in competition you will see that all competitors are looking either straight ahead or upwards.
Keep pulling! Dead-lift is one of those lifts that as you get close to your max it take a very long time to complete. Even if the bar slows right down and you think it has stopped, keep pulling and you may just find you can squeeze through the sticking point.
Most people in the gym don’t get the results they’re capable of because they don’t put time in on the basics. Faulty technique will get you injured and slow down your progress. There is no point busting your ass in the gym, eating perfectly and then lifting with dodgy technique. As with all sports, if you want the best results, you gotta practice and perfect your technique before you get to higher levels of performance.
About the Author
James is a young guy but my is he strong! – He started out as a Powerlifter and has competed for Great Britain on numerous occasions. He holds British and Commonwealth records and was 2007 British Junior Powerlifting Champion. Recently he has decided it is not enough to be able to simply shift huge weights, he wants to hurt people as well. He is now dedicated to learning the sport of mixed martial arts and intends to make his competitive debut in the near future. He is a highly knowledgeable personal trainer, and is also studying osteopathy. See his personal sites at Build-muscle-burn-fat.com and James Whites Personal Training
