Hi, Jenny P.
I’ve been following your log since you got on the elitefts™ boat. Your bench seems to have gone up so quickly—congratulations on your 135-pound milestone. And so my question pertains to the bench. Actually, it’s a really dumb question, but I guess it’ll be dumber if it didn’t get asked. My bench is my weakest lift. I was wondering, would wearing a belt help me stay tighter throughout the lift? I guess I don’t really know what wearing a belt would do for my bench technique, if anything at all. If it helps, I train raw and will compete in my first meet raw. I only wear a belt for the squat and deadlift.
Thanks for your time.
Becky
Becky!
Thanks for following! My bench has gone up quite a bit lately. From April 2012 to November 2012, it went up 20 pounds in a meet. Now, since that November to this April, it has gone up around another 20+ pounds. I'm not sure if the gains are coming quicker, but since I finally benched that plate milestone, it might just seem that way. Haha!
I will say, though, in December, when I went to Westside and Louie told me that I needed to spend more time benching with my feet up and without an arch, that has been one of the things that has made my bench jump up the most. Before, my bench was all leg drive. Now, I actually have some upper body strength. Also, I've been working with Ross Bowsher on programming, and he is a freakin' genius with that stuff!
Anyways, there are no dumb questions! As for the belt, it might help if you aren't thinking about pushing your belly up when you bench to reduce the range of motion. For me personally, it doesn't help much, but I know a ton of lifters who use it. I will say this, though, when you see a multi-ply lifter benching with a belt, the belt is there to keep the shirt in place, so keep that in mind.
You could always send me a video of your bench, and I can see if I can help you out!
Kill that first meet!
Jennifer Petrosino
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