Bench press - do you guys count the weight of the bar or not ?
-
until you take said confidence to the free weights and do a stevie Wonder impression! if you're not used to free weights the bloody thing twists and wobbles with a mind of its own!
-
[quote name='Paekakboyz']<br />
until you take said confidence to the free weights and do a stevie Wonder impression! if you're not used to free weights the bloody thing twists and wobbles with a mind of its own!<br />
[/quote]<br />
The more you bench though, gradually it will stop happening. It takes time for all the little stabilisers to adjust, but once they do and it gets recordered into your your 'muscle memory' the shakes will becomne a thing of the past. -
Doing my benching at home but have dodgy clips on the bar keeping the weights on so they slide off one side and crash and bang everywhere !!!! The neighbours popped round to check I was OK !!! no holes in the wall ( yet ) I think I need a good spotting partner cos the wife isn't strong enoughÂ
<br />
<br />
The muscle memory is a good thing though aye, if you've done it in the past it doesn't take too long to get back there although the first few weeks back were tough !!! -
Always count the bar but make sure the bar is 20kg first, many aren't.<br />
<br />
Free weights-there ought to be an invention for free weights where if you get stuck a pulley type system pulls the weights back or up for you.<br />
I prefer free weights but it always depends on the exercises, your technique and your physical condition. Many jocks use free weights but with such crap technique they would be better off with machines. -
beep test, don't get me started..!!<br />
<br />
and as for counting the weight of the bar in the title, I read it today, and thought, "Fuck, count the bloody dust particles that settle on it as you are lfiting too"!!<br />
<br />
It is amazing how much weight 2.5kgs is when you are lifting max weights too!! going from 120 to 122.5 is sod all, but blows you away!! All in the head though I reckon, as on the odd occassion I have slipeed an extra 5kg onto the bar for prop Cyril, and he still gets the set out - loverly!! -
Not wrong, that little bit of extra weight can turn the arms to jelly pretty quickly. <br />
<br />
Says in the latest Rugby World that Percy Montgomery can bench 165kg !?!?!?! its not like he busts through tackles and is regarded as a particularly "powerful" type player but if that is accurate then....hats off to the man...would probably only weigh 90 kg at the most too !!! -
[quote name='MN5']<br />
Not wrong, that little bit of extra weight can turn the arms to jelly pretty quickly. <br />
<br />
Says in the latest Rugby World that Percy Montgomery can bench 165kg !?!?!?! its not like he busts through tackles and is regarded as a particularly "powerful" type player but if that is accurate then....hats off to the man...would probably only weigh 90 kg at the most too !!! <br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
He is light but his physique is very developed.<br />
<br />
To be honest, if you are a pro player, with the back up, time, advice and supplements you should be pushing out some serious weights. -
You gotta remember that this stuff is their frickin job. They have structured weeks where they do weights fresh (not after a day at work) they have exeprt advice during sessions and they have expert nutritionists giving them tej materials they need. Plus Gregan and Percy will now be in their 10th year of professionalism and will have all that time of building their rmuscles to this level of performance. <br />
<br />
Interestingly there was an interview with a St Helens rugbyt league player the other week who was asked what was his best weight pushed on bench press. He said something along the lines of "we don't do much of that to be honest, we generally do a lot of own body weight exercises"<br />
<br />
Interesting i thought. -
[quote name='Fullermorg']<br />
You gotta remember that this stuff is their frickin job. They have structured weeks where they do weights fresh (not after a day at work) they have exeprt advice during sessions and they have expert nutritionists giving them tej materials they need. Plus Gregan and Percy will now be in their 10th year of professionalism and will have all that time of building their rmuscles to this level of performance. <br />
<br />
Interestingly there was an interview with a St Helens rugbyt league player the other week who was asked what was his best weight pushed on bench press. He said something along the lines of "we don't do much of that to be honest, we generally do a lot of own body weight exercises"<br />
<br />
Interesting i thought.<br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
Sounds a bit like hes pulling our legs, leaguies have been into weights heaps longer than union players ! -
Not really - being overly musclebound in league isn't a lot of help, especially as a forward where you're on the move a fair bit and rarely exceed 100kg. You don't need the sustained anaerobic power that e.g. a prop does in rugby, where you have to push at scrums or rucks or mauls, or lift at lineouts. Its more about impact, twitch muscles, and speed.<br />
<br />
While we think they get a bit more of a rest than our blokes, you need to keep in mind that half the game you're retreating and then advancing 5-10 metres at a time, while trying to smash some bloke in between. Can be quite exhausting, where Union we get to stand right up at the advantage line. -
[quote name='NTA']<br />
Not really - being overly musclebound in league isn't a lot of help, especially as a forward where you're on the move a fair bit and rarely exceed 100kg. You don't need the sustained anaerobic power that e.g. a prop does in rugby, where you have to push at scrums or rucks or mauls, or lift at lineouts. Its more about impact, twitch muscles, and speed.<br />
<br />
While we think they get a bit more of a rest than our blokes, you need to keep in mind that half the game you're retreating and then advancing 5-10 metres at a time, while trying to smash some bloke in between. Can be quite exhausting, where Union we get to stand right up at the advantage line.<br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
Agree and disagree NTA, I'm sure they do a lot of plyometric training but you can bet there'd be a fair bit of iron pressed as well. Look at guys like Brad Thorn, Ian Roberts, Willie Mason.....certainly no strangers to the weight room ! -
That ten-metre retreat is exhausting; it's one of the reasons we use it - very successfully - as a "Learn to make correct decisions while about to puke your lungs" exercise.<br />
<br />
That said, lifting isn't about grunt, it's about timing. Catch your jumper just right, it's all momentum, and they weigh nothing. John Hayes' party trick is his solo lift of POC. Now, the Bull's Ms. Thomond's second cousin, and a mighty man for one man, but not even he can get the weight of POC up that high on his own on raw strength - it's timing.<br />
<br />
I was over 100kg when weighing in at 93 kgs weight back in April. Then things got busy-busy and haven't been benching since. It's so bad, and I've lost so much muscle, I almost don't want to go back to find out how bad it is...Â
-
Timing is the key, but it helps to have grunt. We lift our flankers because the locks are actually two fat bastards who can't jump (ie. me and another bloke <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />). Some teams we've come up against lift their 80kg hooker or midget French openside because its easier than trying to shift their Tongan second row more than 6 inches off the ground.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
[quote name='MN5']<br />
Agree and disagree NTA, I'm sure they do a lot of plyometric training but you can bet there'd be a fair bit of iron pressed as well. Look at guys like Brad Thorn, Ian Roberts, Willie Mason.....certainly no strangers to the weight room !<br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
Yeah they do weights, but what's the point of lifting 200kg on your pectorals for a game of league? There is no point where you need to engage and try to crush your opponent like in a scrum. If you overdo your weights work, there is no place on the field for you. Cliffy Palu for the Tahs didn't end up getting much time at the Dragons because he was 120kg - too heavy!
