Barbell Incline bench made my squat go up

[Rygor the Swoleman]

I have aspirations … the most I ever cleaned was 125kg but that was a decade ago.

Hey, that's way better than my best ever. Most I ever cleaned (well, clean AND jerked), was 255lbs (~116kg), and that's when I could deadlift 600+ lbs. Of course, I never learned proper clean technique until I was about 30 and didn't practice it all that often, but still...

 

[Steve Freides]

Not by much.

Regular flat bench (no crazy PL set up) is a pretty lame 5 reps@105 kg.

That's at a bodyweight of ~105 kg.

Based on bodyweight, I'd say about the same.

What is a "crazy PL set up?" I just have a flat bench in a power rack.



-S-

 

[North Coast Miller]

Mountain Tactical Institute found some pretty interesting correlations when they looked at rucking performance indicators.

"4. Interesting, relative upper body strength (measured by bench press 1RM divided by body weight) was almost perfectly correlated with ruck performance while relative lower body strength (measured by front squat 1RM divided by body weight) had the lowest correlation."

 

[John K]

Hey, that's way better than my best ever. Most I ever cleaned (well, clean AND jerked), was 255lbs (~116kg), and that's when I could deadlift 600+ lbs. Of course, I never learned proper clean technique until I was about 30 and didn't practice it all that often, but still...

At the time I was full on Weightlifter, I think my best press was 185lbs x1 and my best deadlift was 395lbs x5 so I just had … luck!

 

[T_M]

Pretty simple explanation:

Energy leaks in my upper body, diminishing force transfer in the kinetic chain from the legs to the bar, have been reduced.

Maybe simple for a MS in Kinesiology...but I eventually figured it out

 

[silveraw]

Mountain Tactical Institute found some pretty interesting correlations when they looked at rucking performance indicators.

"4. Interesting, relative upper body strength (measured by bench press 1RM divided by body weight) was almost perfectly correlated with ruck performance while relative lower body strength (measured by front squat 1RM divided by body weight) had the lowest correlation."

knowing nothing about their methods, my first instinct is that bench to BW ratio is primarily just a stand in measurement favoring "healthy" BW's for the individual's frame. I wonder if you took the BMI or WHR if you would get the same correlations.

 

[watchnerd]

At the time I was full on Weightlifter, I think my best press was 185lbs x1 and my best deadlift was 395lbs x5 so I just had … luck!

lbs???

 

[watchnerd]

Based on bodyweight, I'd say about the same.

What is a "crazy PL set up?" I just have a flat bench in a power rack.

View attachment 24712

-S-

Oh, I meant set up in terms of positioning, i.e. nothing like this

 

[watchnerd]

I have aspirations … the most I ever cleaned was 125kg but that was a decade ago.

148 kg is competition peaking, >95%.

Super heavy cleans wreck my recovery like nothing else.

My regular practice / training range is 96 - 118 kg.

 

[John K]

lbs???

I go both ways when it comes to units of measurement.

 

[Steve Freides]

Oh, I meant set up in terms of positioning, i.e. nothing like this

Yikes. If I could bend my spine like that, I'd join the circus.

-S-

 

[Boris Bachmann]

If you want your squat to go up, don't sleep on upper body work.

Absolutely. I'm lazy when it comes to bench and pressing in general and it's really starting to catch up to me. I mentioned in the "press big plates" thread recently that I was sorely in need up upper body work (because I can tell when squatting). I couldn't tell you why it matters so much other than to say that you need a strong upper body to support the bar and it's like "shooting a cannon out of a canoe" if you're leaking a ton of strength because your upper body can't keep up with the lower body. And, as anyone big would tell you, mass moves mass. Probably something to do with stability in the transverse (?) plane as well.

Anywho, I haven't benched yet this week so imma go to the garage right now and pump out some sets...

 

[Hung]

We have some junior lifter with 200 kg squat and 70 kg bench. No joke.

 

[watchnerd]

We have some junior lifter with 200 kg squat and 70 kg bench. No joke.

That's a proper weightlifter!

 

[GreenSoup]

Sometimes I worried that the bench press and all its variations might disappear from gyms and physical culture. Forget leg day! Don't skip chest day! You have to tell people not to skip their benching! Maybe we'll finally put an end to that tedious weight room question "How much ya leg curl?"

Joking aside, that kind of unexpected/mysterious progress is always wonderful to see. Congrats watchnerd.

 

[watchnerd]

I mentioned in the "press big plates" thread recently that I was sorely in need up upper body work (because I can tell when squatting). I couldn't tell you why it matters so much other than to say that you need a strong upper body to support the bar and it's like "shooting a cannon out of a canoe" if you're leaking a ton of strength because your upper body can't keep up with the lower body.

Yep!

 

[Chris Hall]

Along these same lines, I am pretty convinced that the three powerlifts help each other. As a DL specialist, squats help my DL start, and I will find my glutes cramping due to leg drive in my bench press. I also find I get additional upper back strength from both the SQ and the BP.

-S-

I found my bench improved dramatically when I started deadlifting regularly. Bench had been plateaued at around 90kg for a couple of years, and hit a PR of 125kg within about a year.