3 Training Myths Exposed

(I recently had an article published over at OneResult, a pretty cool company that publishes training/nutrition information, workout plans, and also sells supplements that are NCAA-approved only.) Contrary to popular belief these three training techniques are doing absolutely nothing for your strength, size, or athletic performance.

I can’t tell you how many times I’m in the middle of coaching and think to myself:

“Man! If only I knew in high school what these kids know right now, who knows how my athletic career would’ve ended up…"

You see, most of the athletes I work with are 14-18 year-olds, which is the very age range in which I made almost every conceivable training mistake. Because the resources available to me were muscle magazines and “bodybuilders” at my local gym, I wasted a lot of my physiological potential on erroneous training methods that did nothing to improve my athletic performance.

You can continue reading HERE

Have a great weekend! - Steve

40 Bench Press + 40 Pushup Variations

I wanted to get this list out and circulating before the next weekly celebration of National Bench Press Monday (please re-read the that one more time, but this time with a thick layer of sarcasm). Anyway, I've actually got two lists today, the first one is a comprehensive list of bench press variations from Siff's Supertraining. But, since we don't do a heck of a lot of "bench pressing" with our SAPT athletes, I thought it made sense to come up with a complimentary list of Push-up variations like we use at SAPT. Enjoy.

40 Bench Press Variations to Spice Up Your Mondays:

1. Snatch grip bench press (BB)
2. Narrow grip bench press
3. Jerk grip bench press
4. Hands touching bench press
5. Bench Press, starting at rest from chest (different grip spacings)
6. Bench Press, with bounce at bottom, very lightly touching chest
7. Bench Press, slow down, fast up
8. Slow down, slow up Bench Press
9. Fast down, fast up Bench Press
10. Bench Press to lower part of chest
11. Bench Press to mid chest
12. Bench Press to clavicles
13. Reverse grip Bench Press
14. Thumbless grip Bench Press
15. Bench Press, elbows close to body, arms rotated laterally (all variations)
16. Bench Press, elbows rotated away from body, arms rotated medially (all variations)
17. Bench Press, limited range between set points on power rack
18. Bench Press, isometric, pressing against bar fixed at selected point
19. Bench Press, driving up to stops on power rack, then pressing isometrically
20. Bench Press, forced reps wit partner helping at sticking point
21. Eccentric only Bench Press (raised by partner)
22. Bench Press, continuous reps without rest at top or bottom
23. Bench Press, replacing bar on rack between each repetition
24. Concentric only Bench Press (lowered by partner)
25. Bench Press, feet on bench (all variations)
26. Bench Press, from different starting points off of boards
27. Bench Press, load release at selected point
28. Bench Press, plyometric thrust at given point against light load
29. Conventional machine Bench Press (all variations)
30. Bench Press, using variable resistance machine
31. Bench Press, holding at different stages on way up or down or both
32. Dumbbell Bench Press (above variations)
33. DB Bench Press, rotating DB's on the way up and down
34. Seated Chest Press machine (all variations)
35. Decline Bench Press (all variations)
36. Incline Bench Press (all variations)
37. Bench Press with firm sponge (foam) on chest
38. Bench Press with attached chains or bands
39. Oscillating Bench Press, elbows slightly bent
40. Bench Press held at given level, partner pushes down with oscillating thrusts

From this list you can actually extract at least 160 total pressing variations. I'm not suggesting these are all "good" variations. But they are all variations!

40 Push-up Variations to Spice Up Your Entire Week:

1. Snatch grip Push-up (very wide hand placement)
2. Narrow grip Push-up
3. Jerk grip Push-up
4. Hands touching Push-up
5. Push-up, starting at rest from floor (different grip spacings)
6. Push-up, with bounce off back & triceps at end of motion
7. Push-up, slow down, fast up
8. Slow down, slow up Push-up
9. Fast down, fast up Push-up
10. Push-up to very low part of chest (hands placed low)
11. Push-up to mid chest
12. Push-up to clavicles
13. Push-up to sandbag or low box walkover
14. Push-up with one hand on medicine ball
15. Push-up, elbows close to body, arms rotated laterally (all variations)
16. Push-up, elbows rotated away from body, arms rotated medially (all variations)
17. Push-up with both hands on medicine ball
18. Push-up, isometric, holding position at selected point
19. Push-up, driving up to stop from partner, then pressing isometrically
20. Push-up, forced reps wit partner helping at sticking point
21. Eccentric only Push-up (SAPT uses these all the time)
22. Push-up, continuous reps without rest at top or bottom (Steve just wrote a post about this)
23. Push-up, resting briefly between each repetition (most likely with weight on back)
24. Concentric only Push-up (start from laying on floor)
25. Push-up, feet on bench (all variations)
26. Push-up, from different starting points off of boards or sandbags
27. Push-up with crawl variation between clusters of repetitions
28. Push-up, plyometric thrust (clap variations, usually)
29. Depletion Push-up, 3 sets max push-ups each followed by :90 rest
30. Push-up, using chains laid over back
31. Push-up, holding at different stages on way up or down or both
32. Single arm Push-up (above variations)
33. DB Bench Press, rotating DB's on the way up and down
34. Staggered hand position Push-up
35. Hands elevated Push-up (all variations & can be weighted)
36. Depth drop Push-up
37. Push-up, plyometric effort to land on low sandbag or box
38. Push-up with attached bands
39. Oscillating Push-up, elbows slightly bent
40. Push-up held at given level, partner pushes down with oscillating thrust

Since we can actually post and SEE comments now, please feel free to add some bench press or push-up variations that I may have missed!

Sarah