I hope everyone’s week has been awesome and filled with happiness and unicorns.

Since I broke the news of quitting school to my parents, I’ve never felt better. However, I’m probably the busiest I’ve ever been. Since I’m home most of the time, extra house chores are now part of my daily regime.

On another note, my training has been going fantastic; I’ve sought help from my not only extremely strong but good looking brother, Jordan Syatt, with my programming. We are currently working on to give me the ability to lift elephants and smash brick walls on the day of my first ever powerlifting meet!!

Yes, I’ve made the decision to sign up for my first meet and I must say I am excited. The meet is on the 7th of July which means I have just around a month left of preparation.

* For those who are clueless what powerlifting consist of here’s a bad-ass video to give you a rough idea of the sport.

I’ll probably have someone video my lifts so all of you can expect heavy weights being moved and a face way worst than someone undergoing constipation.

Throughout my time of training, I’ve observed how I train and finding out what really works for me. So I’ve collected a couple of tips that has helped me improve my lifts and I thought I’ll help my readers move some heavy weights as well.

So here are 3 tips that will help you in the bench, Squat and Deadlifts.

Bench Press.

1. Accelerate the motorcycle and squeeze a stress ball.

The grip is probably the most overlooked factor when it comes to the bench press. Regular gym goes often bench with a false grip (thumb behind bar) and that is often fine and dandy. However I found that benching with a true grip (thumbs over the bar) allowed me to move heavier weights with more confidence.

A true grip also allowed me to squeeze the bar tighter. This cue is very important when it comes to benching because upon squeezing the bar, irradiation to take place. Irradiation will help recruit more muscle fibres and more muscle fibres means higher potential to move more weight. So use a true grip when you bench and picture the bar as a stress ball and squeeze the life out of it.

Another problem is benching with the wrist cocked backwards. Also known as the broken wrist syndrome, this position puts your wrist in a vulnerable position for injury. One way to remedy this is to picture the bar as the acceleration handles on a motor cycle and consciously try to accelerate the motorcycle.

2. Bring your chest to meet the bar.

Upon the descent, picture that you are not only trying to bring the bar down to your chest but trying to lift your chest towards the bar.

This video by strength coach Joe Hashey demonstrates how to do it.

3. Train your upper back

Training your upper back has a carryover to your bench. Your upper back acts as a stable platform for you to bench some heavy weights. A strong upper back will ensure that you do not get flattened when take the weight off the bar and can help generate more tension to press heavier weights.

Training your upper back will also help maintain structural integrity by balancing out the muscles used in pressing to prevent imbalance and injury.

Here are some of the exercises you can use to target your upper back.

– Face Pulls*

– Rear Delt Raise

– Chest Supported Row

– Barbell Bent Over Row

– Cable Row

– One Arm Dumbbell Row

*The face pull is a magical exercise that can help remedy your imbalances. To know why, here’s a sweet post I wrote for Dean Somerset that explains the magical powers of the face pull.

Squats

1. Show your crotch

A problem I see with people squatting is that their knees collapse inwards when they squat. Not only does this reduce the weights someone can lift, it also puts your knees in position vulnerable to injury.

To fix this, I often cue people to push their knees out and show their crotch. This cue seems to help people push their knees outwards. It’s probably because if they don’t do it right, I’ll keep shouting show your crotch and I must say hearing the word crotch multiple times in the gym can be pretty embarrassing.

2. Breathe, release, breathe.

I learned this from Mike Robertson, who is also another genius.

When people squat, it’s important to take a deep breath. However taking a deep breath might put us into a slight extension position. This position might not be optimal since it reduces the ability to completely brace your core.

What we can actually do is after taking a deep breath, exhale to let some air out and then immediately take some air in and brace. This fixes the extension position and allows a 360 expansion which will help tighten our core to move some heavy weights while protecting our lumbar spine.

3. Elbows under the bar.

When we squat, it is important to engage the entire body during the lift. To squat big weights, we need full body tension to help create a stable base to execute the movement.

A common mistake is not maintaining a tight back. It is common sense that since the weight is on our backs, we need to create a stable foundation before even descending into the squat. However common sense is rarely common practice.

To fix this, try driving your elbows under the bar. Try it right now, imagine there is a bar on your back and try positioning your elbows under the bar. Back tightens up almost immediately? Now do it every time you squat.

Deadlift

1. Big belly breath.

Breathing should be important since I’ve mention breathing in both the squat and the bench, it’s the same for the deadlift.

Whenever you take a breath, you shoulders should not rise but you should feel your belly expanding. This creates intra-abdominal pressure which will help you body stay tight throughout the entire lift.

As for when to breathe, there are two ways to this. The first is to breathe when you are at the top before you hold the bar. This works well for people who prefer a quick set up.

However, I prefer to take a slower set up and I often take my breathe when my I bend down to put my hands on the bar, right before I sink my hips down and get into my final position before the lift.

Finding what works best for you will help you lift more weight but always take your breath before you sink your hips into the final position. Doing it after might restrict the amount of air you can take in that position your belly is compressed and less air would be able to enter.

2. Pull the slack out of the bar

Pulling the slack out of the bar simply means that begin pulling until you feel the bar get tight against the plates and begin to bend. This means that during the lift you should here very minimal sound from the plates rattling against the bar.

By doing this, it will help eliminate jerking the bar off the ground which might also cause biceps tear.

3. Vary your training

I’ve only come to realize this very recently. When I first started deadlifting I did conventional deadlifts. However, I messed around and realize that I’m better deadlifting in a sumo stance. So I forgo pulling conventional and trained Sumo.

When I tried pulling conventional once more, I realized that my conventional deadlift did not regressed since I stop pulling conventional. This made me incorporate both variations into my training and I realize that training them both has some carry over to one another.

So if you pull wide try training narrow, if you pull narrow try training wide. The different stimulus might kick things up and help you lift more weights over time.

Wrapping up

There are many other tips that can be used when you perform these exercises. The reason why I only gave 3 is so that you won’t be overwhelmed with information.  Pick one or two for each lift and try them out ansd see if your lifts go up.

Remember what work someone might not work for someone else. The key to long term progress is finding out what works for you and keep doing it till it doesn’t.

The key to long term progress is finding out what works for you and keep doing it till it doesn’t. <— Click to Tweet!

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the tips I’ve shared to help you move some big weights. Which is your favourite tip? And if you plan on incorporating them into your training leave a comment below

• Comments
  2 Comments
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  kedric

• 
  matt_liggitt
  

  Hi, I enjoyed reading this, you have covered some interesting tips and I like your writing style and the bold highlighted words which focus the readers attention. However, there are a lot of grammatical errors and wrongly spelled words which may be something to look out for when you are proof reading things in future.

  • 
    kedric93
    

    Thanks for the kind words Matt! I hope it helped you

    And yes, the same old minor and careless errors. I will work on that, if you see mistakes in the future, send a unicorn to stab me in my ass!

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