Ah, the eternal questions raised in the world of strength training for football…

How can I get a faster 40?

How do I hit harder?

And, of course, the all time Classic…”Bro, whatya Bench, bro?” …

Yes, yes, if you look like you’ve ever lifted even one weight, you’ll get asked this question at least 5 times a week. America went bench crazy back in the late 80’s – early 90’s and it’d only gotten worse. Most football strength coaches have a love/hate realtionship with the bench press.

It’s a very good overall power builder, but it is far from the most important exercise in one’s football strength program. Many coaches opted to remove the bench altogether. But, after a near revolt by bench loving football players, the bench has crept back in to strength programs.

Now, personally, I like the bench. I’m built to do it, and, breaking the school bench record my junior year certianly helped (thank you, thank you).

In reality, the Incline and Dumbbell Incline are actually better exercises for building football strength. They much more closely mimic the pattern of the arms when blocking or tackling. Also, there’s an odd a carry-over from the Incline to the Bench that doesn’t work the opposite way.

If you increase your Incline, your Bench will usually go up as well. But, as anyone who’s ever watched a bench-only guy try to incline will tell you, it doesn’t work in reverse.

I remember sometime around my junior year of college, I was nearing a 500-lb raw bench. Shortly after I got the big 5-oh-oh, my shoulders started hurting like hell. A sharp, stabbing sensensation in my front delts stopped me from benching for a long, long time. I started to concentrate on Incline because this did not hurt my shoulders.

Well, after having the problem fixed evenutally (rotator cuff problems should be fixed or they’ll never go away), I returned to benching.

However, it had been over 3 years since I last did them. No matter, all that Inclining did me a world of good. The first day back I went up over 400lbs. Not bad for not benching for several years, eh?

The Bench Press and Football Strength Training

So, is the bench worthwhile for football? Many have argued that if you are on your back and need to press someone off of you on the field, you’re not a great player!

Poppycock and Bulderdash I say.

The bench press is a great builder of power in the chest, arms, and tris. And, oddly enough, training for a big bench, is similar to what you need to do to train the upper body to get stronger for football…lots of pressing, back work, tricep work, and heavy weights.

Also, the bench, like having big arms, is a great confidence booster. Let’s face it, when a guy hits a new milestone in the Bench (200, 250, 300, 400, etc), their confidence goes way up. They feel much stronger. Feeling stronger leads to increased performance because a guy is more sure of himself on the field.

So, if we’re going to use the bench in our training, we better go after it big time, eh? Here are 4 ways to Increase Your Bench by 15+ lbs. And, they’ll also improve your on the field performance because of the newly-aquired power.

1. Board Presses – Get Wood to Get a Big Bench

The Board Press is usually thought of as a Powerlifting-only exercise. Some feel that it’s some advanced exercises that only big, ugly, mean super-heavyweights can use.

Truth is, they’re an excellent way to not only add major poundage to your Bench, but to increase your overall upper body power on and off the field. Is there anyone who can say that having stronger arms and pressing power won’t help with blocking or tackling?

Board Presses are, as the name implies, combines Benching and Boards.

Rather than have you read through a long explination of the Board Press and why it’s a kick-ass movement for football, watch these videos:

Football Strength Training – Board Press Explination from steven morris on Vimeo.

Football Strength Training – Board Press Explanation from steven morris on Vimeo.

Use Board Presses as part of your Max Effort Upper rotation. You can also use 4 and 5 boards as a high rep tricep movement as well.

2. Train Close, Max Wide, But Always Keep Your Elbows In!

You can increase your bench in one session if you follow this tip.

If there is one universal bad habit when it comes to benching, especially among high school football players, it’s they they bench with their elbows flared way the hell out wide.

This is asking for rotator cuff problems, shoulder injuries and, worst of all, less weight!

Plus, would you ever block someone like this? Of course not, you’d get your ass kicked. So, don’t train like it either. The purpose of every exercise we do is to get you stronger or faster for football…don’t waste any movements in the gym.

Here’s what you do.

• Train with a fairly close grip much of the time. Keep your elbows tucked in close, like in this video.

Football Strength Exercises – Close Grip Bench from steven morris on Vimeo.

This will keep your shoulders from rotating and also put much more stress on the triceps. Despite what most assume, the bench press is powered by the shoulders and triceps, NOT the pecs. And, as a very cool added bonus, the shoulders and tris are extremely important for success in football…so training them hard has a double purpose.

Now, you might think I’m being hypocritical here, but, when it’s time to max out, you’ll want to go wide with your grip. You can train in this range very, very occasionally. There’s too much stress on the shoulders to do all the time.

• You must still attempt to keep your elbows as tucked in as possible! (Watch this video of a high-rep Wide Grip Bench)

Football Strength Training – Bench Press 320 x 18 from steven morris on Vimeo.

Why do all this?

Simple. Training close strengthens the hell out of the tris, but, you shouldn’t max this way because the closer your hands, the farther the bar must travel.

It’s such a simple concept but so many guys miss this. If you have to push a bar 22″ or 14,” which one will you use more weight on?

Doing this will add at least 10, and probably closer to 15lbs to your bench instantly. If you have max-outs coming up, practice the wide grip style once then turn to it for the big day. But, KEEP YOUR ELBOWS IN!

3. Row, Row, Row Your Bench…

This is something that will take longer to pay off, but, again, it pays off in two ways. One, doing tons of rows will give you a bigger back…a bigger back reduces the distance the bar must travel.

Two, you can never train your back hard enough for football.

Not only does it add to your overall upper body size. Having a big, strong back also helps with pulling power, pressing power, and gives a solid layer of protection to your ribs, and back.

The best exercises to build this barn-door sized back are:

• 1-Arm Row (and all the variations)

• Low Seated Cable or Band Rows

• Chins

Work these hard every time you train upper body, using 3 – 5 sets of 5 – 15 reps. Like I said, you can never do enough back work.

4. Train the Triceps Like a Mad Man for a Huge Bench and Mad Blocking Power

Like we said earlier, it is the triceps, not the pecs, that build huge Benches.

It is also the triceps that power then end of blocks, allow you to seperate from the linenman across from you, and to deliver a good old-fashioned stiff arm to the face.

A lot of people are surprised when they see how much tri work we do. It’s fairly prominent in our workouts, at least on Max Effort day.

There’s no need for confusion though – the triceps are like the hamstrings of the upper body…if they’re weak, you’re cooked. Yes, the legs and hips are where blocking power comes from. But, when you need to get seperation, lose your footing, or simply want to manhandle the guy across from you, a strong upper body is a must.

You should work the triceps both heavy for low reps and with more moderate weight for higher reps.

The low reps, of course, being an overall upper body strength builder which will help on the field and on the Bench. The higher reps are for elbow health and overall size…remember, the big arms/confidence thing?

What are the best triceps exercises for a big bench and blocking power? …glad you asked:

• Close Grip Bench
• 4 or 5-Board Press
• Close Grip Lock-Outs
• Lying Extensions
• JM Press (great for building strength)
• Bar Push Ups (great for adding mass)
• Behind the Head Extensions
• Rolling Tricep Extensions (great for adding mass
• French Press

Work the tris hard and heavy twice per week. Once for low reps, the other for higher (6 – 12) and watch your bench and on-field performance explode.

5. Bonus JM Press – CGB

Here’s a little bonus move for ya.

It’s the combining of the ever-awesome JM Press followed directly be Close Grip Benches till almost failure. This is a great movement for overall strength and an excellent way to bulk the triceps.

Now, you can begin applying these tips and see an immediate increase in your Bench, hitting power, and size. But, if you really want to go from having a good bench to school-record-breaking kinda weight, you should check out all the FREE Bench manuals we’ve put together.

“Add 25-lbs to Your Bench in 5-Weeks (over 50-pages)”

Critical Bench’s “50-Keys to  a Bigger Bench”

“Increase Your 225-lb Test by 4-Reps Instantly” (over 40-pages!)

With these 3 manuals, you’ll be blowing the school record out of the water in no time. They all come free with the Explosive Football Strength Workouts Manual.

Head on over to the page and check them out, I personally guarantee that if you follow the advice in all 4 books, your bench will go up no less than 50-lbs in no-time!

• Click Here to take your Bench higher than you ever dreamed!