Zercher Harness

Buy your Zercher Harness here!

For those of you who don’t know who I am and are thinking, “who is this clown?” -
I have competed in two IPF World Powerlifting Championships.I am the holder of four New Zealand Powerlifting records and two All-round Weightlifting World records. I have been competing in the sport of Powerlifting for more than 15 years and have Bench Pressed double bodyweight in three weight classes.145kg @ 67.5kg, 165kg @ 75kg and 172.5kg @ 82.5kg bodyweight. Best 4 board press of 200kg.

One of the best ways to develop speed and in return power in the Bench Press is through the great training techniques of Louie Simmons with strength bands and chain training variations. There are several ways of setting up the bands for benching. I am going to explain a technique that we were shown a while back from New Zealand’s all time Bench Press record holder Reuben Simanu (305kg) pacificbarbenders.co.nz. We have found this to be the most time saving and effective way of training with the bands on the bench.
Why bands? From a powerlifting point of view the bands simulate a bench Press shirt. As you pass through the ROM the bands tighten on the concentric movement (upward phase) making the triceps work over time. This is very similar to how a shirt works, the shirt tightens on the way down creating a spring effect off the chest.
Bands also develop kinetic energy and help with speed off the chest, most of the time you can overcome weakness off your chest with speed through the sticking point. My point of view is that the triceps are one of the most under rated muscle groups in the bench press. Strong triceps = strong bench!
Ok, back to set up: We use one band, this can vary from #1, #2 or #3. The one band loops under the bench then back through the bar.

The band should be underneath your chest about nipple level, so when you take the bar out the band is straight up and down not pulling you forward or back. This creates less stress on your shoulder girdle.

My elbows go through the band and then I gather my grip.

We have found this to be very even throughout the press creating no extra stress on the shoulders. The movement is very smooth and enjoyable. You can increase resistance by increasing band size or adding extra bands.
Don’t forget the key to getting strong is variation, don’t get stale! Add chains, weight releaser’s, blocks etc. I will be adding an article to the article archives page on Benching variations in the near future, so keep a eye out on getstrength.com or join our mailing list.

Have fun, let me know how you get on and if you have any questions.
visit www.getstrength.com
Train hard,
Steve Thompson

By Steve Thompson Getstrength.com

Lets talk variatation, every body knows bench press, there are still a few out there that don’t realise that a bench press consists of a full range of motion from chest to full lock out.
A 1RM in the Bench Press does not count if your training partner is trying for a all time best upright row at the same time.

Well to keep it simple, if you are a sprinter trying to increase his or her 100m sprint record! You sprint! Marathon runner, keep running! You want a stronger squat you squat! You want to increase your bench press, bench!. Simple . Yea simple. When you been in the game for a while you need to think smarter. The body responds to any thing new or change. If you are in your first few years of powerlifting 1- 5 years just worry about keeping it basic, Squat Bench and Deadlift. I’m going to quote a good friend of mine, John Lockington one of New Zealand’s best ever clay court tennis players. “ Keep it simple stupid” The Kiss principle.

Thinking out side the box. Are you after a big increase in the bench? Been training for a long time? Things are getting stale on the bench? Benching alone is just not cutting the mustard anymore……Lets change our focus to assistance exercises in the Bench. Choosing your assistance bench training should be judged on your week points in the Barbell Bench Press range of motion.

Quick key points to look for:
Failed on chest – Possible week chest or front delts. Rotator cuff.
Failed half way up – Shoulders
Failed over half way – Triceps

Please note this is a rough guild and there could be many other factors involved, injuries, age, weight, body types etc.

Here is a list of bench press variations to help increase your bench press 1RM. This is based on a top international strength coach Louie Simmons. We will hit each discipline for 2 weeks creating a 1RM for each exercise each week.

Floor Bench- Variations (Chains) (Band)

Block Bench – 2 inch / 4 inch / 6inch – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Carpet Bench – 2 inch / 4 inch / 6inch – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Bench Press – Variations (Chains) (Bands) (Weight Releasers) ( Close Grip/ Ultra Wide)

Cambered Bench Bar – Block 2 inch / 4 inch / 6inch – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Rack Lock outs – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Reverse Band Press – Variations (Chains)

Close Grip Incline – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Decline Bench Press – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

D.B Bench – Variations (Inc/Decline) (Bands) – D.B’s Turned in/out

Pro-Tricep Bar – Variations (Chains) (Bands)

Pick half a dozen of these exercises create a cycle situation, 2 weeks on one exercise then move on, after 12 weeks you should be back at the start of your rotation cycle, you should be stronger at this point so your 1RM on each exercise should be increased on round 2 .

Don’t forget in your prescribed program you cover heavy shoulder work and Triceps (Plenty of Tricep extensions, 100+ reps per work out twice a week.

Upper back work for thickness, thicker your back and chest is, less distance the bar has to travel plus you have the advantaged of riding up on your shoulder blades though out the bench.

Keep me posted.

Steve

You may wish to check it out!

Zerchers would have to be one of the most under rated exercise ever.

Stay Strong,

Steve Thompson

If you can get away with it, the Olympic style set up in Front Squat my opinion would be the best option. I would highly recommend trying this setup first, It helps to keep you upright at the bottom of the squat, by keeping your elbows high through out the movement. But there is a lot of people who can not get themselves in this position, therefore here is the list of my to top 5 Front Squat Set-ups.

In order of recommendations:

Number 1,

The Olympic Front Squat Set Up.

My opinion one of the best possible set-ups in the Front Squat. Limitation are flexibility and delt muscle mass. Teaches correct technique in press/jerk.

Number 2,

The Front Squat Harness.

Number 3,

The Lifting Straps set Up

Number 4,

Arms out in front set up

Number 5,

Bodybuilding Cross over grip

Before jumping into this 12 week advance program I would recommend following the 8 week conditioning cycle. (Foundation cycle).

Warm ups

Monday
Warm up
Chest and Arms

D.B Bench 5 x 5 (super set 5 x 5 in Flyes)
D.B Incline Bench 5 x 5 (super set press ups)
D.B Hammer Curls 4 x 10
Tricep Extension 4 x 10

Tuesday
Cardio 20-30  mins

Wednesday
Warm up
Legs and abs

Squats 4 x 8
Steps ups 4 x 8
Lunge 4 x 8
Abs
Leg Raise 3 x 20

Thursday
Cardio 20-30 mins

Friday
Warm Up
Back lower/upper

Deadlifts 5 x 5
Goodmornings 5 x 5
Bench Pulls 3 x 10
Seated Row 3 x 10

Sat and Sun off

5 mins Cardio, could be bike, rower, treadmill, road jog etc.

with a 2kg weight, i.e med ball, 2.5 kg olympic plate etc

Rotations 10 each side (ball held out in front of you with you feet not moving turn your body left to right)

Side Bends 10 each side (ball on top of your head, side bend left and right)

Goodmornings 10 each side (ball on top of your head)

Side Lunge 10 each side (ball held at chest level)

Squats 10  (ball held at chest level)

I am Managing Director and founder of Getstrength.com International. Strength Coach since 1999 New Zealand Powerlifting Record holder.

I have competed in two IPF World Powerlifting Championships and was the coach for the Worlds Masters Powerlifting Bench Champs in Miami, USA 2006.

I am the holder of four New Zealand Powerlifting records and two All-round Weightlifting World records. I competed in the sport of Powerlifting for more than 18 years.

Introduction
It was rumored in weightlifting circles that when the Bulgarian’s began to match the Russian’s dominance in the strength sports that they had a secret training weapon. That secret weapon, as it turned out, was not a secret at all, just hard work and excellent programming under super coach, Ivan Abadjiev. Interestingly though, many ascribed the powerful legs of the Bulgarians, in part, to the athlete’s performing single-leg squats with their back foot on a bench to supplement their other squatting movements. This enabled the Bulgarian weightlifter’s to normalize any strength imbalances between limbs and not to excessively load the back in the same way heavy back squats do. You’ll sometimes see these named Sprinter’s or Borzov Squats, after the famous Russian sprinter, Valeriy Borzov.

Primary muscles used:
Quadriceps, gluteals, hamstrings, and adductors.

Set up:
*Stand in front of a bench and place one foot flat on the bench so that the ankle is just off the end;
*Position the foot on the floor far enough forward that it will be comfortable to squat without the heel lifting up or the hip flexors of the non-working leg being strained;
*Use either dumbbells in both hands or a barbell on the trapezius.

Descent:
*Squat down, which will allow the hips to push back and down, the knee to come forward of the toes and the torso to learn forward from the hips;
*Squat as deep as you can, the lowest range being when the lumbar spine begins to lose its neutral curvature or the hip flexors of the non-working leg become uncomfortably stretched or the knee touches the ground.

Ascent:
*Drive straight back up to the starting position, making sure that the ankle, knee, hips and torso all move with the same speed and timing.

Key Points
*Keep the front foot flat on the floor throughout the movement;
*Although the knee will come forward of the toes, it’s imperative to keep the patella tracking with the middle toes.

Bulgarian Split Squats
Introduction
The Bulgarian version of a split squat (also called a back foot elevated static lunge) is exactly the same Bulgarian squat with the exception of the bench being replaced with a step (or low box). This lower back foot position allows for a greater stretch in the hip flexors and a larger range of motion on the working knee.

Key points:
*Keep the front foot flat on the floor throughout the entire range of motion;
*Maintain correct knee tracking;
*Aim to touch the hamstring on the calves in the lowest position;
*Keep the truck completely upright from start to finish, as the tendency will be to lean forward;
*Bulgarian split squats are a diagonal movement pattern and not an ‘up/down’ vertical exercise (like most people perform lunges). Therefore, the descent involves the knee and hips moving forward and down and the ascent is up and back as one smooth movement.

Tony Boutagy is a strength coach based in Sydney, Australia. He is the director of the Sydney Sports & Athletic Performance Centre and a doctoral student at ACU. Visit his website at www.tonyboutagy.com

By Tony Boutagy www.tonyboutagy.com

Many strength coaches have a well guarded secret. And that secret is this: strength exercises typically have boring and lackluster names. So to make them sound more interesting and exotic, the name of an Eastern Bloc country is added to the movement, transforming an ordinary squat into a Bulgarian Squat and the average deadlift into a Romanian deadlift! Clients are always far more impressed if they are performing a Hungarian Chin Up* rather than a plain old chin up! And it’s now becoming very popular, especially with females strength coaches, to add the name Brazilian, if the exercise is performed with no weight at all!!

How these exercises came to be named after a country is an interesting story. Certain superstar Eastern Bloc athletes in weightlifting and track & field performed particular lifts with such regularity or with seemingly impossible heavy loads that the lifts themselves, over many years, became known by the country which popularized them. This article summarizes six of the better known and widely used exercises with exotic names. The Cuban Press**, however, did not make it to the present list, unfortunately, as it lacks a certain eastern European flavour!

Romanian Deadlifts
Introduction
The Romanian version of the deadlift obtained its name from two famous Romanian weightlifters (and later coaches) Dragomir Cioroslan and Nicu Vlad who used the movement extensively in their own training and in the preparation of their weightlifting athletes. Some coaches prefer not to name the exercise after Romania, so you’ll sometimes see them referred to as a Semi-Straight Legged Deadlift with Neutral Spine. Personally, I think Romanian deadlifts sound better!

Primary muscles involved:
The hamstrings, gluteals, adductors and the erector spinae in hip extension. The rhomboids and trapezius are involved isometrically to hold the scapula in place.

Set up:
*Grip on the bar slightly wider than shoulder width apart, with a pronated grip;
*Set the feet hips width apart and turn the toes out slightly;
*Bend the knees about 15-20 degrees to relieve pressure on the iliotibial band;
*Lock out the elbows and turn them outwards;
*Keep the chest up and watch forward;

Descent:
*Initiate the descent by shooting the hips back without bending the knees further than the set position of 15-20 degrees – this movement occurs only in the hips and not the spine or knees;
*Keep the chest up which helps preserve the neutral spine;
*Make sure that the bar brushes the thighs and lower until the spine almost loses the neutral curve.

Ascent:
*Drive the hips forward and the chest up;
*Finish in exactly the same position as the set up position.

Key Points:
*Keep the chest up to maintain neutral curvature of the spine;
*Don’t allow the knees to bend more than 20 degrees;
*Keep the bar in contact with legs at all times during the lift

Variations:
*Perform with dumbbells rather than a barbell or with a single-leg, with the non-working leg acting as a counter balance behind. Romanian deadlifts can also be performed with a wide stance and a shoulder width grip on the bar. The name then becomes a Sumo stance Romanian deadlift.

Tony Boutagy is a strength coach based in Sydney, Australia. He is the director of the Sydney Sports & Athletic Performance Centre and a doctoral student at ACU. Visit his website at www.tonyboutagy.com

* No such exercise exists.
** Strength coach Charles Poliquin made up the name Cuban Press so he could convince a weightlifting athlete of his to do them. Poliquin told him that the Cuban’s did them on a regular basis, and that is why they excelled in the snatch! The Russian Twist didn’t make into the final cut either because it lacked the pain producing qualities of the other movements listed here!