Published on Oct 9, 2015
Learn how to instantly lift more weight when executing the squat, bench press, and deadlift using this simple and effective cue. Stop limiting yourself by only using a portion of your true strength potential and learn how to use your entire body to move the barbell.
Intro
What’s up everyone? I am about to teach you one simple technique cue that will instantly increase the amount of weight you can lift!
Instantly Lift More Weight
Too often I see people only using a portion of their true strength potential when executing the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift.
This technique cue that I’m about to share with you will teach you how to use your entire body when lifting. Many people mistakenly assume that the only muscles being used in the Squat are your leg muscles, the only muscles being used in the deadlift are your back muscles, and the only muscles being used in the bench press are your shoulders, pecs, and triceps.
This could be considered a “Bodybuilding” style of thinking.
What this tells me is you’re imagining the squat, bench press, and deadlift, as one-directional movements.
- Squat Barbell up
- Press barbell away
- Pick barbell up
If you’re approaching the lifts like this you are limiting your strength potential!
What I want you to do instead is start thinking of the lifts as multi – directional movements or multi – directional efforts.
Squat – During the squat I want you to drive your feet through the floor AND drive your upper back into the barbell.
Bench Press – During the bench press I want you to press the barbell away from your body AND press yourself away from the barbell into the bench.
Deadlift – During the deadlift I want you to pick the barbell up away from the floor AND drive the floor away from the barbell.
Using this multi – directional effort rather than the old one-directional effort will allow you to operate on all cylinders and instantly increase the amount of weight you can lift
Let’s take a minute to break down each movement and apply this multi – directional effort cue.
SQUAT
During the squat you should push your feet into the floor
AND push your upper back up into the barbell.
It’s obvious when someone is not driving their back into the barbell when we see their hips shoot back or their hips shoot up and the barbell does not follow.
They are applying force to the ground but that energy is not being transferred into the barbell. What they need to focus on is driving their feet into the floor and driving their upper back into the barbell.
Doing so will ensure their shoulders and hips are in unison as they return to the starting position.
Imagine someone placed their hands on your upper back and you were pushing against them in an effort to stand up.
All of this illustrates why a strong/tight upper back is needed to squat big weights.
Squat Recap
When squatting, apply force into the ground by pushing the floor away from you while applying force upward into the barbell with your upper back.
Deadlift
When deadlifting you need to think about picking the barbell up AND pushing the floor away from the barbell by driving your feet into the floor.
During the deadlift you need to think about two angles:
- The angle of your knees
- The angle of your hips
It is important that these angles open up and lock out simultaneously. You open up the angle of your knee by pushing your feet into the floor with your quads. You open up the angle of your hips by hinging, pulling with the hamstrings, and driving the hips forward. You do not want one angle opening faster than the other or one angle locking out sooner than the other.
So, for you to be able to open up both angles at the same time and use your whole body to instantly lift more weight you need to pull UP on the barbell and drive your feet DOWN into the floor simultaneously.
Don’t mistakenly think you need to pull on the barbell with bent arms.
Pulling up on the barbell, pulling the slack out, is achieved through a strong set up in which you are using your bodyweight to pull the slack out of the bar. There should be a second before the bar comes off the ground when the tension in your entire body is built up and ready to be transferred into the barbell and the floor.
You have to fight to drive your feet through the floor, drive your shoulder up, and drive your hips forward.
Bench Press
When benching you want to make the effort to press the barbell away from your body AND press yourself away from the barbell and into the bench.
Doing this will help keep your upper back tight throughout the entire press. Your upper back is the platform you are pressing from. A weak/loose upper back will not produce a strong bench press.
Many people loose upper back tightness at the top of the movement because they “Reach” at the end trying to continue pressing the barbell away from their body.
Pressing yourself into the bench will help keep your upper back tight because you are smashing your upper back into the bench.
You’ll notice some great bench pressers will lift their head up on the lift and once they reverse the barbell into the concentric portion they drive their head back into the bench. This is an exaggerated way of emphasizing driving yourself away from the barbell and back into the bench.
Leg drive
Understanding how to use leg drive will help maximize this cue. Putting your feet in a position that allows you to drive your feet into the floor without your butt coming off the bench will allow you to use your quads to forcefully drive yourself back into the bench away from the barbell.
To learn more about “How to use Leg Drive during the bench press” click here: http://www.trainuntamed.com/how-to-use-leg-drive-during-the-bench-press/
With tight shoulders and a big chest drive your feet into the floor and push yourself into the bench. Keep moving your feet back under you until you’re in a position that allows you to use leg drive without your butt coming off of the bench. This is how you use leg drive to press yourself into the bench while pressing the barbell away from your body.
Realize, you don’t need to master the leg drive technique to benefit from this cue. You can still press the barbell away from your body while driving yourself into the bench without using any leg drive.
Recap
To recap, stop thinking of applying force in one single direction during the squat, bench press, and deadlift and start thinking about applying force in multiple directions. Doing so will allow you to utilize your entire body to move the weight and will instantly increase the amount of weight you can lift.
I hope that was helpful. Thanks for watching. Please be sure to Subscribe and always remember:
