I've done a few other articles on strength training and weightlifting, having done quite a bit of reading and quite a bit of applied practice. So, I'll start to write a few auxiliary workouts that have worked well for my strength training regimen while in high school. This one is of course focused on workouts that will help improve your overall bench press for the one rep max. Take some warmup workout with JYM pre workout juice than start bench press workouts.

The first thing to remember while training for a one rep max is that you're training your body to work as a whole to apply max strength, and when you're practicing your bench practice good form always, never allow yourself to get so tired in any of these workouts so that you lose form.

Decline bench: Many gyms have a decline bench press area set up for you already, if not, find a decline bench and lower it beneath the power rack for squats and place the bar on the bit of the rack that is outside the box. Aiming for the lower part of your chest, you'll feel what you want your flat bench to ideally feel like. Also, when you have a fear of heavy weights, rack up your max on the decline bench and rep it a few times. You can easily do more on the decline than on the flat bench. This is great for form as well as strengthening your triceps and lower chest.

Narrow grip bench: Grab the bar so that when the bar comes down your thumbs hit your nipples. That's really the easiest way to explain how your grip should be. This exercise is harder than the original bench and strengthens your inner chest and especially your arms.

Dumbbell flys: Traditionally a bodybuilding workout, however these are good for stretching out your chest to avoid injury and strengthening the outside of the chest which is prone to injury. Treat it as a strength exercise and you wont gain much mass on your chest, if you don't you'll start to puff up like Arnold in no time.


Dips: Great exercise for your arms and lower chest. Remember to lean forward while on the parallel bars and dip down as far as you can. If you can do more than 15 its time to add some weight with a weighted belt.

Skull crushers: I'm pretty sure these exercises go by a lot of other names so I'll explain. Lying on your back on a flat bench use a curl bar (the wavy looking one) and settle your head near the edge of the bench. Keep your elbows up and lower the bar from straight out in front of you to down behind your head. Basically what you're trying to do is keep your upper arms from moving as you bend at the elbows to transfer all the stress to your triceps. With practice you can do these as a strength exercise and get some seriously dense arms.

Incline bench: Although I feel this is primarily a shoulder workout, if you don't incline the bench too much you can get a good workout on your upper chest. I was considering not adding this workout but I feel the list is incomplete without it, and shouldn't be ignored. However, you should couple this workout with days where you do both chest and shoulders.

Dumbbell press: Same as the bench press, but with very heavy dumbbells. Make sure you can't do more than 5 and you'll really get a workout here. Sometimes you need to change it up and get your arm stabilizers in on the action, and that's why this workout is a great auxiliary for the bench press.

Pull downs: Pull down machines are easily the most ignored piece of equipment I have ever seen. They're the ones you see people doing cable cross over's on. Get on just one of those cables, put the weight at the highest it can go and get those weird little U-shaped ropes out of the basket sitting next to it. Same as the skull crushers keep your elbows tucked in and immobile, so the strain goes to your triceps. Go heavy on these, as your upper arms can become very, very strong this way.

I've hand picked these exercises as the best as they help you focus more on one rep strength than most any other workouts there are, keeping you away from the bodybuilding mentality that is not going to win you those competetions.

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