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The popularity of the bench press needs no introduction – it’s the Prom King, captain of the football team and is banging the hottest cheerleader. Besides questions on accessory work, the bench press and how to increase it is the top question I get asked. But anytime I give advice to someone they respond with a host of reasons why it won’t work for them. So let’s present some of the best ways to increase your bench press, the excuses and then responses to the excuses.

Being sport specific in the weight room is a gimmick.  Even the people that stroke that flaccid idea know it.  You don't need to be strong to be a better athlete, but being stronger than you were is always a good thing.  Especially if done progressively, over time, with patience and while training for your sport.  These are the gains that last and that will hurt your opponent the most.

Of all the different specialty bars on the market, this is the one I recommend most. The safety squat bar develops great brute strength. It's a phenomenal way to build your lower back, legs, and upper back. The key is to not get too fancy with it. The two exercises I recommend are simple, the good morning and the squat.

More than that, you have sport coaches who demand weird "character building" training for a month or more. This is code for "doing a whole bunch of stupid conditioning under the guise of making the players mentally tougher."  Basically this is what happens when sport coaches get together and watch too many Navy SEALS videos on the internet.

Athletes from The Past talk brazenly about their conditioning and workouts; all done supposedly to get them in great shape and turn them into stronger players (physically and mentally). There seems to be a premium on Mental Toughness amongst people from The Past.

And that's fine - many champions have been built without using a barbell. But as anyone who has an IQ over 4 knows physical training/GPP has a bigger effect on the less than talented (you literally have to be a thick-tongued drooler to not know this).

Because no matter how much I learn, if I can't get people to do it, to believe in it, to embrace it...it is absolutely pointless.

The one big thing I've learned over the years from older lifters is this simple adage: Do not worry about what you can't do. Only worry about what you CAN do.

I love doing dips, although I'm 100% convinced they didn't help my bench press. I do think they helped my press, though.

I watched "average" teenage boys become headhunters; boys that are taking their first steps into becoming Men of Action.  In a few years, I hope they can take the lessons of aggression, leadership and action and put them to good use for themselves, their family/friends and where ever their lives take them. 

If you don't work with athletes there is still plenty to take away here.  If you do work with athletes and you're realizing that your entire strength training approach is a disaster, start with just one of the above and don't give up on the journey.

Athletes do not care about training as much as you do. If they did, you wouldn’t have a job.  Your job is less important than you think but more important than many coaches/admins/parents believe it is. Understand that there are a lot of moving parts to any successful season; just because you are a good strength coach doesn’t mean you will win. And just because you win, doesn’t make you a good strength coach. You can point to any dozen of things for reasons for success and failure.

Let's start with whether or not the Krypteia program is suitable for someone who is also doing Muay Thai 3x's a week. 

The thing you need to remember with your training is this: you are training to be a Marine Officer.  You are not training to become a Powerlifting Marine Officer or a Bodybuilder Marine Officer.

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