JEFF: What's up, guys?
Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.com.
Little bit of a lost voice, here.
Fresh off our ATHLEANX Live conference.
Once again, we have KC Mitchell, the one-legged monster, in town.
We always have to get together, though.
KC: Yeah.
JEFF: Off the scene and, of course, bring another video back.
Last time we got together a lot of guys found some useful information.
KC: Yeah.
We did 'how to help three big lifts'.
Bench, squat, and deadlift.
We did that.
JEFF: And accessories.
KC: Yeah, and accessories and they really seemed to enjoy that.
JEFF: So, what I want to do this time is go more on the tip side.
KC: Yeah.
JEFF: Obviously, you're benching has been successful for you, but what is it that helps
you most?
I want to dig down into the biggest tips, when it comes to your bench, that you've had,
and I want to share that with them.
So, we'll break them down one by one.
KC: Okay.
JEFF: All right, so we're going to kick it off with our first tip.
Our first key for you is, what?
KC: Leg drive.
JEFF: Leg drive.
Leg drive is definitely one of those things I think is misunderstood.
People don’t realize the importance of their legs when it comes to the bench-press.
KC: The legs are very, very powerful and they create a lot of energy.
It's like the very point of where the energy is going to generate.
JEFF: Right.
KC: To get this whole bar moving.
So, leg drive is very important.
You could literally be missing out on 20lb, 30lb, 40lb jumps in weigh in your max bench-press
by adding in-
JEFF: So, show them, because there are a lot of key points when it comes to the leg drive.
KC: Yeah.
JEFF: Especially even in direction, right?
KC: Right.
JEFF: People screw that up all the time.
KC: So, I would get myself up on the bench a little bit, scooted out a little bit.
Then I sit back on the bar and, me, I look to get right under the bar first to make sure
the bar is lined up and right down the center where I'm going to be.
It's not going to be off a little bit.
I try to get my hands placed where I feel comfortable.
Everybody is going to be a little different, depending on your arm length.
I like to be about right here.
Just a little shoulder width apart.
Then once I get to here, I pull myself under and I dig my legs underneath the bench.
The key here is, you're not pushing straight down.
You're pushing – right.
I'm pushing – my whole goal is to push this way.
JEFF: That way.
That's going to tie into our bar path.
KC: Into our bar path, absolutely.
So, once you're set in here, legs are really, really tight.
You should feel a lot of tension in your legs.
JEFF: Through your quads.
KC: Through your quads.
You should also be squeezing your glutes.
A lot of people get so hung up on the legs and the quads and they're not squeezing their
glutes.
Glutes are going to allow you to stay down on the bench.
So, when you go to do your leg drive you're not popping up.
So, legs dug in deep, squeezing really hard, hold.
Two, three.
Bar's out, comes down, and then when you get to this point, this is when this motion – you
can see my legs right now, they're starting to – the bar wants to go this way.
So then – we'll do one quick one.
One more.
JEFF: Come on.
KC: One, two, three.
One more time.
Ready?
One, two, three.
Then the legs are really pushing a lot of that weight back toward the bar.
A lot of people get into the habit of – which we'll talk about – bar path going up this
way, but if you get that leg drive in, it's really going to help that bar path get a lot
better.
JEFF: Right.
KC: Which is the next, main tip.
JEFF: Right.
The bar path, because of how key that is to execute that lift.
We're even going to talk about why, from a physics standpoint, you're creating less work
for your body by being able to utilize a better bar path.
KC: Mm-hmm.
JEFF: All right, so let's talk about that aspect.
So, the second thing is, the top tip, is bar path, right?
KC: Right.
JEFF: It seems simple, but people literally get this wrong all the time.
KC: That's one of the bigger things that a lot of people get wrong.
Even as elite power lifters, we miss groove, and our bar path's wrong, bar comes this way,
you're more likely going to miss a good lift.
JEFF: Yeah.
Like you said, a mountain.
If you trying to climb a mountain that was straight up, or if it had some angle to it,
it's going to be easier to go up that mountain.
KC: Right.
JEFF: And when it comes to strength, I talk about it all the time.
Strength is about efficiency.
It's not about being inefficient.
You're going to be more efficient to be able to go in this angled path because the resistance
factor is different than it is to have to go straight up against gravity.
KC: Absolutely.
JEFF: So, you're making your job easier and you're able to be more explosive and powerful
by having the right bar path.
Which is going to be at the angle.
But I want Casey to show you what it is and why he thinks the way he does, when he does
it.
KC: Right.
JEFF: What are some of the tips that you use?
KC: I'll do it – I'll show you a bad bar path and then I'll show you the actual bar
path.
JEFF: Right, okay.
KC: And more than likely, you're going to be able to see the difference in the speed.
Just because of how much easy it is for me to generate that power from the leg drive
that we talked about, and then to get that good bar path going out of – basically,
toward your spotter is where you want to go.
JEFF: So, you're going 'bad' first?
KC: Yeah, we'll go bad.
I'll show you guys a bad one first.
One, two, three.
So, this is what most people do.
They come down and they're even here, low on their chests.
JEFF: Right above the nipple line.
KC: Right.
Then when they go to press-
JEFF: Right.
KC: That's the basic mistake right there.
JEFF: It's also worse on your shoulders.
KC: It's worse on your shoulders.
Even your chest because your extending your chest the opposite way that it's supposed
to be going down here.
JEFF: More importantly, we're completely nullifying what we talked about when it comes to leg
drive.
KC: Absolutely.
JEFF: The leg drive was, remember, coming in this direction.
KC: Right.
JEFF: You're pushing in this direction to support that push.
If you're going straight up, you're fighting the purpose and intent of leg drive.
KC: Absolutely.
So, now I'll show you the right way.
You can see here, it's a little bit higher on my chest and it goes back.
So, I'll do it really fast for you.
That's a lot simpler to move a lot of weight.
JEFF: So, another place people screw it up is their setup.
Even a lot of newbies will get in there and they don’t know how to set up.
They set really close underneath here to lift it because they need that help and they're
afraid to ask for a spotter.
They're sitting there saying 205lb on the bench and they're afraid to ask for a spot
because they feel self-conscious about it.
But if you setup underneath the bar so you can get leverage to lift it off, you're never
going to be able to follow that bar.
KC: Right.
Not at all.
So, with that it's – have some damn confidence in yourself and go ask somebody for a little
help.
You've got to think, the most elite powerlifters at competitions have somebody get the bar
off to them so they can get that leg drive that generates that great bar path, so they
aren't under here.
Not only that, if you get under and you try to lift that off yourself, the amount of damage
it could do to your shoulder-
JEFF: You're in such a vulnerable position.
KC: Very vulnerable.
So, it's really not worth it.
So, if you're really – if you guys really want to get stronger, and you're trying to
go for some heavy sets, really want to get that leg drive, really want to get that good
bar path; grab somebody.
And it doesn't matter what weight it is that you're going to lift.
To you, it's 135lbs and you want to ask a guy that looks like he probably does 400lbs.
That's okay.
At one point he was doing 135lbs, too.
JEFF: Exactly.
KC: And the goal, at the end of the day, is to get stronger, and to be efficient, and
not get injured.
If that's what it takes, that's what it takes.
JEFF: So guys, if you're looking for programs where we put the science back in strength,
they're all over at ATHLEANX.com.
Our TOTAL BEAXT program has Casey in it, right?
KC: Yeah.
JEFF: Because you're a beast.
KC: I'm in it.
JEFF: You're in it and you're showing us some of the same principles here.
It's available at ATHLEANX.com.
In the meantime, if you haven't already done so, make sure you subscribe and turn on your
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Make sure and leave a comment below so you can let me know what else you want to see
here – more stuff you want me and Casey to cover – and we'll do that for you guys.
All right, see you soon.