The Quest for 600
Four years ago in April of 2007, I performed my first 500 lbs bench at the AAPF Nationals in Monroe, LA. I had worked for almost 2 years to finally break the 500 barrier. After that meet, I assumed that 600 would not be that difficult to get to. After much trial and error, jumping from program to program, trying more bench shirts than one man should, and 4 very long years, I finally achieved a goal that I set for myself when I first started competing in 2001: the 600 bench. I lifted it on my 4th attempt at the APA Bench Press Nationals on February 26th of this year. What follows are 3 things that helped me bench 600.
Board Presses
Whether you are using a 2 or 1 ply bench press shirt, boards are one of the most essential tools that a lifter can use. I had played around with using them during my raw bench training, but not much during my bench shirt training day. I had been trying to do almost all full range work in the shirt and trying to touch weight in almost every shirt training session. I had not hit a training PR in several weeks during 2010 and was just getting over trained. After several conversations with multi ply world record holder Rob Luyando, I added in board presses for both shirt work and on my raw workouts. With the shirt work, I used the 2 and 1 board, which allowed me to get use to moving much heavier weights; improve stamina in the shirt by doing multiple reps, and build confidence. On the raw training days, the boards have kept me training through injuries. Around October of 2010, I had a left shoulder injury that forced me to take almost a month off. I am not sure how bad the injury is (I never had it checked out.), but I still have some pain even now when I bench all the way to the chest. Because of this, I had to work heavy raw work with the higher boards (4 and 5) and used the 2 board to work the lower part of the bench.
The Slingshot
Raw bench work has always been hard of me. I am not a great raw bencher (My best raw is 308 in a meet. My best gym raw bench is 335.), so I have to find ways to lift heaver weights raw in order to get good carryover for my shirt work. At some point last summer, I saw an ad in Power magazine for Mark Bell’s slingshot. I also saw video of Mike Tuchscherer on the RTS site (http://www.reactivetrainingsystems.com) using the slingshot in his own raw bench training. Since Mike has coached me through several meets over the last year and a half, I emailed him about the slingshot to get his opinion of it. After talking with Mike several times, I decided this would be a good training tool to have. Also, with the shoulder problems I have had in the past, the slingshot seemed to be a perfect thing to help me continue heavy raw training. The nicest thing I found about the slingshot is the speed you have coming off the chest. It is similar to the pop you have in a shirt coming off the chest, so you can work on pushing off the chest with better speed just like shirted benching. It also allowed me to work with heavier weights without added stress on my chest and shoulders. I can say the without the addition of the slingshot, getting to 600 would have been a much greater challenge to reach.
Squat and Deadlift Training
Let me start by saying this: Mike Tuchscherer is, in my opinion, the best powerlifting coach in the game right now. I decided to do my state USAPL meet last July and had about 2 months to get ready. I had never worked in a squat suit and never really done heavy squats or deadlifts with any regularity, so getting Mike to work up an RTS program for both lifts was a priority for my training. I worked both lifts twice a week as per Mike’s instructions. I started with around a 400 suit squat and a 450 raw deadlift. In the meet, I hit an easy 451 squat (had probably another 20lbs. in me) and a 507 raw deadlift. In that same meet, I also broke the usapl Miss. State record for bench with 556. The additional strength in my legs and low back really helped both my stability in my setup for benching and my leg drive as well. It has been said by a lot of lifters that in order to bench big weights, you have to be able to squat and pull big weights. Now I am not saying that 451 and 507 are by any means “big” weights, but I found that my bench has continued to make very nice gains when I put in time to work on my squats and pulls. This extra lower body work paved the way for me to break the 600 mark.
In closing, I would not have had the success in bench pressing without the help of Rob Luyando and Mike Tuchscherer. Both these guys have given me the tools and guidance to get to 600 and I hope beyond. It is by God’s grace that I was able to reach 600 without any significant injuries and continue to get under heavy weights. Bench pressing is the most technical of the power lifts and takes a great deal of practice and patience. I still have 2 goals in particular that I hope to reach in the next year. The first one is coming up within the next month. I plan to bench 600 again, this time in a single ply shirt, at the USAPL Mississippi state meet on April 30. I am already about 4 weeks into my training cycle for this meet and things are going very well so far. The second is to win a world bench press title within the next 2 years. My philosophy with goal setting is just like bench pressing: if you are going to go after something, go BIG!
Chad McMullin has been teaching and coaching at Warren Central High School in Vicksburg, Mississippi since 1998. He has been an assistant football coach, basketball coach, and is currently the head coach for powerlifting, cross country, and strength coach for football and baseball. Before coming to the high school level, he was an intern strength & conditioning coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Coach McMullin also competes in bench only meets in the USAPL and WABDL as a 220/242. His best bench is currently 556lbs. in a single ply bench shirt and 600 in a double ply bench shirt. His email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it