Re: Joe DeMarco, Original West Side Barbell--Bench Width For ...

[Guest guest]

I am five feet seven inches and a half. I don't need or like a long bench.

And I don't like a bench that is too high off the floor or too low to the

floor. I like to bench press with the heels of my feet higher than my toes

although flat on the floor. Wearing a shoe with a higher heel helps me to lift

more. Also I have a flat bench that I use in my power rack that has a large

foot plate so I can rest the heels of my shoes on the higher part and my toes

on the floor. This helps me to lift more weight and get my legs involved in

the lift. I learned this technique by watching and reading articles in

which lifted/talked about his fav lifting shoes.

I've never had a problem with bench width. My main problem is that the

local gym that I used to train at bought some new bench presses that were less

than a foot off the floor (probably about 7-10 inches) and bolted down; much

too low too bench for me. And the local gym bolted down the flat benches when

they changed facilities - I could not move the benches into the power rack or

move the benches closer to the heavier dumbbells. It was just ridiculous.

This is the main reason that I now lift in my own garage: machines, free

weights, powerlifting equipment.

Edwin Freeman, Jr.

San Francisco, USA

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In a message dated 8/2/2008 12:54:04 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

deadliftdiva@... writes:

The more we try to accommodate the superheavy guys on bench size, the more

we will fail to accommodate the majority of powerlifters and fitness lifters,

who are not struggling generally with bench sizing. I consider the bench

width issue like other things one has to live with, like long arms for the tall

and other things you must learn to deal with as an athlete.

The Phantom

aka Schaefer, CMT, CSCS, competing powerlifter

Denver, Colorado, USA

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