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Dwight Howard Shows How To Bench Press

Natzo

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the guy handles a pretty decent weight..


 
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El Freako

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I'm just going to say this:

:umwtf:

That trainer gives bullshit advice and if he was trying to train the guy for power would advocate more arching of the lower back and would bring the elbows in closer to the body.

Dave Tate needs to bitchslap this motherfucker.
 
Natzo

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I'm just going to say this:

:umwtf:

That trainer gives bullshit advice and if he was trying to train the guy for power would advocate more arching of the lower back and would bring the elbows in closer to the body.

Dave Tate needs to bitchslap this motherfucker.


Word.
 
Ironslave

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I'm just going to say this:

:umwtf:

That trainer gives bullshit advice and if he was trying to train the guy for power would advocate more arching of the lower back and would bring the elbows in closer to the body.

Dave Tate needs to bitchslap this motherfucker.

When Dwight Howard starts training for the purpose of setting records in bench presses, be sure to let him know this.
 
El Freako

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When Dwight Howard starts training for the purpose of setting records in bench presses, be sure to let him know this.

I didn't say he would be doing that, but the concept remains the same. His trainer said he is training him for power but he is using an in-efficient method. The use of powerlifting-style training is in widespread in sports where speed and power is required. Dave Tate, Louie Simmons and Joe Defranco are frequently roped in by professional sports teams as outside consultants.
 
TJ

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If you're going to bench then do it right. I don't care what your goals are but doing any movement with shitty form will lead to injuries. Plus, his form on the other movements was pretty bad as well.

Anyways, why the f*ck is a basketball player benching with the straight bar let alone doing sets of 2?
 
Hypocrisy86

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For someone like him when it comes to basketball
its more stamina+weights, like im trying to do to make up for cardio.
i run or fast walk to my next exercise and i usually only take 5 to 15second breaks depending on how much sleep i get, i sweat from the speed of my workouts rather than just the weight/reps i do too.
 
Ironslave

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His form wasn't bad at all guys (I only watched the bench video). There's a difference between developing the kind of "power" to improve numbers on a bench press, and "general power" he might need in a basketball game. When in a basketball game is he ever going to need to keep his elbows in and back arched?


The use of "powerlifting coaches" would be more geared towards program design aspect rather than making technique adjustments. I completely agree with freako in that his advice is sound for "powerlifting power".... but his form is beyond fine for his goals.
 
El Freako

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His form wasn't bad at all guys (I only watched the bench video). There's a difference between developing the kind of "power" to improve numbers on a bench press, and "general power" he might need in a basketball game. When in a basketball game is he ever going to need to keep his elbows in and back arched?


The use of "powerlifting coaches" would be more geared towards program design aspect rather than making technique adjustments. I completely agree with freako in that his advice is sound for "powerlifting power".... but his form is beyond fine for his goals.

Powerlifting power is the same as any general power, its how you use adapt and use that power that is different. He will want a braced core and to be able to produce fast and powerful movements in his ball-handling. To be able to produce the most power thorugh a braced core on a bench you need to arch your back. How can you develop optimum strength and power through weight training if you are not using the best form to produce such power? The issue here is not about teaching technique, it is about training the muscles to produce explosive power when required. His muscles develop the power through weights training then through other forms of training he adapts that power to his sport.
 
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Powerlifting power is the same as any general power, its how you use adapt and use that power that is different. He will want a braced core and to be able to produce fast and powerful movements in his ball-handling. To be able to produce the most power thorugh a braced core on a bench you need to arch your back. How can you develop optimum strength and power through weight training if you are not using the best form to produce such power? The issue here is not about teaching technique, it is about training the muscles to produce explosive power when required. His muscles develop the power through weights training then through other forms of training he adapts that power to his sport.

Actually, you don't really need to arch your back in order to have a tight core. Also, the arch should be in the thoracic spine and not the lumbar spine. Also, leg drive needs to be used in order to create a stable environment for the upper body and the core. In all honesty, it's not so much a matter of power, because that is not his concern, but more so a matter of staying injury free. Flaring your elbows and not being stable can lead to a lot of shoulder problems and I would think Dwight would rather get injured playing a game as opposed to benching.

This is why he should really only be doing neutral grip presses and push-ups (with better form than in the video). I agree with IS that power is not his concern but form should always be the same regardless of what sport you're training for.
 

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El Freako

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Actually, you don't really need to arch your back in order to have a tight core. Also, the arch should be in the thoracic spine and not the lumbar spine. Also, leg drive needs to be used in order to create a stable environment for the upper body and the core.

But the arch does allow you to produce the most amount of power, correct? That's what I was getting at.

In all honesty, it's not so much a matter of power, because that is not his concern, but more so a matter of staying injury free. Flaring your elbows and not being stable can lead to a lot of shoulder problems and I would think Dwight would rather get injured playing a game as opposed to benching.

This is why he should really only be doing neutral grip presses and push-ups (with better form than in the video). I agree with IS that power is not his concern but form should always be the same regardless of what sport you're training for.

I'm aware that power is not his main concern, but his trainer specifically referred to the benching being training for power. This is why I have been trying to make a point about it.
 
TJ

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But the arch does allow you to produce the most amount of power, correct? That's what I was getting at.

I was just referring to what IS was saying in that I do agree that power is not Dwight's main concern but proper form will lead to decreased risk of injuries and, yes, more power.


I'm aware that power is not his main concern, but his trainer specifically referred to the benching being training for power. This is why I have been trying to make a point about it.

Yea, I agree. I was just trying to tell IS that Dwight's form is crap and that proper form will lead to decreased chance of injury (and also increased power). Dwight needs a new trainer, though.
 
Duality

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his form is absolutely fine and he handles much more weight than i would have expected for a guy of his build. one thing about dwight i'm always impressed with are his shoulders. for his height he has some of the biggest, widest shoulders i've ever seen.
 
Hypocrisy86

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^ have to agree with someone tall and skinny thats some good weight to be pushing.
 
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He is way to tall for his own good xD
Good form, great strength. I don't see why you guys are bitching so much.
 
Ironslave

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Freako, you're nit picking and you know it. I know you're a powerlifter, but please explain when in his sport he's doing to have time to set his feet and arch his back and keeping his elbows in tight and scapula retracted and blah blah blah... ?

I'm in complete agreement with you about the form for the purpose of powerlifting technique in getting a maximum number.... but if you're going to say that it is necessary to do all of those things to "teach power" for his sport, i'd like to know physiologically why? I'm not trying to 'fight', I just think you're nit picking too much. If we want to get technical, we could discuss specificity studies and theoretically it could be argued that having his elbows slightly flared (which they are, slightly, they're not being horizontally extended sideways by any means), it would be more specifically mimicking something like boxing out and fighting for a rebound or whatever.

His form is completely fine, I watched the other video and there's nothing wrong with his form there either.
 
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So wait, everyone here thinks Howard is benching real plates?? Ha.

He says in the 2nd video that the best 1 RM he's had is 360 pounds. In the 1st video, he's benching close to 400 like it's a warm-up. He's using fake plates for a photoshoot, I could tell within ten seconds of watching the video.

Common sense. It's probably more like 200 that he's benching, if that.
 
El Freako

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I never even made it to the second vid.
 
El Freako

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I'm in complete agreement with you about the form for the purpose of powerlifting technique in getting a maximum number.... but if you're going to say that it is necessary to do all of those things to "teach power" for his sport, i'd like to know physiologically why?

You're not getting my point.

I'm not trying to say that they need to teach him power movements, I'm trying to say they're trying to develop power. He will get stronger and more powerful by moving heavier weights. He cannot move heavier weights if he is not using optimal form. He'll never need to use any of his benching-form on the court, but through other training and drills he will be able to adapt his increased strength and power to his chosen sport.

I don't know much about basketball training but I at least know how it works in Rugby. You train in the gym to get stronger then you adapt this strength to your role on the field through tackling, scrummage and sprinting drills.

Optimal form = heavier weights = more strength and power.

And in my defence I don't think I'm nit-picking. What I am talking about is a very common occurrence as I previously mentioned. Lots of sports teams employ strength specialists to develop their athletes. A stronger, more powerful athlete is obviously a better athlete. Oly lifting or Powerlifting specialists will get the best results as all their knowledge and experience is geared towards developing strength and power. Orlando Magic have millions of dollars to spend on their athletes. You'd at least think they'd spend some money on a better strength coach.

I'm sure there must be an article somewhere on strength training for basketball players. I don't have the time or inclination to find it myself right now but if anybody else can that'd be great.
 
Ironslave

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Eh, I see your point, but I still find it to be a nit pick in this case. Quite frankly, a bench press (other than the point of building some muscle) probably does very little for a basketball player (I do agree with your rugby training example). I know if I was training a basketball player I wouldn't really have them benching in such a low rep range. A guy like Dwight Howard could get a bit thicker (not that he's "skinny" by any means, but some overall mass would help him in the post).... and of course, time spend on foot speed.

I'd trail him something like:
10% weight training (hypertrophy purposes)
15% speed training
15% conditioning
60% working on his shot and post moves.
 

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