# How important are squats and dead lifs.....for helping your max bench press



## GFR (Dec 26, 2005)

I Benched 545 Raw at 257 with no leg or low back work, now I'm wondering how much would training deads and squats help out my max bench. I will be in the 275 class so that gives me 15+ lbs I could put on my lower body.....question...would it really help??


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## SuperFlex (Dec 26, 2005)

Not a true story...


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## GFR (Dec 26, 2005)

SuperFlex said:
			
		

> Not a true story...


Thanks for all the help


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## PWGriffin (Dec 26, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> I Benched 545 Raw at 257 with no leg or low back work, now I'm wondering how much would training deads and squats help out my max bench. I will be in the 275 class so that gives me 15+ lbs I could put on my lower body.....question...would it really help??



I can't give you a lb estimate of how much it would go up....but if you bench with feet firmly planted on the floor then you use ur legs to drive the weight up, so yes ur bench should go up if u have strong legs and a lower back....I was always told growing up that if you get ur legs strong, everything will grow with them.


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## SuperFlex (Dec 26, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> Thanks for all the help


 
Anytime bubba... 

Heck man if you're that strong I need to be getting advice from you... I do know when you train all aspects that it will increase your overall strength.


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## SuperFlex (Dec 26, 2005)

PWGriffin said:
			
		

> I was always told growing up that if you get ur legs strong, everything will grow with them.


 
For more than one reason... Main one being better blood flow and all that goes with it.


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## kenwood (Dec 26, 2005)

i think it does imo..i started training legs more and ma bench and overall strength has increased


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## TrojanMan60563 (Dec 26, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> I Benched 545 Raw at 257 with no leg or low back work, now I'm wondering how much would training deads and squats help out my max bench. I will be in the 275 class so that gives me 15+ lbs I could put on my lower body.....question...would it really help??



I think it will help you by keeping you in perfect form, and give you more driving power to get the bar off your chest...are you pausing at the bottom? It will help if you are more then if you dont pause.


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## GFR (Dec 26, 2005)

No I don't pause, it was just touch and go ( and that lift was 4 years ago...right now I'm around a 435 max) . I will work on form later in the year.


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## TrojanMan60563 (Dec 26, 2005)

form has a huge impact on how much you can bench. I assume if you've benched that beore you know the proper form etc...


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## GFR (Dec 26, 2005)

No I just was training for bodybuilding, did 8-12 reps all the time. So with low rep training and form work I think I could hit 600...as long as I don't get injured.


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## TrojanMan60563 (Dec 26, 2005)

powerlifting and bodybuilding are different. Even the form used when lifting is different. 600 is a great bench...wish I could do that or even come close.


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## MyK (Dec 26, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> No I don't pause, it was just touch and go ( and that lift was 4 years ago...right now I'm around a 435 max) . *I will work on form later in the year*.



you have 4 days!


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## pengers84 (Dec 26, 2005)

4. You MUST squat and deadlift if you are going to reach your bodies growth potential. Think it through. Doing squats or deads activates 70-85% of the bodies overall musculature in one move. Doing a set of curls maybe 3-5%. Which sends a big signal that the body better get better at synthesizing protein and better at handling the need to grow as a unit? You will NEVER reach your potential without doing the squats and deads.

This is what pirate said in another post.  

Size and strength correlate highly so from this i would assume the answer is yes.


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## pengers84 (Dec 26, 2005)

by the way, what does the term 'raw' mean in 'benchpress raw'?


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## TrojanMan60563 (Dec 26, 2005)

raw meaning no use of a bench shirt


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## Squaggleboggin (Dec 26, 2005)

It means he didn't use any equipment to aid him in his attempt, namely a bench shirt.


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## GFR (Dec 26, 2005)

MyK said:
			
		

> you have 4 days!


No the comp is in 2007 so I have some time still.


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## CowPimp (Dec 26, 2005)

Hell yeah it will help.  Shoving your legs into the ground will transfer power to your upper body and create a more rigid base (Your body) to allow a straighter path for the bar to move along.  Not to mention it will improve core strength to do the big compound leg lifts, so that will further enhance the transfer of leg drive power to the upper extremitites.


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## soxmuscle (Dec 26, 2005)

it'll help immensely - my bench really only started improving when i started doing squats and deads.


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## AKIRA (Dec 27, 2005)

pengers84 said:
			
		

> by the way, what does the term 'raw' mean in 'benchpress raw'?




I actually had to ask about this "raw" term too a while back.  To think an asshole, would put on a tight ass shirt just to lift more weight.  My Bench is my bench, there will never be a need to reassure anyone that I do not use a "bench shirt."

Anyway, when I first starting working out, I too never did legs and back.  (started when I was 15)  My bench did suck, but it went up.  As I got older, and realized I wanted bigger muscles vs. bigger lifts, I decided to do back and legs indefinetly.  And my bench stayed at its normal pace in results.  So, no, I cant say it helped my max.


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## shiznit2169 (Dec 27, 2005)

very important


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## Squaggleboggin (Dec 27, 2005)

AKIRA said:
			
		

> I actually had to ask about this "raw" term too a while back. To think an asshole, would put on a tight ass shirt just to lift more weight. My Bench is my bench, there will never be a need to reassure anyone that I do not use a "bench shirt."
> 
> Anyway, when I first starting working out, I too never did legs and back. (started when I was 15) My bench did suck, but it went up. As I got older, and realized I wanted bigger muscles vs. bigger lifts, I decided to do back and legs indefinetly. And my bench stayed at its normal pace in results. So, no, I cant say it helped my max.



You stated, however, that you were training for hypertrophy and not strength, so I don't think a valid comparison could be made between the time during which you were training for strength and the later time during which you were training for aesthetics. In fact, if such a comparison could be made, it would seem as though it actually did help you to train legs. You trained bench for strength, unless I'm mistaken. Then, you later trained legs and bench for hypertrophy, yet the rate at which you gained strength on the bench remained unchanged. Had you trained solely the bench for hypertrophy, I think it's reasonable to say that you wouldn't have progressed as rapidly as you did when using the bench for strength purposes. Therefore, training both the bench and legs for hypertrophy allowed you to progress at a rate generally equal to the rate at which you progressed while training for strength, which can reasonably be said to be greater than the rate at which you'd progress for hypertrophy. To me, this means it actually did help you.


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## AKIRA (Dec 27, 2005)

Squaggleboggin said:
			
		

> You stated, however, that you were training for hypertrophy and not strength, so I don't think a valid comparison could be made between the time during which you were training for strength and the later time during which you were training for aesthetics. In fact, if such a comparison could be made, it would seem as though it actually did help you to train legs. You trained bench for strength, unless I'm mistaken. Then, you later trained legs and bench for hypertrophy, yet the rate at which you gained strength on the bench remained unchanged. Had you trained solely the bench for hypertrophy, I think it's reasonable to say that you wouldn't have progressed as rapidly as you did when using the bench for strength purposes. Therefore, training both the bench and legs for hypertrophy allowed you to progress at a rate generally equal to the rate at which you progressed while training for strength, which can reasonably be said to be greater than the rate at which you'd progress for hypertrophy. To me, this means it actually did help you.




Oh, I meant bigger lifts vs. bigger muscles to the effect of not cheating.  E.G. swinging your back during a barbell curl.  Youll get the lift done, but you wont grow.  When I started to focus more on form and swallowed some pride by lowering the weight to make progress, I then decided, why was I not doing everything else too.


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## Squaggleboggin (Dec 27, 2005)

AKIRA said:
			
		

> Oh, I meant bigger lifts vs. bigger muscles to the effect of not cheating. E.G. swinging your back during a barbell curl. Youll get the lift done, but you wont grow. When I started to focus more on form and swallowed some pride by lowering the weight to make progress, I then decided, why was I not doing everything else too.



Ah, I see what you mean now.

And, might I add, those are some very nice lifts in your signature. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?


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