So the exercise is called a "Barbell-Weighted
Lockout Push-Up"...

...and I'll be honest...while I AM using a 405 lb barbell for the
exercise, I'm not doing a full push-up with the whole thing...
(I wish!).

Keep reading and you'll see what I mean...it's an AWESOME
exercise that can really help you develop a lot of strength in
your bench press and some seriously functional upper-body
pressing power in general.

(just remember when you're reading this one, you don't come
to me for normal, right ;).

---

First off, this exercise requires a little background to
understand why it's so good...

The humble push-up is one of THE best exercises you can
do for developing the chest, shoulders and triceps using
just your bodyweight.

You can use it for building a base level of strength (when
you're starting with the exercise), upper-body endurance
(as you get stronger with the exercise and can perform
more and more reps) and for muscle development.

However...it's likely that you've NEVER thought of the
push-up as a way to build top-end, high-threshold strength...
the kind of strength that can actually help increase your 1 rep
max bench press weights substantially.

Which is what THIS exercise is going to do for you...

Now, in order to get the most out of this exercise, you're
going to have to accept the fact that partial range of
motion training is actually good for you.

I sometimes get a lot of resistance on this point from the
"range-of-motion police."

Here's the thing, though...in serious strength circles, partial-
range training is a widely accepted way to develop
connective tissue strength and increase nervous system
activation in the high-threshold motor units of your muscles
(the nerves and muscle fibers that fire when moving
extremely heavy loads).

When done properly (and not just to show off using heavy
weight), partial-range training is INCREDIBLY effective for
increasing full-range strength. I've used it very successfully
in my own training for more than 20 years.

It's NOT targeted for building muscle mass...that's not the
purpose for doing it. It's all about strength.

Let's move on...


Why Use Weighted Push-Ups Instead of
Lockout Partials for Barbell Bench Press?

Partial-range lockout bench press is an excellent exercise,
especially if you're after exercise-specific lockout strength
(for example, if that's the weak point of your bench press
and it needs fixing).

The drawback? It's an OPEN kinetic chain exercise.

Basically, this means that your body is "locked down" while
your limbs (and the weight) are moving. The bench press
is the perfect example of this...your body is on the bench
while your arms move the weight.

Open-chain exercises don't activate as many muscle fibers
and motor units as CLOSED kinetic chain exercises...such
as the push-up. When you do a push-up, your extremities
(e.g. hands or feet) are locked down while your body moves
through space.

When doing closed-chain exercises, you actually get
greater muscle fiber activation in your target muscle groups.

Keep that in mind...


The Barbell-Weighted Lockout Push-Up

We've established that partial-range training is excellent for
developing connective strength and increasing nervous
system activation.

We've established that push-ups activate more muscle
fibers than bench press.

That logically means that in order to activate the
ABSOLUTE most muscle fibers and motor units, we want
to do a lockout movement with a closed-chain exercise
like the push-up.

Which is exactly what I've got for you here.

This exercise is going use a "free" barbell in the power
rack to perform a lockout push-up with the barbell on your
back.

And I will tell you right up front, if you've got access to a
Smith machine, use that. It'll make the exercise a fair bit
easier to set up and perform as it will totally stabilize the bar
for you. I don't have a Smith machine, so the method I came
up with is a bit more creative, by necessity.

Set up a power rack with the safety rails a couple of feet
off the ground. Start with just an empty bar until you get an
idea of how the exercise works and the height you'll need
to use for rails. I would also recommend using a barbell pad
for this (or a rolled-up towel, if you don't have a pad).

Shift the pad over to one side of the bar and shift the bar
itself over as well. Get on your hands and knees and get
your back under the bar.

You DON'T want to be in a regular push-up position for this
(body straight) or it will limit the amount of weight you can
use. You need your knees down to provide the strongest
support so that core strength doesn't limit the loads you can
use.

The bar itself should be sitting just below your shoulder
blades, with your body at a slight downward angle. I've
also got the bar pushed up against the uprights of the rack,
to give it just a bit more stability. When you do add weight
to the bar, make sure both sides are loaded equally, to
prevent tipping.



Now do the lockout of the push-up. The bar will come up off
of ONE SIDE of the rails. The other side will be the fulcrum
(pivot point).



And this why it's useful if you have a Smith machine...you don't
need to balance anything. You can just start with the bar on
the safety stops (unhooked) and do the lockout push-up
without any balance issues.

Hold this lockout position for a few seconds then lower the
bar back down.

Aim for about 4 to 6 reps per set. Start with a fairly light weight
on the first set, then start adding plates until you get to the point
where you ALMOST reach failure in that rep range.

That's the range you'll want to work in for maximum loads and
strength gains (when training for strength, we never want to hit
failure - taxes the nervous system too much).

When you're completed your reps on one side, rest at least
90 seconds to 2 minutes (or more) then go again. The longer
rest periods are necessary here for the nervous system and
fast-twitch muscle fibers to recover.

So even though it might FEEL like a long time to rest, just
remember, we're training for nervous system activation and
strength here, not for muscle growth or fat loss. Taking too little
rest will defeat the purpose of the exercise.

When doing sets, always stick to even numbers of sets (e.g.
2 sets, 4 sets, 6 sets, etc.) so you keep the loading even.
Because the bar is coming up at an angle, you're not working
each side equally during each set, so you want to make sure
you're matching the workload with the other side as well.





Perform 4 to 6 reps on this side.

Bottom line, if you're not a fan of bench press lockouts
because they don't seem "functional"...this "closed-chain"
version of the lockout is going to be right up your alley.
The strength you develop will carry over to bench press and
will develop upper body strength in a very practical way.

If you'd like to see the YouTube video of this exercise in action,
I've got that posted here (be sure to subscribe to my channel
while you're there, so you don't miss any other insane
exercises like this!)



---

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