Each athlete has his own system, program, methods and techniques for the development of pectoral muscles. Svend's bench press is a rather old, but undeservedly forgotten way of training for swinging the chest.
Method creator
Carlsen Svend, a Norwegian bodybuilder, is the creator of this “rare” way to pump chest muscles. The mentioned athlete - the winner of many competitions - has behind him three European and one world records. At one time he was quite famous, many remembered a healthy man by the phrase “Viking Force!”, Which he always shouted during the competition.
For his way of pumping his chest, he will need two pancakes - the perfect exercise to end your workout.
Since this exercise has long been forgotten, it is unlikely that anyone will use it in the gym. If you want to surprise your colleagues, then start this exercise, which is quite effective.
Classic technique
You need to take two pancakes from the bar, weighing about 5 kilograms. If necessary, weight can be reduced and gradually increased.
- Starting position. Pancakes are tightly squeezed with palms in the chest area, hands should be bent at the elbows, and the elbows are directed in different directions.
- As you exhale, you should press the pancakes in front of you, at chest level or slightly lifting them, while squeezing your palms very hard so that the pancakes do not fall to the floor.
- We return to the starting position, thus repeating the exercise the required number of times, for each it is individual.
At first glance, everything seems very simple, but in fact, the Svend bench is much more complicated. For starters, if it is difficult, you can train with a lighter weight. For trained people who find this bench easy, you can take a third pancake, in which case the execution will become much more difficult.
Dumbbell Exercise
If you do this exercise at home and you don’t have pancakes, it doesn’t matter - this exercise can also be done with dumbbells. Choose the weight individually, according to your level of training. First, try to take two 5 kg dumbbells, and then you can increase the weight. We press the dumbbells to each other and bring to the chest, we raise our elbows. We take a breath and press the dumbbells in front of us, on the exhale we return to the opposite position.
Svend's bench press with dumbbells is not complicated in execution technique, however it is rather heavy in physical terms. This method is not an effective technique for bodybuilders, rather, it is useful for general physical development.
Lying exercise
This technique is a bit like a classic dumbbell bench press, but they need to be held in parallel and pressed against each other. Thus, a lot of tension is created on the pectoral muscles. We lower our hands, while the elbows are widely spread, at the lower point the muscles of the chest contract when the movement of the dumbbells to the starting position begins. Svenda bench press is more suitable for working out the muscles of the chest with a small weight than as a basic exercise.
The benefits of exercise
For people who want to significantly pump up their pectoral muscles, the Svend bench is ideal. The technique for performing this exercise is very simple and does not require a lot of skills. However, if you are a professional bodybuilder, then this bench press is a little outdated and will not bring you much benefit as a professional. Nevertheless, it is difficult to physically complete the Svend bench, since not everyone can take two pancakes of 10 kilograms. Therefore, decide for yourself whether such an exercise is suitable for you as the main or as an additional one.
This exercise accurately hits the pectoral muscles, beginners often complain that they have cramps in the chest area. In this case, you need to take a break, because this is how your body wants to say about fatigue.
Execution errors
Athletes who perform this bench press for the first time complain that it does not produce results. In fact, the result is already after the first approach, and if a person does not notice this, then he does the bench press of Svend incorrectly. Common mistakes:
- flexion of the back, to facilitate;
- sticking fingers into pancake holes - this also makes the task easier;
- the elbows are too far apart;
- If you do this exercise not with pancakes, but with dumbbells, then they are forbidden to breed from each other.
The meaning of this exercise is to keep your arms firmly pressed against pancakes / dumbbells.
Any exercise in bodybuilding can cause serious injury to an athlete so that this does not happen, in this case you need to know the following:
- use only the weight with which you are comfortable, do not immediately take pancakes of 10 kilograms if you are not confident in yourself;
- do not extend your elbows completely, so you can pull the ligaments;
- stick to proper breathing;
- control your palms: if you loosen them, pancakes can fall right on your feet and thus lead to prolonged injury.
Exercise Reviews
At specialized forums, athletes who know this technique of pumping the pectoral muscles leave reviews for Svend. Men talk about good muscle stress after doing it. It is enough for many to do 3-4 sets of 10 times to get the desired result, doing the bench press, the benefits of the exercise are enormous. Also, people say that at home this is the best exercise that you can think of without having professional equipment. It is noted that when doing the bench press with dumbbells, the effect is quite good, not much worse than with pancakes.
Women practicing Svend's bench also report positive results. It is also important for girls to pump the muscles of the abs and arms, this exercise helps them in this. The inner part of the hands and the press receive their load, thereby achieving the desired result.
On the whole, on specialized sites, the majority of positive reviews are recorded for both women and men.
conclusions
So, the Svend bench can be done:
- with pancakes from the bar (classic version);
- for those who do not have this equipment, you can use ordinary dumbbells (they should be pressed against each other);
- lying on your back with dumbbells.
If you are a professional bodybuilder, then this exercise is only suitable for the end of a workout, in the case of a novice athlete or workout at home, it can also be as basic.
Both women and men can use this bench press. Everyone needs a good load on the pectoral muscles.
In order not to injure yourself during training, adhere to safety rules: do not take too much weight and do not try to completely align the elbows, so as not to get stretching.
Svend's press is difficult enough to perform physically, it takes long workouts to take more than five kilograms. Remember that the process of muscle pumping is quite lengthy and requires tremendous patience, and frequent repetitions of this exercise after a while will bring the desired result.