Sinking vs Soft Touch Bench Press

[@calgarybarbell]

Really loving your stuff lately man. As someone who has never had a bench that I feel is on par with my peers, and someone who is now cultivating multiple instances of “shoulders being banged up” maybe there’s some real takeaways here. A post-worlds experiment may be afoot. Thanks for the content my man!

[@Tarek-tm9jd]

Would be awesome if something "clicks" for you after this!

[@taladon101]

COLLAB

[@jeremycurrey689]

Honestly your content has been so helpful, and imo the best explanations of technique and programming on KZbin.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I appreciate it!

[@whitebelt2905]

Thank god I found you! I have always felt more explosive when I sink. However, my coach has been trying to get me to soft touch. It never felt right and it didn’t make sense to me. Soft touch requires me to use 100% of my muscles to stop and support the weight which would take away energy from the press. On the flip side, sinking allows me to use my body to stop the descent of the bar. Thus saving energy for the press.

[@lewisstrongofficial]

You will be stronger using sinking, the soft touch in my opinion is better for getting more hypertrophy stimulus out of less weight

[@liveslowlivesimple]

@@lewisstrongofficial this makes perfect sense

[@igornascimento2914]

@@lewisstrongofficialnot really, it is very hard for lightweight lifters to sink, so usually they will soft touch, also lighter lifters most of the times have a high arch, so in that case it makes a lot of sense to soft touch

[@lakshverma8663]

​@@igornascimento2914why would it be hard for lightweight lifters to sink?

[@RangerGirl3236]

100% agree!

[@stephenmetz2044]

Wish I could afford a trainer like this guy. Amazing technical knowledge of lifting. He channel should have way more subscribers

[@HalfHotHalfCold]

do you know what he charges? Serious question not facetious

[@mateofremen]

Thanks for all this FUCKING GOOD content, pretty rare on KZbin. This is something so great to see here even as a powerlifting coach.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

Thank you!

[@Dolchanggabbana]

Any content would be great! Cant wait to see the training recap! And good luck on nationals!

[@stevovu]

Most underrated Channel! Keep it up love the content

[@dawidszuleka4207]

Definitelly top tier channel when it comes to exhausting the topic with the form that even novice lifters will understand - I wish more people watch the videos cause its definitelly worth the time

[@wyattchristiansen9089]

And then there's the forever statistical anomaly John Haack using a relatively close-moderate grip and a small-moderate arch and still somehow doing the soft touch and being one of the best benchers in the world.

[@ParodyBoy911]

When you master the sink, you can give the bar a little chest bump coming out the bottom to help with the hardest part of the rep

[@Egoliftdaily]

Has anybody ever told you that you look just like the guy from Brazos Valley Barbell? I'm just kidding. Brazos Valley Barbell content was recommended to me before I ever saw this other channel of yours. Great content, boss. I learned a lot from your vids.

[@Road2Strength]

I do pause reps (sinking) which help significantly with handling weight and form.

[@CoolKidEverything]

Favourite content creator as of rn 💪

[@BrandonRodriguez-gw5bg]

Great video!! Can't wait for the training recap and to see what you do at nationals!!

[@noelperez511]

Love the videos man! Great performance at mega nats!

[@benschamberger8933]

Really appreciate these detailed videos

[@gregorybuttari8651]

Love content ...I am a sinker and pause press...dead stop.

[@hrishikeshbar2312]

Great school of thought! Also good luck for the nationals

[@ateebahmed2237]

great video. @12:41 I see that you have a hypermobile elbow joint. I wonder how that affects your lifts.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I’m not at all hyper mobile. You are just looking at arm muscle. That elbow hardly locks out fully.

[@Ckjohn77kg]

this is the video that finally turns me into your subscriber!

[@snorlaxcom]

Inzer Ergopro sleeves > SBD. Way more supportive than anything out right now. Give them a try on your next block. Great videos. 💪🏼

[@FactoryStage]

Love your videos. Just realized you kinda sound like Cailer Woolam-- y’all related?

[@MattLaMasse]

Awesome content. Thank you so much

[@lolmmmol]

Another point worth mentioning.....sinking the bar is a much more explosive movement and likely suits those better who are very fast twitch muscle dominant. We are all born with a set ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch. Those who are more slow twitch dominant might favor soft touch but the more explosive lifters (fast twitch people) will almost always do better with the more explosive variation of bench....the sinking bench press.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I don’t think this is backed by any real evidence is it? I think you would be much better off just ignoring fiber type for your own training. Btw, a better argument would be sports as a whole. Sprinting vs marathon is a better example. Your thinking is more like someone who is fast off the blocks vs faster into the finish. Both are probably very biased towards fast twitch. But I don’t think it matters if they are competing at the same level what fiber types they are.

[@tunedom6488]

teach us how to use body to pop the bar

[@hakarl_]

With the coming bench press rule changes in the IPF, sinking touch is starting to look a lot more appealing to me. Since I'm going to have to limit both my arch height and grip width, might as well see what I can get out of it!

[@rickydugan8223]

You know any books about powerlifting you recommend?

[@Reliccontent]

12:12 at 6’2 100kg with 32’ arms I be taking L’s with that grip so yah boy gots to sink that bench 13:37 Elastic chest bones gang

[@Claireissus]

When i sink i perform better, except on singles. So i tried to soft pause everything, my bench went up but its true that it really beats you up, specially if you try long pauses.

[@Gawar]

Great video David! I have question, do you think that hack squat is good substitute belt squat or are there better substitutes?

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

It depends on why you have it in the program. But it probably doesn't help sinking or soft touch on the bench much.

[@Gawar]

@@BrazosValleyStrength sorry,I forgot to write that the question is not related to the movie :D

[@wilsonman8661]

@@Gawar You don't say.

[@giannil2498]

I've been looking to clarify my thoughts on this topic for a while, excellent video! If I may ask, is not having enough weight on the bar to effectively sink it into your chest a thing? I'm a, honestly, weak lifter looking to adopt this style of benching, and I seem to be weaker with it, could it be a matter of strenght? I'm likely going to train a softer touch bench fo the most part anyway because of the things it teaches you, as you mentioned. Thanks!

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

Yea it is. But maybe not in a way that really creates problems I wouldn't think. If you watch people who sink the bar, things don't look exactly the same with the empty bar or one plate. But they may be relaxing the exact same amount. The load just can't displace things the same when it is light. But really, to answer your question, I don't think that the amount of sink that the load allows is directly going to make you good or bad at it. But your question is really the main reason why I mentioned that smaller lifters don't tend to get the same benefit as bigger guys. Just not enough "pop" to help at the bottom. But I think it's a lot more about body size than load.

[@giannil2498]

@@BrazosValleyStrength great explanation, appreciate it!

[@ClarksvilleBarbellClub]

Ran out of knowledge? Oh... Raw Nationals. Gotcha.

[@TylerDavis-e2t]

Culver Clancy is THE GOAT! of powerlifting search him up.

[@gmoreau89]

In comp do you find that soft touch benchers get a quicker press command. Also how much of a concern is getting called for heaving? I know heaving is usually only called if the bar sinks significantly after the pause but was wondering if it’s a big concern. Currently a soft touch bencher btw but willing to experiment after my comp in July.

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

I really haven't noticed a difference in pause lengths between the two, and I also have pretty much never seen heaving calls unless it was absolutely deserved.

[@jacobcervantes4442]

I'm relatively new to powerlifitng (2 months in) and i have a friend who is a powerlifting coach (not my coach) bc i want to get to 1100 by myself. But anyways, I am a 75kg lifter, and I've been messing around with various techniques on deadlift and bench, seeing what feels right for my body, and i feel like sink pressing really does feel nice. So, I brought it up to him, curious of what he thought, and he thinks its a technique that should be mainly reserved for bigger body lifters, like people with more weight, who could use their body more against the weight. Do you think sink pressing has a place for me in my weight class?? I just watched the IPF worlds recap for 75kg, and i feel like some of the top dogs do use sink press but its so variable its hard to discern it from a soft touch. I think Johannson is purely soft touch, while Atwood uses a slight sink, and Monigatti seems to use a noticable sink press. I know some ppl will just say "dont worry about it, just lift" but idk. With everything i get into, i always obsess over optimum tech (whether it be mouse sensitivity for gaming, or foot setup for skateboarding, tricks or foot width in snowboarding).

[@anaussie213]

Dw about which will be more optimal for you at this point, this is more of an advanced cue. Yes sinking can help even at 75 kilos bodyweight.

[@lime7152]

I dont have much experience comparing these two but i believe that it shouldn’t be based on BW solely There are people that are lighter but have thicker or fatter torsos which might help the sink feel safer and more productive

[@DeathStalkerAlpha]

Thank you for making me question my whole life in the gym

[@TheBilaras97]

i think if you have a close grip internal rotation of the shoulders and losing the bar in front is not necessarily bad.A very good example is jeremy hoornstra and a lot of josh bryant athletes. You get insane pop of the chest that way.I dont know if its best for new lifters but i think some people can benefit.And in general i feel sinking is better suited for close-medium grip benchers, for wide grip if you dont have good shoulders it may put too much stress with the extra rom(that what happens with me at least)

[@fitoverforty]

Colin Weng uses ridiculous sink. Ugly but effective. He's got some crazy lifts.

[@TheStrengthScholar]

Fake natty. Dude has a national level bench but refuses to compete in tested competitions even though it would only grow his reach.

[@seanhewson1341]

I feel like this could have been a 3 minute video

[@mikitheironworker4443]

No more big archer allowed 😂😢

[@BrazosValleyStrength]

Says who?

[@peeter131]

I sink cause I'm impatient.

[@marcelobarbosaferreira91]

As always missing the point. Julius don't get a big pop because of his big belly, it is because of his hip movement. If you ever touched body fat, you should know if has zero elastic properties.

[@lime7152]

It might not have any elasticity but its not useless Its still cushion A really lean guy doesn’t have that safety layer Its probably not that effective

[@danielhenderson762]

You needed 20 minutes to simply say "if you're better sinking, sink. If you're better soft touch, soft touch"? This whole upload is pointless