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i agree, sure its cool to say how much ya bench... but its cooleer to say how high you jump....Its all about the INCLINE bench, squat, etc..... "olympic lifts" are the better for the vault...

oh ya and incline bench max is 225, squat 450 ( and im 6'3", 190)

jump high!

What exactly does bench press have to do with pole vaulting? The movement is slow and non related to actual movements in the vault

i disagree, if u work on explosion when u lift it helps u gain power not just muscle. anything that helps my explosion that i can use at the palnt, i will take. for the recordi weight 140 and did 180 10 times and 205 4 times. my teamates are as follows

Jimmy mount 155 360
Wineberg 180 325
chad 165 275

So Chris where exatly in the vault do you "push" straight out from your chest?? Just curious because I have no where in my vault where I do that. Yea I bench too but..........its not gonna make me a better vaulter directly.

And remember "Chicks dig scars" too just dont work too harad getting any of those!!

do u squat? -where exactly in the vault do u squat down?- nowhere but that gives u power and explosion that helps ur speed. sometimes its not the exercise that matter it is the group of muscles it works on. the bench doesnt only focus on the chest, it helps tricep strength, shoulder and upper back muscles, not to mention forearms. alot of the lifts u do arent in the "vault motion".

Actually I do cleans but thats beside the point.............what I am getting at here is that way too many vaulters OVEREMPHASIZE the wt room. The reality is you DO need to lift but NEVER sacrifice your ACTUAL training for what your doing in the wt room. Lifting is to vaulting what bench press is to tricep strength, shoulder and upper back muscles, not to mention forearms...........(kinda sounds like an sat question). It is a small yet important part of you overall training. But if somthings got to go the first thing I would get rid of is lifting. You can spend your time better in other aspects of your tainging. If you have the time (which I have very little of to train) do everything you can to get better. The best strengthing exercises can be done on a rope or high bar not a wt room.

MORE food for thought

see ya at the fair.............

He is getting old and cranky - if the focus is on usable strength - fitness - yes you try to tailor it to your event - as long as it doesn't turn into lift as heavy as possible at all cost - I tend to more inclines (helps shot as well) -

In response to why the bench is important to a vaulter...

You wouldn't work your hamstrings and not work your quads would you??
You wouldn't work your biceps without working your triceps would you??

No.

So you shouldn't be working your back and shoulders without working your chest. It is vital to keep your muscles in balance. My shoulder is messed up due to a muscle imbalance. Not because of my lifting, but because I threw javelin as well..... the throwing motion of the jav stretches the muscles on the front of the shoulder and strengthens the muscles in the back....this (according to the doc) may have caused my humorous to shift slightly.

So again, the bench is very vital. You may not use that exact motion in the vault anywhere, but without it, you would eventually see injuries develop.

Train smart, vault smart!!

Indestructo gave some good advice. Besides the risk of injury you would just look goofy!

I believe that bench is definitely important. It helps when I press out because i'm so slow. haha. also, just about all muscles are used when vaulting. Most people just ask how much people bench because it's a general mark that we're used to thinking about. Much like asking someone's time in the 40. Bench is always second best to any leg/plyo workout. Have any of you heard of Vertimax? It's some plyo thing we had. Raised my vertical by 9".


Oh yeah. I weigh 175 and put up 300

what is this vertimax??

The bench press is a core chest exercise, therefore it is very important that you include benching as a part of your workout, but you should not focus on it as some idiots do. How much you can bench has nothing to do with how high you can jump.

There is nothing wrong with benching. If you are going to obsess about a lift, focus on power cleans.

Vertimax is a plyometric system. it's like 1500 bucks, but looks like its 20.

It's a board that has four elastic bands on the left and right. You wear a belt that you attach the pulleys. on the front and back you can adjust the resistance. Then you just do certain types of jumps. Most people start with two sets of 10 jumps with power (squat all the way down and stabilize in between) and another two sets of quick jumps (not as far of a squat). Though my vertical sucked before I started (19), other people who started with decent ones could raise theirs by a good 5".