Chest Training
Strength is more than just pushing weight. As we stated previously, it’s also a skill that must be practiced in order to be perfected. To get strong, improving the weakest links in your form and movement patterns is essential for developing strength and improving overall performance. This includes identifying any muscle imbalances or weaknesses that may be hindering your progress and working to address them through targeted exercises and corrective movements.
In addition, focusing on improving your technique and form can help to optimize your movement patterns and increase efficiency in transferring force throughout your body. This can help you to generate more power and explosiveness, which is important for many strength-based activities such as weightlifting, powerlifting, and sports performance.
Ultimately, the key to getting stronger is to focus on consistent, progressive training that challenges your body in a variety of ways while also allowing for adequate rest and recovery. This may involve incorporating a variety of exercises and training methods into your routine, as well as addressing any weaknesses or imbalances that may be holding you back.
The Launch Pad allows you to focus on these things. Training with a tool like The Launch Pad challenges muscles to develop and find new ways to move in space. The Launch Pad creates a new training stimulus while simultaneously engaging all of the supporting muscles of the shoulder girdle, which in turn forces your muscles to adapt. This adaptation develop stronger, more resilient muscle fibers and can help reduce muscle imbalances and postural imbalances that often lead to pain and injury.
Using The Launch Pad in your strength training routine can provide a number of benefits. For starters, The Launch Pad can help you achieve a greater range of motion in your exercises, which can lead to better results in terms of muscle development, strength, power, and mobility. The Launch Pad also provides a low impact surface, reducing the risk or injury during exercises, making it an ideal choice for those with preexisting injuries or conditions. Finally, using The Launch Pad requires neuromuscular coordination, which means that your brain and muscles have to work together to maintain balance and control. This can enhance your overall motor skills, coordination, and improve your balance and stability, which can help prevent injuries and improve your overall athletic performance.
In contrast, traditional flat bench pressing with a barbell can put a lot of stress on the shoulder joint and can contribute to shoulder impingement and other issues. It primarily works the larger muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps, but may not necessarily target the smaller stabilizer muscles of the shoulder girdle in the same way that the Launch Pad does. The Launch Pad allows the shoulders the articular freedom they need to function as they’re designed to do naturally, making the bench press safer and more effective. Our proprietary design allows for an improved pressing position, increasing your range of motion for better results in strength, hypertrophy, power output, and sports performance.
How To Incorporate The Launch Pad in Your Training:
If you're looking to take your strength training routine to the next level, incorporating The Launch Pad can be a great way to do it. Here's how to program the launch pad into your routine:
1. Start With The Basics: Before you incorporate The Launch Pad into your routine, make sure you have nailed the basic movement pattern.
2. Choose Your Exercises: There are a variety of exercises you can do on The Launch Pad, its much more than a bench press tool. To start, choose one or two exercises that you want to focus on.
3. Determine Your Sets and Reps: Decide how many sets and reps you want to do for each exercise. This is where most folks have the most difficulty and it’s usually because they’re overthinking. A good starting point is three sets of 10 reps.
4. Unless you’re looking to take advantage of The Launch Pad’s ability to generate PAPE and potentiate the CNS, we recommend Incorporating The Launch Pad into your routine by using it for exercise after your main strength training exercises, such as after your flat bench press work, for example.
5. Increase Intensity Gradually: As you get more comfortable with The Launch Pad, you can increase the intensity by doing more reps or adding weight.
By incorporating The Launch Pad into your strength training routine, you can improve your explosiveness, muscle size, strength, power, endurance, and your overall athleticism. Just be sure to start slowly and gradually increase intensity to avoid injury.
General Programming Recommendations:
- Pressing on The Launch Pad is best used as a max effort lift for a rep max or a supplemental lift, offering a great way to train for both power and endurance. For max effort work, going to a 6-10RM is generally prescribed. For supplemental work, 3-5 sets of 6-12 reps works well. As a supplemental lift, this is done as a second exercise. Remember to start light and progress gradually as you will be training an increased ROM.
- For tempo work, we recommend using a moderate rep range (3-6 reps). Use a moderate intensity between 60-75% of your 1 rep max, starting on the lower end of this scale in the early part of your training cycle, and progress to the top end at the later phases.
- For Powerlifters or Strength Athletes following a set training program, we recommend adding exercises on Launch Pad after your regular bench press work when using it during the same training session, or using it on a separate day altogether.
- Use it as a warm-up: Incorporating The Launch Pad into your warm-up routine can be a great way to get your blood flowing and prepare your muscles for more intense exercise.
- To take advantage of The Launch Pad’s short term performance enhancement / make the most of The Launch Pad's capability to generate PAPE and potentiate the CNS: Utilize The Launch Pad to bench press with during your working sets until you reach your heaviest set for the day. Complete your top set on The Launch Pad, then take it off, rest for 3-5 minutes, and perform the exercise again on the flat bench.
Using The Launch Pad for Different Training Objectives:
- Use it for Power Training -
When it comes to pressing exercises, the most challenging part for many is getting the weight off the chest. By incorporating The Launch Pad into your training, you can develop more power and explosiveness right from the start, as it allows you to train a deeper range of motion and build starting strength to explode out of the hole with.
- Utilize it for Skill Training -
Because using The Launch Pad adds a factor of instability, you will be more conscious of any technique deviations during your repetitions. When you transition back to a conventional bench, you will find it easier to refine your technique and this will work in your favor.
- Use it to Improve Your Traditional Bench Press Strength -
In contrast to the conventional weight bench, The Launch Pad introduces a significantly greater level of instability. When you incorporate the traditional bench press back into your routine, the sudden increase in instability should enable you to lift more weight than before.
- Use it for Hypertrophy Training -
A top-notch hypertrophy program typically includes two key elements: diversified exercises and enhanced muscle activation. By incorporating The Launch Pad into your training, you fulfill both of these requirements. The added stability challenge and the introduction of new exercises offer a distinct stimulus, which is advantageous for boosting muscle growth.
- Use it for Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation -
By targeting the muscles of the shoulder girdle, it can help improve range of motion, stability, and strength, which can ultimately help prevent injuries in day-to-day life or during sports and other activities. For individuals who are recovering from an injury to the shoulder or surrounding muscles, The Launch Pad can be used as a low-impact way to gradually rebuild strength and mobility before returning to traditional presses.
Sets, Reps, and Load Recommendations:
If your goal is to increase strength or power, the recommended approach is to do 3 to 5 sets of 2 to 6 repetitions for each exercise with heavy loads. For muscle growth (hypertrophy), the ideal range is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps with moderate to heavy loads. And if your aim is to improve muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps with light to moderate loads.
In each case, the goal is to utilize the maximum weight that enables you to successfully complete all of your repetitions and sets while maintaining proper form. It's also important to give yourself sufficient recovery time between sets in order to sustain a high performance level: 2 to 5 minutes for strength and power, 30 to 90 seconds for muscle growth, and just 30 seconds for endurance.