Starting Strength

be set as high as possible so that the lifter’s elbows are nearly straight, and so that when they are straightened, the bar clears the hooks by a couple of inches. If the supports are too low, too much work has to be done getting the bar out, and more important, too much work will have to be done getting it back in the rack at a time when lots of control might not be possible. The easiest rack position will vary with your bench, and finding it will involve some trial and error.
    Most of the differences between the incline and the bench press are positional. The two are basically executed the same way. The chest is up, the back is tight, the drive is to the point of focus on the ceiling, the feet are planted to connect firmly with the floor, and “big air” supports the chest. The position of the shoulders and back against the bench, the elbow position, the eye gaze direction, breath control, grip, and foot position are all the same for the incline as they are for the bench press, while the differences are related to the angle. The shoulders are squeezed together for a tight position, and the back is arched into a brace between the seat and the point of contact on the shoulders. The elbows stay directly under the bar for the whole movement; they control the bar path as they do for a bench press. The eyes focus on the stationary reference of the ceiling; they do not follow the bar. The breath is held during each rep, with breathing occurring between reps at the top. The grip is the same as that used for the bench, with the thumb around the bar, which rests on the heel of the palm. The feet are firmly planted against the floor as a brace for the position against the bench. The bar path will be straight, but instead of touching the mid-sternum, the bar will touch right under the chin, just below the sternoclavicular articulation (the point where the collarbones and the sternum meet). The range of motion, through an almost perfectly vertical bar path, is slightly longer than for a flat bench press. The elbows’ position directly under the bar will place the point of contact on the chest, at a place that is even with the shoulder joints. The humeral angle – which does not approach 90 degrees of abduction – does not produce any shoulder impingement, as the bench press does.
    The starting position, at lockout over the chest, will be the point where the bar is in balance directly above the shoulder joints and where the locked-out arms are vertical, just as in the bench press. But because of the angle, the distance between the rack and the start position is much shorter for the incline, so the bar is actually much easier to unrack and re-rack than it is for the bench press. For this reason, the experienced lifter might find that a spotter is less important for the incline, although this statement should not be construed as permission to be stupid.
    If the incline is to be spotted, the equipment must be compatible. Most good benches have a spotter platform built into the frame. This allows the spotter to be sufficiently above the lifter such that if a problem occurs, the spotter can safely pull the bar up from a position of good leverage close to the bar. A spotter standing on the floor cannot be depended on to help, and if heavy weights are to be used, the equipment must allow for correct spotter position. Likewise, if you feel as though two spotters are necessary for the weight you’re doing, you should either use a lighter weight or do a different exercise, because two spotters cannot safely spot an incline, and heavy 1RM attempts on the incline bench press demonstrate a poor understanding of the purpose of assistance exercises.

    Figure 7-22. The incline bench press. Note the vertical bar path and the position of the bar over the clavicles.

    Deadlift Variations
     
    We’ll discuss four main variations here: the RDL, the SLDL, deadlifting from blocks, and the goodmorning (both flat-backed and round-backed).
    Romanian deadlifts
     
    Once upon a time, as legend has it, the incredible Romanian weightlifter Nicu Vlad visited the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Vlad was strong, probably as strong as any human being has ever been at a bodyweight of 220 pounds; word on the street has it that he front-squatted 700 pounds for a double. So when Vlad performed an exercise that no one had seen before, it quite naturally got a lot of attention from people not as strong as he was. The exercise involved taking the bar out of the