Jeff Magruder is a powerlifter with a well developed body. Jeff started his career in weight training as a bodybuilder.
At 19 he was the Seattle Champion and later won the Washington, Northeastern, Pacific Coast championships and fifth in the US championships.

The combination of powerlifting and bodybuilding has Magruder made the world record holder in bench press.
He believes bodybuilding is critical to powerlifting and vice versa.
He explains the following: "As a bodybuilder, you train with two of the disciplines of powerlifting, bench press and squat."
He agrees with most strength athletes that if you want to develop a massive upper body, especially a large, strong chest, you need to bench press. And for those who want a strong lower body, squats are a must.

PRE-COMPETITION TRAINING

The world record holder attaches great importance to taking sufficient time after intensive training phases in which his body can fully regenerate before comparing. In this way, the trained muscles develop more strength and speed.
“I think a lot about variety in training. Otherwise the body adapts to the loads and there is no progress, ”he says.

Since the bench press is his favorite discipline, he adds variety by overtraining. So he has z. B. in a single set on the bench pressed 143 kg in 51 repetitions and then completed three more sets of 22 repetitions with the same weight.
This is usually followed by sets of high repetitions, flying moves and dips.

At the beginning of his eight-week bench press competition preparation, he is overtrained. Sounds bad, but it has a positive effect weeks later. He explains it this way:
“Many do not know the training effect of overtraining. Most bench presses don't use their upper pecs enough. There is a lot of muscle in these areas, and training these muscles is critical to successful bench presses. Many people bench press with their elbows close to their bodies and use the triceps harder. With the right training techniques, a powerlifter benefits more from additional training. "

BENCH PRESS
In his eight week prep for the bench press, Jeff does eight reps on his easy training days and five, three, or two on the harder ones. The weight for the light days remains unchanged (at 184 kg) and on the hard days he does four sets of five repetitions with a weight, which is followed by a fifth set with the weight that he applies on the next heavy training day.
In the first three weeks he has to train relatively lightly in order to use the training effect of the four-week overtraining. In the phase with three repetitions, the training weights then become considerably heavier.

Because Magruder doesn't want to overtrain before his competition, his strength is at its peak three weeks before the competition and only needs to be preserved. In the first two weeks, he would do triple reps with 256 kg and double reps with 265 kg. The following week it was the turn of three sets of three repetitions with 245 kg. "During this time," explains Magruder, "my body heals while I conserve my strength."
After his most recent bench press performance of 300 pounds (110 pounds) at the APF U.S. Championships, it's evident that this powerlifting fighter knows exactly what he's doing.

BENCH PUSHERS OR POWERLIFTER
Magruder prides itself on doing good bench presses as well as lifting heavy weights. Rightly so, because there are only a few who can push over 275 kg on the bench and lift a total of 925 kg. His bests in the squat and deadlift are 370 kg and a staggering 336 kg, respectively. Even with his world record in bench press for the class up to 110 kg, he brought a total weight of a full 907 kg to the high distance.

TIPS FOR APPROPRIATE BENCH PRESSES
To be successful in the bench press, you have to Magruders Know what you're doing.
And he willingly gives information if you ask him.
"Good food, training, the right genetic makeup and adequate intake of amino acids, vitamins and minerals combined with the right attitude towards sport make everyone better," he explains. "You also have to believe in yourself, otherwise you won't get anywhere."

COMPETITION
If you ever have the opportunity Jeff in competition, you will see him arguing with his helper. He does this to get psychologically upset and gets even more upset when the audience reacts to the argument. “This energy is good for you because it makes you think positively,” he says. For Magruder, the correct mental state in competition requires isolation from everything else.
Inexperienced bench pressers often fall prey to Magruders Self-confidence and his sensational skills. He's never lost a bench press comparison. And his successes - which include the fact that he was the fourth American on the bench to weigh 290 kg (and first in the 110 kg class) - let go Magruder belong to the absolute elite.