Hey Mike it's Paul. I met you at the Raw Unity meet and talked with you for about 30 minutes about RTS to find out a little more about it. Congrats on all your great lifting it was awesome to watch you lift . I was the young dude who couldn't believe that you were only 23. Your amazing for how old you are. Anyway I am writing to ask about a certain part of training with RTS that you mentioned in the book. On your Raw Bench day you mentioned how you use ply wood to bench to . What is the point of this? Is it essentially just another form of board presses? Do you do it to help with that low end of the bench shirt. I was just a little confused about it. Also on my Raw bench day I used chains and benched with to a foam roller to let the weight sink. Is that alright or should I strictly go to my chest and pause. And last thing would you recommend using chains and pausing with the weight. I thought it could help with essentially a "dynamic" push from your chest since the weight is lighter but becomes heavier.
Thanks for all you help. Hope to see you soon at some other meets.
The ply press is essentially a very low board press. Since it's low, it helps build low end strength. It's good for raw as well -- anything that needs more starting strength in the lower ranges of motion.
Benching with a moderate amount of chain is fine for raw work. Keep in mind that with raw work, you generally want to work the lower ranges of motion. If you're doing this, then you're good to go.
Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll try to not be in such a rush!
. What is the point of this? Is it essentially just another form of board presses? Do you do it to help with that low end of the bench shirt. I was just a little confused about it.