When I first started coaching, I read a lot about Ethan Reeve, the head strength coach at Wake Forest University. He's not flashy, but he follows sound principles and makes his athletes work, something most need more of.
Coach Reeve loves the one-arm bench press. As a standard, he wants his athletes to press a 100-pound dumbbell for 5 reps. It offers a lot in the way of core anti-rotation strength. It also goes a long way in teaching full-body bench press tension.
Try to one-arm bench without braced lats, solid air, and your feet pressed into the floor.
It's that time of year again. The most dedicated and hardcore lifters are still in the gym for two hours a day, six days per week, while the rest of us (a.k.a. the non-loser majority) are facing a time-crunched, often unavoidable four to six week period packed full of bullshit shopping, crowded malls, kick ass family get-togethers, boring-as-all-hell family get-togethers, parties with friends, parties with co-workers, parties that you just crashed, and hangovers.