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| best ways to increase your bench press
Posted: 7/17/2008 2:45:01 AM | I found my biggest jump on the bench came when I spent more time "in the rack" and "on the bar."
Start training in deadlift and squat with the same vigor as you are pursuing the bench (useless exercise that it is) and you'll amaze yourself with how much more power you have in just about every exercise. Done properly, these two exercises will force the ENTIRE body to adapt to heavier weight than you've previously encountered. Make sure you talk to a knowledgeable person / professional at the gym who can show you how to do them properly so you don't hurt yourself. You're always much closer to hurting yourself when you're training to make progress. I think that's half of what keeps us all in it sometimes... the closer to the edge, the faster the gains.
Some of the folks are proposing some pretty advanced techniques. I wouldn't want to send a lay-person into the gym to lock in on the bench the way powerlifters do with belts AND bench shirts on. London Bridge looks great on a puzzle, and in a powerlifting meet- Keep in mind you can't reload vertebrae once you fire them out of your back like some sort of contorted AK-47.
I agree with just about everything said in here... just remember not to overtrain your chest, not to mention your arms. Remember, each time you train your shoulders, your chest, your back- you're hitting your arms in one way or the other. This is fine if you're taking in a couple thousand bucks worth of synthetics to help you heal faster- but if you're just following a conventional training regimen and equivalent diet then it will lead to really shallow performance curves that will soon lead you down instead of up the chart.
Eno | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 7/20/2008 10:10:18 AM | ok im not going to beat a dead horse but there is a lot of good advice. For instance, stabilty, core, secondary muscles, etc. etc.
The only thing you may want to add is strengthing your rotator cuff. I dont know if anyone touched on this since I only read the first page. There is the infraspinatus and supraspinatus with your pressing movement. You can strengthen, stabalize, and gain fleiblity with by doing work with rubberbands or cables. This will help with internal and external rotation and hence increase stabalization for more weight. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 7/21/2008 7:03:10 PM | | for one doing twenty reps is wayyy to much if you're trying to increase your bench.. start of with 10 and make it heavier everytime . try five lbs a week.. work with a partner they will push you it always works out better | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 7/21/2008 10:13:10 PM | Whats sad is the fact no one trains overhead press or push press much anymore like they did back in the 60s and 70s. I think people neglect this lift because it is harder than benching, but incorporating it correctly will reduce shoulder injuries caused by benching too much and will benefit the bench press overall.
If I had to choose between the two, I would pick the overhead press and its power variations for true strength and do less benching. You actually might find your bench will go up after doing this since this lift is more demanding on the whole body. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/22/2009 2:57:09 AM | Thanks for the replies guys, but I could do with some more advice.
I've made some more progress but I've plateaued again.
At the moment I can get 65 kg for an easy 10-12 reps, 75kg for 7-8 reps and 85kg for 2 or 3. I've been stuck at this point for the last few months now though.
Any tips for breaking through this? | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/22/2009 12:39:47 PM | toolfan. what's your leg day like? are those weights including the bar? to grow muscle strength you need to stimulate, recover then grow. your routine is fine for stimulating. to recover, take a recovery drink(30-50g protein, double that in higher glycemic carbs) within 1/2 hour after the workout. to grow, you need plenty of protein(ig/lb) plenty of rest and high amounts of testosterone, growth hormone(gh) and insulin-like growth factor(igf-1) to stimulate muscle growth. hence the question about leg day.
your gh and igf-1 production are greatest after heavy legs as the legs are much more massive than your arms. do squats, leg press and deadlifts(either variety), 2-3 exercises for 2-3 work sets with leg extensions and leg curls added. add a smaller protein drink 1/2 to one hr before bed.(bbs during bulk phase will often get up in the middle of the night to drink a protein drink).
find out what muscle group is holding you back(x factor). do incline and decline benches. whichever one is weaker, add those exercises to your routine. same with tris and anterior delts. try to get a nap or at least plenty of sleep. growth hormone production is high during stage 3-4 sleep. good lifting | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/22/2009 1:12:29 PM | Great advice from everyone.
I'm sure all will agree, just keep training.
And try printing off the posts here that you think will help you, so you can keep them and read later.
I've been in the game for 40 years and still enjoy learning new things. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/22/2009 2:47:22 PM | I've gotta admit, I've not trained legs on a regular basis for nearly a year now. I've got a very active job where I'm on my feet for several hours, 5-6 days of the week. It's a lame excuse I know but I do do dead lifts to try and compensate for it. The most I've managed so far with those is 100kg for 8 reps.
Those weights aren't including the bar. Dunno how much the bar weighs, so I just listed the weight of the plates. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/22/2009 6:40:25 PM | | hi toolfan. standard olympic bar weighs 45 lbs. if you're on your feet like that, i'd suggest doing your legs twice a week(2 compound exercises for 2-3 work sets with less warm-up reps,5-8) with your chest workouts. try dropping your benches altogether for a few weeks and do dumbbell flyes, the incline/decline that i mentioned earlier and anterior raises. are you overtraining? if your heart rate is taking longer to drop than normal, you're tired quicker and don't have your enthusiasm like you normally do, you probably are. take a week off from everything and eat well.then go bact to lifting, doing compound exercises for no more than a 1/2 hour. when you plateau( it always happens) it's time to change your routine. try heavy negatives( negatives do more muscle stimulating than positives) do your benches in a 2-1-4 second manner and don't lock out at the top. constant tension will stimulate yourmuscles in a completely different manner than the standard lifting motion will. do these with about half the plate weight you normally use. pro bbs will often workout with much lighter weights and do this routine. remember, your body doesn't want to grow more muscle than it needs.(muscle is very expensive in caloric terms and extra muscle made survival harder in thr hunter-gatherer days that our bodies are attuned to). if you mix your routine up constantly( heavy days, lighter higher rep days(10-15) and negative days )you will probably begine to see improvement in a couple weeks. you may get more sore when you dothis, so remember to stretch after. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 4/25/2009 4:37:01 AM |
I've gotta admit, I've not trained legs on a regular basis for nearly a year now.
Gotta hit the lower body with the same intensity as the upper if you're trying to grow, otherwise you'll get the infamous "gumby effect" of scrawny legs supporting a bulky upper body that a lot of beginners have. Also, doing heavy squats and deadlifts will indeed do wonderful things for your testosterone and metabolic levels which spills over into upper body gains. So at least one leg day per week.
Regarding your standing-intensive job: try inverting your legs for 10 minutes before your workout, and 10 minutes again afterwards. Lie on your back with your legs straight up against a wall...this rejuvenates your legs by draining the blood out of them, which you'll really feel when you get back up and all that blood recirculates down there. Works for running too. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 5/12/2009 10:44:05 PM | | Who cares about bench press focus on the real athletic lifts like deadlifts, power cleans, lunges and squats and overhead barbell press and pullups and the barbell shrugs. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 5/13/2009 3:44:42 AM | As previously mentioned your warmup could be improved.
Try this.... if your workset is an estimated 275lbs for 5-6 reps.
95/12x1
135/8x1
185/5x1
225/3x1
And then 275/1x1 for an acclimation set.
Some exhaust themselves on the warmup alone which you don't want.
I'm also a fan of hitting exercises or bodyparts more frequently. Bill Starr's 5x5 or Westside's programs both do so. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 5/13/2009 7:54:17 PM |
Who cares about bench press focus on the real athletic lifts like deadlifts, power cleans, lunges and squats and overhead barbell press and pullups and the barbell shrugs.
I guess I didn't get the memo that bench press is not longer a 'real' athletic lift.
Ditto on Starr's 5x5. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/11/2009 3:56:04 PM | | For me, alternating flat-bench and incline and dumbells incline/flat are what helped. 4 sets of 10 on each excercise. I would do 4 chest excercises per chest day, once a week. My bench has gone up by 50# in the past year. Not great, but also not bad considering I have been successfully cutting body fat and am all-natural (no juice). | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/11/2009 8:11:00 PM | lots of good advice here... I have three very simple things that will radicalize all your workouts, and bench is the perfect example point...
Start your workout with as light as weight as possible - preferably just the bar or even lighter if nec. Bring the bar down to your weakest position in your first rep - maximum stretch. Stay there until you feel your pecs twitch and arms start to burn with lactic acid build up. Make sure that you are close to complete muscular exhaustion/failure, then pump out a few quick reps. Take a breather, get a drink of water. You will feel an incredible pump. Now, you are ready for your workout.
This is the exact opposite of how most folks train, especially those juicing. They blow past the weak spot. A chain is only strong as it's weakest link.
I won't go into the science of this or the rational behind it, because I'm writing a book about it, but try it, it works. I discovered it, recovering from various shoulder injuries.
Change all your workouts to once a week - chest once a week, etc. This allows maximum stress, maximum rest/recovery. When it's workout time again, the muscle is "shocked' and fresh. I usually do one upper/one leg every day.
When doing any flat bench exercises - bench/flys, etc - lift your feet up in the air, or bring your knees toward your chest, like a stomach crunch. Besides helping you with your ab work, this completely isolates the chest, and prevents from cheating on your chest work by pressing your feet to the floor and involving the back in the movement. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/11/2009 11:42:11 PM | Instead of doing this with your weak-spot, I suggest training the muscle that is weak. What the above poster suggested is a start, but it really only builds endurance in this muscle. We want POWER! Explosive power. To do this, we must identify the weak sports.
Bar on chest: The weak point here is the pec. To strengthen this, ALWAYS come all the way down, and you may even go from chest, just until arms are almost paraellel. It looks liek a 1/2 bench. However, this will HIT the chest. There is also the Pec-Deck and other things, but I like dumbells brought as log as you can go for hitting the pec, as well as the 1/2 bench I just outlined.
Arms ALMOST at parallel/at parallel: This is the point where the excercise motion causes the primary focus to shift from your pecs, to your triceps. During this transition, there is usually a defecit of power for most people. This can be combated several ways. One way is modifying your technique. GRIP the bar and try to BEND it as you near this point. This will keep your pecs in the game until you pass this point. OR, do tricep excercises like weighted dips, tricep pull-downs, and skull-crushers.
Almost locked/ready to rack: Shoulders come into play a little bit at this point. As well as Tri's. Overhead press, etc. should help with this stage.
These are the 3 "stick points" I see most people struggle with, and that I myself have issues with, and how I have blown through them on occasion. The above advice you gave is great for endurance and some strength gain, but it has a tendancy to weaken the rest of your work-out and cause other areas to lag due to the weak-point being made WEAKER before you ever begin instead of training the different weak-points to the max, as a whole, and causing the entire structure/Support system to develope.
This is not to say that your method is without merit, but just more as a "polish" than what a noob/ someone looking for big/fast gains would benefit from.
Negatives are also awesome!!!
As with everything, the above is my opinion, based on my experiences. It is not set in stone. The advice above mine may well work better than the advice I gave...or it may not. I just gave my technoque and rationale for it. Enjoy, be safe, don't push too hard, and have fun! | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/13/2009 2:21:46 AM | Other tricks to throw into the mix, for improving your bench press:
1. Do each rep super slow: 5-10 seconds up, 5-10 seconds down.
2. At the top of the press, with your elbows locked out, push your shoulder blades as far off the bench as your shoulder socket will allow, while keeping your butt and head firmly pressed against the bench. Hold for 2-3 seconds at the top, then slowly lower the bar down to your chest.
3. Rather than having the bar come down to the middle of the chest, have it come down to the base of your throat.
You wouldn't do the above in EVERY workout, but perhaps once a week or every other week, just to keep your muscles guessing and hit different angles/parts. You'll need to use lighter weight than usual, of course. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/15/2009 12:57:54 PM | jwg86..
dude, I use 120 lbs in each hand on my flys. Is that powerful enough for you? I don't focus on bench for heavy gains because it is ultimately a counter-productive exercise, and almost certain to cause long-term damage at heavy weights over time. Hold out your hands in front of you - do they naturally line up straight, or do they curve inward and slightly upward? I've injured myself, and seen countless others injure themselves, with improper form.
Isolation is the first, and basic principle of strength gain and proper form, and yet almost everyone I've seen working their bench brings their back and legs into what should be a chest only exercise.
We've all heard the stories of the little old lady who lifted the car off of her husband in a time of extreme stress. How is that possible? It's possible because our muscles are already amazingly strong. There is an organ in your connective tissue called the Gogol organ, which causes pain when the muscle is exerting too much force, preventing you from tearing the connective tissue from the bone.
I have torn the muscle from my bone. It's no friggin picknick.
A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. Doesn't matter how powerful your muscles are, if your connective tissue is weak or damaged, then the whole chain is weak and damaged. So, logically, it follows, that you train to your weakness, rather than your strength. The benefit is that your muscles get incredible gains.
I've had 100% strength gains in 90 days with some of my clients, and some of those were senior citizens.
There is a lot more science involved, but if you want to know, you will have to buy my book. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/15/2009 2:51:54 PM | | Something that also helps is to not just do flat bench presses, Do incline and declined bench as well. Inclined will work your upper chest and shoulders while declined works your lower chest. | |
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| Best ways to increase your bench press?
Posted: 6/17/2009 1:22:41 AM | 5 sets of as much weight as you can do for 5 reps is a classic for the flat bench, 3 sets of 5 is another one. You can also pyramid up or down, or up then down, adding weight and lowering the reps and vice versa.
West Side Barbell power lifters believe in switching your main heavy chest exercise often. The theory goes that you can always go heavy if you switch your exercises, instead of using periodic type of training where you go heavy for a while, then light for a few weeks before you can go back to heavy weights again.
Conventional wisdom says 1-8 reps per set is good for improving strength. IMO if you want to have a good bench you do indeed need to bench a lot. I also think switching exercises is good too, or even switching the order in which you do your routine. Use free weights too, machines are support exercises, free weights are your bread and butter. Strengthen your triceps, they're a big part of your bench. Learn how to bench correctly, there's a good chance you're not. Learn to bench the power lifting way, not the bodybuilding way. Above all workout hard and be consistent over years and you will have a big bench.
-Trader Will | |
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| best ways to increase your bench press
Posted: 6/17/2009 10:06:52 AM | I haven't read all of the other responses because the ones I did read were totally useless. How I increased my benchpress was I fixed my diet (I don't know your body type and needs so I won't expand on that), switched my workout regime, hit it hard and always had a spotter so I could push out extra reps/sets.
First of all, ditch that 25 reps-10 reps, that's totally useless. Aim for 3-5 reps, and 5 is a not even your goal per say. Weighted dips, flies, incline/regular bench and more focus on the tricep aswell. Also, try negatives with jacked up weight that you obviously couldn't lift yourself, but focus on controlling the down part of the benchpress motion( you will obviously need a spotter for that to get the weight up each time ). That helped me tons, aswell as everything else I've lifted. I normally did 5 sets of 3-5 reps, increasing weight everytime ( even is small amounts ). remember, 5 reps would probably be the first set, and the last 3 sets would normally be 3 reps. And more importantly than your lifts, your diet, look into it and live by it. | |
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