Thread: I need help with the bench press.

Good job my friend. You are off to a good start. I'm glad you want to increase your bench press, but please do not neglect the rest of your body. You don't want to have a disproportionate and unbalanced physique. My suggestion would be a 3 day per week routine...monday, wednesday, friday...

Mon:
-bench press
-squat
-bent row

Wed:
-deadlift
-military press
-skull crushers

Fri:
-bench press
-upright row
-barbell curl

These basics will build good size and strength throughout your physique and help your bench press to go up. How much? Well that depends on how well you eat, how hard you work, how consistent you are, and, how good your genetics are. Anybody though, can make HUGE improvements.

You should find that it goes up relatively quickly I would think. I was able to start out with a gain of about 5 and sometimes 10 pounds a week when I first started out.

Good luck!

thanks
i deffinetly dont neglect the other parts of my body though.

1. do you think it is better for me to only go 3 times a week than 4? right now i have been doing mon tues - off wed - thurs and fri - off sat sunday. is your way for me better?

2. by eating right do you mean not eating candy and stuff? cus i dont. plus i drink one shake a day from meso-tech. and usually have a nitro-tech bar. is this enough protein or not?

3. tell me if i should stick to what i was already doing or go to yours.

mon:
arms - tri, bi

tues:
back, shoulders

wed:
-

thurs:
chest

fri:
legs

4. another thing im not trying to gain tons of weight though cus im doing this for basketball. but i am trying to be an unmovable and overpowering guy inside. so i want a low body fat %. im i doing this right for basketball?

by the way im 6'4 220

Try to get some protein in each meal of the day, 1 gram per pound to 1.5

hello?

ok i got your PM, thanks

Well, now knowing that you are training for basketball I need a few more questions answered.

-how many times per week do you play ball...how long per session...on what days?
-do you do any other cardiovascular training like running, biking, etc?

If you want to be a force under the boards in basketball than the bench press is only one of several basic exercises you need to be concerned with. You need power and strength through your whole body, from calves right up to your neck.

As for diet...you should be eating 6 times per day. There should be quality protein and carbs at each meal. You need the protein for muscle repair and carbs for endurance. I would look to get about 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight and 2 grams of carbs per lb...EACH DAY.

Answer the questions above and I'll get back to you about your program.

I play about 5 times a week. Each for a little under an hour. The season hasnt started yet but im getting ready. the tryouts start in about 3 weeks. i think im still fine to do the maximum training though.

right now im am not doing any other training, but basketball involves a lot of running so i usually dont continue to run after i play. i do want to get a tread mill for home though.

is it ok to eat a protein bar for breakfast?

i also heard that a really low body fat % can really help with your vertical. i think my % is over what it should be. so if i could get it down i could get some easy dunks which is a lot easier than layups.

thanks

bump

Well since it's for bball here is my input.

I'm 22 now, and was a pretty big into basketball when I was in high school and before. First off, Make sure you keep the rest of your body healthy, I'm 6'7 now and was about your height at 15 too.

For bench maybe some pyramids to gain power. But for me since I was a Forward/Center. I really concentrated on my legs, back, arms and chest.

Legs are the most important IMHO for a bigman. I neglected them my Sr. year and lost my oppurtunity to play college ball when I completely tore apart my ACL,MCL, and cartilidge on one of my knees. Also, your legs are a big factor for boxing out, rebounding, posting etc.... Quads and calves are great for this. Even if you are undersized you can hold off bigger people with your legs and butt.

I did mostly pyramid styles for power building and consistent bulking. My main mistake was my lapse in cardio always saying "that's what preseason is for". Do the cardio you lose some mass but gain a speed advantage.

Don't forget stretching either. being 6'4 and being able to move and bend in other ways that bigger people can't is a huge help.

Eat hearty meals. Don't skimp out on meals and rest.

As for a routine it depends on your practice schedule. Normally Summer time and Pre Season (depending if you are on traveling teams or not) I had practice 4 times a week. My shedule looked like this for working out:

Sunday: Off Day
Monday: Practice
Tuesday: Arms/Chest/Back (Incline, Bench, Preacher Curls, Hammer Curls, Pull Downs, Seated Row, Skull Crushers, Pushdowns/dips, Pullups)
Wed: Practice and Stretching
Thursday: Legs/Abs/Cardio (Medicine ball jumping, take a medicine ball hold it over your head jump with it and and try to touch it against the rim or back board, Lunges, Squats/Leg Press, Calves, Leg Extensions, Abs, Running)
Friday: Practice and Stretching
Saturday: Practice and Light Back and Arm (Pull ups, Dips, Concern. Curl, Skull crushers, seated row)

This might not work for you, and there are many different routines you can do, thats just what I did and I got some decent results, nothing great though.

As for the Body fat, I liked having a little "cushioning" from the other guy. I never measured it, I based it on my performance during practices and games. If i was getting to tired and worn out, off to the cardio i went to shed some pounds and waved some of the carbs away. Do what you feel comfortable with, and like Go Pro said don't neglect the rest of your body.

Best of luck!

Originally posted by BirdyBirdMan
I play about 5 times a week. Each for a little under an hour. The season hasnt started yet but im getting ready. the tryouts start in about 3 weeks. i think im still fine to do the maximum training though.

right now im am not doing any other training, but basketball involves a lot of running so i usually dont continue to run after i play. i do want to get a tread mill for home though.

is it ok to eat a protein bar for breakfast?

i also heard that a really low body fat % can really help with your vertical. i think my % is over what it should be. so if i could get it down i could get some easy dunks which is a lot easier than layups.

thanks

Well your needs are twofold. You want to be strong under the boards so as not to be pushed around AND you want a good vertical. I think you should have a relatively low BF %, but not too low. You need your strength and going too low will leave you with low energy. You need to find a balance...around 10% would be good.

Yes, you can eat a protein bar for breakfast if you are short on time...just don't ever skip it!

You can stay with a 4 day per week schedule if you wish, but your training should revolve around basic compound exercises. You need a strong core (low back and abs) and strong legs and calves. Your chest and delts need power as well as your upper back and traps. Avoid the little isolation exercises like cable crossovers, tricep pushdowns, and leg extensions. Focus on deadlifts, squats, bent rows, bench press, incline press, military press, shrugs, cleans, upright rows, etc. These are functional movements that will cross over to the type of strength needed in your sport. You may also wish to learn to do some exercises on a swiss ball. The swiss ball will increase balance, core strength, and work your stabilizer muscles which tend to tire during sports.

Your workouts should last no more than an hour or so. You should train in a rep range of 4-6 for strength and 15-20 for endurance. You can switch off week to week or combine these rep ranges within one workout.

Does that help?

yeah thanks rage and gopro it helps a ton. im going to look up how to do a lot of the things you guys said like dead lifts and skull crushers etc ( i am not familiar with these).

right now with my legs i am doing 270 lbs w/ calf raises (30 reps) and 540 with the leg press(12 reps).

im really trying to increase my vertical and was wondering if you knew anything that was especially good for it. i will also be doing the air alert jump program.

i found this on a vertical site:
Two foot jump
63% Quadriceps
20% Calves
2% Deltoids
15% Arms

One leg jump
50% Quadriceps
25% Calves
15% Hamstrings
10% Arms

is there a way to become more explosive through weight lifting? like do you do something differently?

ps: rage were you going to play d1 or d3, just wondering.

thanks a ton

i have been reading and i heard that some of the olympic lifters that do the dead lift and other things have great verts. like one guy who weighed 380 pounds had a 40 inch vertical. do you know any of these types of lifts that i might be able to do?

[i][b]

ps: rage were you going to play d1 or d3, just wondering.

thanks a ton

Most of the D1's I got were general recruit letters (IE send it to show then know about you, follow up on you, and hope you come to their school and play their practice team, and maybe you up if you improve a great deal.) I would have gone D3 to Sewanee (School of the South) or Loyola.

I was no where near good/tall/big enough to play Big Conference D1 ball

Originally posted by BirdyBirdMan
yeah thanks rage and gopro it helps a ton. im going to look up how to do a lot of the things you guys said like dead lifts and skull crushers etc ( i am not familiar with these).

right now with my legs i am doing 270 lbs w/ calf raises (30 reps) and 540 with the leg press(12 reps).

im really trying to increase my vertical and was wondering if you knew anything that was especially good for it. i will also be doing the air alert jump program.

i found this on a vertical site:
Two foot jump
63% Quadriceps
20% Calves
2% Deltoids
15% Arms

One leg jump
50% Quadriceps
25% Calves
15% Hamstrings
10% Arms

is there a way to become more explosive through weight lifting? like do you do something differently?

ps: rage were you going to play d1 or d3, just wondering.

thanks a ton

There are certain weight training exercises that can help with your jumping ability. These include "quick, explosive" movements like jump squats, jump cleans, power cleans, clean and jerks, power presses, etc.

You may also want to buy a book on the basics of PLYOMETRICS. Plyometrics is a form of training that is aimed at producing explosive-reactive movements inherent in throwing, sprinting and JUMPING! Some basic plyo exercises would be quite beneficial to you...but you must learn to do them correctly!

thanks again for the post.
i have looked into plyometrics and i bought a book and the Air Alert program www.airalert.com

right now with my legs i am doing 270 lbs w/ calf raises (30 reps) and 540 with the leg press(12 reps).

is that ok for me right now?

i am also trying to find out how to do these deadlifts and cleans properly.

thanks

Originally posted by BirdyBirdMan
thanks again for the post.
i have looked into plyometrics and i bought a book and the Air Alert program www.airalert.com

right now with my legs i am doing 270 lbs w/ calf raises (30 reps) and 540 with the leg press(12 reps).

is that ok for me right now?

i am also trying to find out how to do these deadlifts and cleans properly.

thanks

Good...the plyometrics will help alot. As for your leg strength...that is all relative...just keep trying to improve. Just remember to lift "explosively!" This means that you control the negative portion of the movement and then push as hard and as fast as you can on the positive. The weight won't actually move very fast, but you will teach your muscles to move explosively...like a vertical jump.

hey i was just wondering if it was ok to do the calfs three times a week along witht the other stuff? like mon wed fri??

If your hittting them hard, twice a week should be more than enough. 2 days rest isn't enough rest for me.

Originally posted by Scotty the Body
If your hittting them hard, twice a week should be more than enough. 2 days rest isn't enough rest for me.

I agree...2 days a week is enough.

ok then i guess ill go with mon and fri

How do you think i should work out my schedule cus i have this problem: my school doesnt have any good stuff for the shoulders and back and i do those on the same day.

so do you think i should do something like this:
mon: Arms, calf
Tues: -
wed: Chest
thurs: -
Friday: legs
Saturday: back shoulders, i can go to a real gym with tons of stuff - i just get a much better work out of the shoulders and back there

**if you could arrange this better tell me

thanks

bump

That is fine...I would make one change...

mon...arms, calf
wed...legs
fri...chest, calf
sat...back and delts

hey thanks but just wondering why the switch. the reason that i did legs on friday was so i could rest for the weekend since there isnt much bball but thats ok, my legs dont get as tired as they used to the next day

I wanted you to have a day off from the gym after legs. Also, I felt this arrangement to be better for your bench press.

Guys lets not forget that younger individuals seem to recover much faster than older ppl. Right now i lift 6days on 1 day off each body part i hit 2 times a week and heal wonderfully.

Dude, if u wanna increase your bench press you should definetelly try heavy close grip bench presses, those add at least 25lbs to your max bench if u do them regularly

i have a question. I see a ton of people at my school that bench press everyday of the week. I always thought that they were going about this wrong. Am i right and are they not making the gains that they should by doing this?

also is one time a week for anything good enough, except calfs? any suggestions on anything else i should be doing more or am i good to go?

by the way i wanted to leave you with what i was planning to do on my chest workout tommorow. tell me what you think
ps i will try the close grip.

1. bench press
2. incline bp
3. decline bp
4. close grip bp
5. decline machine

6. calf raise