Thread: bench press

Overtraining.

is it bad to work out your chest more than once a week?

I agree, stop working it so often, train chest once every 5-6 days.

Also agreed....sometimes I hit chest a 2nd time but only for detail work like cable crossovers and some flyes....benching twice a week is too much...IMO!

damn how can u guys hit chest two day a week. I do it once a week on monday with three presses 5x5 and i my chest is sore till thursday or friday

I once trained in a manner similar to the westside barbell guys where you train compound movements and each movement gets 2 days a week, 1 where you work like 6 sets of triples for strength and the other day you work with like 60% max but explode with every rep. There is more to it than that, but you get the picture. On the downside, this led to training with weights 6 days a week. On the upside, I got freaky strong from it and actually put on some good weight. Very sound theory behind this one, Louie Simmons knows his shit.

Ugh...overtraining yes...but working it too often...ABSOLUTELY no.

Working it too often balls to the wall max, ya, 2 times a week is too much.

If you are looking for muscle size...sure, balls to the wall once every 5-6 days is best.

For muscle strength, 3 days a week is best with regulated intensity and volume will garner you your strongest strength gains. Depends what you are looking for.

However, there could be a variety of other factors which could factor into this:

1. Did you alter your shoulder workout? If so, shoulders before chest would definitely result in that bench press loss.

2. Are you cutting? Low carb diets generally give you less energy which makes gains very hard and maintenance somewhat difficult.

3. Form. There is always a chance that with practice cleaner form or alterations in the bench press will result in temporary poundage drops.

Still...it would require some incredibly hard chest workouts (all things being equal) to have your bench press drop 10 lbs working chest twice a week. Optimal gains? Of course not. But a drop in weight from that? I dont know too many lifters who that would happen to...that is why im suspicious of an alternate source of BP difficulties.

Originally posted by Dale Mabry
I once trained in a manner similar to the westside barbell guys where you train compound movements and each movement gets 2 days a week, 1 where you work like 6 sets of triples for strength and the other day you work with like 60% max but explode with every rep. There is more to it than that, but you get the picture. On the downside, this led to training with weights 6 days a week. On the upside, I got freaky strong from it and actually put on some good weight. Very sound theory behind this one, Louie Simmons knows his shit.

Louie Simmons does know his Shit!!!!!!!!

Doesn't westside WSB follow a 4 day plan or are you add GPP sessions.

i started cutting bout a month ago so thats prolly reason why

but wene i do train my chest should i train it hard for one day then wait bout 5-6 days to train again ,or should i work moderate 2 times a a week?

If you are cutting, thats the reason.

However, a drop in weight is not a good sign...you'd best be served to cut with more protein to make sure you dont lose as much lbm.

And when you lift, BALLS to the wall. You need to have your body respond to its inability to lift a weight...and the only way to do this is to go hard.

There is a place for moderate training...but everyone (str and size people) needs at LEAST one heavy day a week.

I'm confident your problem is overtraining, and I'm going to provide you with the same bit of radical advice that the "Master" himself provided me.

STOP TRAINING YOUR CHEST.

Yes. That's right. And I know 90% of you are dismissing this post based on that one comment, but bear with me here.

If you have been training your chest that heavily that often, I'm postive you have created a serious ammount of neural inhibition. NI is a defense mechinism created by the body that does not allow your muscles to fire at their full potential inorder to prevent injury.

So now, go to the mirror and do a test for me. Stand completely profile (sideways) and look at your back. If you can see the upper part of your back AT ALL during this pose, it is an indicator of Upper Crossed syndrome - which basically means that you have a HUGE imbalance between your chest and your back. Remember, you should be able to row exactly what you bench press - and more importantly, for every set of work you do for your chest and shoulders combined, you should be doing the same ammount for your back.

So now, to default on a more experienced coach than I am, Ian King gives a remedy for this:

For the next 6 weeks, do NOTHING for your chest and front deltoids but stretch them. Take weights, lie back on a bench in a fly position, and just go to sleep. You will need intense bouts of stretching, for no less than 5-10 minutes at a time at least 4 times a week to see the progress you need.

Also in these 6 weeks, strenthen your back. Spend a day doing nothing but horizontal pulls (rows...all grips) and a day doing nothing but lateral pulls (pull ups...all grips).

At the end of the 6 weeks - I promise - you will have added size to your circumferance, and your chest will have actually grown. The first week back during chest training, you will have lost some strength - but by the following week, it will have returned, and you will in fact be over your plateau.

Take this for what you will...but that is the answer you need...although I'm confident it is not what you are looking for.

Im sorry, you are not going to get N.I. from benching twice a week!!! ROFL.

Its not the answer hes looking for because its the wrong one.

He even said he was cutting...perhaps you need to read all of the posts before being so positive with your analysis.

Sad.

Twice a week over the course of several years will certainly result in neural inhibition - in a natrual lifter. Will it over the course of two weeks - certainly not - and would some programs benefit from doing some form of chest work twice during the week - of course. But if your routine is constantly "bench tuesday - bench friday" 'balls to the wall' as you put it, for even 6 months, there is some form of neural inhibition being created.

And I would also like to contest your statement about having a heavy day during every week. In his German Volume training, Charles Poliquin proved that staggeringly large men can achieve great gains in both mass and strength usuing relatively light weight and manipulating rep numbers and speed. Also, in any of Ian Kings programs for contest preperation (of powerlifters - a sport where strength and size are both necessary), none of his athletes lift 'balls to the wall' heavy untill 2 weeks before the contest day.

You made good points about shoulder training and form, and the reduction in carbs can do what you say, but none of those definitely explain the drop in weight. Cutting or not, the man should not have lost 5% of his 1RM in a month unless there is a great case of malnutrion, or something else, like overtraining, is present.

Go to www.testosterone.net and look inside the forum underneath the HotRox challenge. Biotest sponsored a contest amongst the readers of its magazine to see who could make the greatest body composition changes in a given period of time. Most of these men - average individuals - had amazing CUTTING phases while actually gaining lean body mass.

Either way, this is just my educated opinion. Take it for what you will.

Two points:

1. Im pretty sure we are not talking about 2 years...because his bench is only at 210 lbs. So that was just common sense taking over.

2. Your other points about strength and size are well noted. However, my "balls to the wall" philosophy is meant as general advice to people who I believe:

a) are novice lifters (less than 1 year of experience)

b) who are attempting to be bodybuilders, not powerlifters

This is because, although your points on str are well taken, these are bodybuilding forums, not str building forums. And for a bodybuilder, a heavy day every week is pretty much mandatory. (and there are exceptions for very experienced bodybuilders, but that type of discussion will be illuminated from questions that demonstrate more experience in the sport; questions about losing 10 lbs on a 210 lb bench press are not those sort)

maybe u just had a bad day when u maxed out for 200 and u had a good day when u got 210? lol

Originally posted by Diesel
but wene i do train my chest should i train it hard for one day then wait bout 5-6 days to train again ,or should i work moderate 2 times a a week?

I would say hard, because moderation is not a challenge to the body. You can take a week off once every few months when you feel like you need it, I know some people take an easy week or two also.