Thread: how to increase bench press?

ok got the idea you want to get strong! stop creating new threads and wait for people to respond!

maybe train it twice a week. Do some reading on westside BB. Educate yourseld.

Knowledge is your best friend. So, in this case, is this article. http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=717551

Thanks guys............... in response to the post by BUILDING UP i have not created new threads. If you look closely one q is about diet and one about the bench press..........and the other post is a newbie post introduction.

my bad! it was similar to what someone else posted! my apologies

95kg is good, your doing well! Carry on plugging away at the iron and your strength will come with time.

my 70kg 2RM is pathetic!

your doing too low of a rep scheme for your working sets. beggining weight trainers dont have a need for this low rep crap. when i say begginer i mean first year or so of dedicated consistent lifting.
i got best results in my early stages sticking to 8 reps, and always always utilizing progressive resistance.

good advice curse

I usually warm-up with 8 reps heavy weight, then go 1/2 reps extremly heavy (relative to me)

I am putting on weight steadily at the moment however, should i stop doing this and just stick with higher rep work for hypertrophy?

Could you check my rep scheme in my journal for me quickly please?

If it's working, keep it up; if it's not, change it.

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

If it's working, keep it up; if it's not, change it.

yeh i thought that would be the answer


I am just a very undecisive (spelling) person

No problem. I'm one of those people that's fairly intelligent, but if it's something obvious, I can't figure it out.

indecisive. yea like squaggle says if something is working then it obviously has merit.

The first thing you should do is determine your weak point on the bench press. That Testosterone Nation article that Squaggle gave you a link to is a great start. Do some extra work for the weak muscle in question. If you bench press like a powerlifter, then include your lats in the group of muscles that assist in the lowest portion of the bench press.

If you aren't trying to go into a full PL routine yet, then try things until something works. Vary rep ranges, increase your work capacity, increase the frequency of your workouts, use a lower volume and higher intensity, use a lower intensity and higher volume, etc.

If you are interested in a full blown PL routine, then search for information on Westside and Metal Militia. Metal Militia seems to be the way to go for the bench press. Westside seems to be the routine of choice for the squat and DL.

To 'buildingup' no worries man easy mistake to make.

I looked at the link squaggle gave and it is very useful. I have looked into my weakness on the bench press and it is right at the bottom so i think a bit more lat work will help.

The curse.....i will definately try some higher rep work and see how it goes. At the middle and at the top of the bench i am very strong and have been doing pin pressing at about 120kg for 3reps its jus the bottom thats the problem.

my deadlifts are good but squats are holding me back. ALthough my squat is fairly good since i been going to parrallel (as in PL you must do) i have had to cut back on the weight). Building strength at the bottom is priority in that too.

Originally Posted by PowerHungry

To 'buildingup' no worries man easy mistake to make.

I looked at the link squaggle gave and it is very useful. I have looked into my weakness on the bench press and it is right at the bottom so i think a bit more lat work will help.

The curse.....i will definately try some higher rep work and see how it goes. At the middle and at the top of the bench i am very strong and have been doing pin pressing at about 120kg for 3reps its jus the bottom thats the problem.

my deadlifts are good but squats are holding me back. ALthough my squat is fairly good since i been going to parrallel (as in PL you must do) i have had to cut back on the weight). Building strength at the bottom is priority in that too.

I highly suggest box squats and bottom squats.

Box squats are where you sit on a box (Which should be at parallel or even below) at the bottom of the squat. Don't ever lose your upper body tightness. Squat as though there was no box. Just stop holding back when you are securely on the box. Relax all your muscles not involved in actually stabilizing the weight. After a pause of a second or two, explode up. This can be done as a dynamic or maximum effort type exercises.

Bottom squats are simply where you adjust the pins in a rack so the bar rest where it would be at parallel or slighlty below when resting on your shoulders. Get under the bar and squat. Pause on the pins for a couple of second in between repetitions. The first rep will be the hardest because you have very little stored elastic energy to assist you in moving the weight upward.

Bottom squats are my favorite. Just make sure your core is tight before you thrust up!

just simply take a week off

What worked for my son won't necessarily work for you, but here goes. He dosen't believe in warm ups, he says it wastes his energy for lifting.

He does pirimids: 1 set 8 reps @ 85% of his one rep max.
Then 1 set 3 reps @ 125% ORM.
A last set same as the first.

I saw him go from 190 to 250, in 8 weeks so it worked for him at least.

Originally Posted by Sam40

What worked for my son won't necessarily work for you, but here goes. He dosen't believe in warm ups, he says it wastes his energy for lifting.

Yeah. He says that now. I used to say that. Then I realized that people get older. Things change...

Well that's another story, and how well I know about that. I'm still collecting interest on stupid things I did 25 years ago. But the young, learn very slowly. He hasn't been working out for the last couple of years though, but he was 36 at the time.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Yeah. He says that now. I used to say that. Then I realized that people get older. Things change...

I agree, that kind of attitude will get you hurt.
And I'm sure he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I used to not do warmups, just maybe a set of 6 on the bar, but now I make sure I get a thorough warm up

It makes a huge difference when it comes to bench, and with legs is even more obvious.

I can do a set of 225 on squats and it be moderately difficult, then I will do the same weight, and same amount of reps 3 minutes later, and the 2nd set is much easier.

Most kids who say that just don't have a clue about what they are talking about.

I'm only 17, but I make sure to get in a good, full warm up for the target muscle(s) and the surrounding muscles.

Originally Posted by myCATpowerlifts

I agree, that kind of attitude will get you hurt.
And I'm sure he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I used to not do warmups, just maybe a set of 6 on the bar, but now I make sure I get a thorough warm up

It makes a huge difference when it comes to bench, and with legs is even more obvious.

I can do a set of 225 on squats and it be moderately difficult, then I will do the same weight, and same amount of reps 3 minutes later, and the 2nd set is much easier.

Most kids who say that just don't have a clue about what they are talking about.

I'm only 17, but I make sure to get in a good, full warm up for the target muscle(s) and the surrounding muscles.

Same here. I used to think that since I was using such low weights, warm ups weren't really necessary (and at the time it was probably true). However, I now use maximal weights all the time, so my warm ups are actually more reps than my actual working sets.

Thanks guys for all your advice......i am going to incorporate box squats and am sure this will build the strength needed at the bottom of the squat.

To sam 'He does pirimids: 1 set 8 reps @ 85% of his one rep max.
Then 1 set 3 reps @ 125% ORM.
A last set same as the first.' .....................HOW CAN YOU DO 125% of your ORM?

At the moment i can add 5kg to my deadlift every week.......but im a bit concerned as to whether this is too much too soon? Although i can add that every week would i be better off adding 2.5Kg every week.

add as much as you can without sacrificing form! i add that much to deadlifts as well every 8 days

Originally Posted by PowerHungry

At the moment i can add 5kg to my deadlift every week.......but im a bit concerned as to whether this is too much too soon? Although i can add that every week would i be better off adding 2.5Kg every week.

Enjoy it while it lasts, 10 pounds a week isn't going to kill you. Now if you hit that every week of the year, that would be 572 pounds on your deadlift. That might be a bit fast, but like I said - enjoy it for now because it wont last unless you are built for it already anyway.

Yea Mudge i guess your right it wont last forever. May as well keep at that to bring up my total as my bench lets my total down a bit. Just out of interest Mudge how do you train legs.....do you use chains or elastic bands or neither. Im new to powerlifting and see alot of people using these.....would they benefit me?

Those techniques are usually used by more advanced athletes in things like the Westside training program.

I'm just curious, how old are you PowerHungry? You have excellent stats for your weight.

Originally Posted by PowerHungry

Yea Mudge i guess your right it wont last forever. May as well keep at that to bring up my total as my bench lets my total down a bit. Just out of interest Mudge how do you train legs.....do you use chains or elastic bands or neither. Im new to powerlifting and see alot of people using these.....would they benefit me?

I like the idea of chains, it makes the weight heavier towards the easier part of the motion. I'm not a powerlifter though, so I don't use them.

Thanks squaggle...........im 22 and wish i trained properly years ago. I am training with a friend who is into powerlifting and in a month and a half have learnt alot and progress is good for me at the moment. As for my squat unfortunately the weight you see in my signature does not qualify for powerlifting as I can not at the moment get that weight to below parrallel but handling that weight above parrallel is not problem.