RockSolid

I bench on mondays and thursdays and I do 4 sets of as many as I can do, usually I pyramid the weight like 195, 205, 205, 195 and when I do 205 I get maybe 5 or 6 the first time and 4 usually the second. I was thinking of sticking to one weight each month like 200 for July then 205 in August then 210 in september and so on...some of my friends think I could do better but I think at this slower pace Im less likely to plateau, and if it works I would be repping at least 245 by nexy summer which would be pretty good...What do you think?

P-funk

what do you mean "sticking to one weight for a whole month"???

I think it is a terrible idea.

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Optimum Sports Performance

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Gazhole

I would say doing basically exactly the same thing for 3 months will make you plateau pretty badly. There isnt enough difference between 205, 210, and 215 to warrant a whole month for each, come on man.

Go read about linear periodization and general program design for gods sake.

http://sdatrainingprograms.blogspot.com - Updated 25/04/08

ab2al2

do it like this......

start with 200 pounds maybe. when you can do one working set of 12, add another set. when you can do 2 sets of 12, add 5 pounds to the bar. then when you can do 1 set of 12 with that, add another set. after you can do 2 sets of 12, increase the weight by 5 pounds again. just keep repeating that process and you will go a good 3-6 months without much plateau.

also as a frame of reference. every time i workout, i can add 2 reps to what i did last time. so almost every workout, i add 5 pounds or do 2 more reps than the time before. that is the basic idea behind progressive resistance, and its like what you planned to do, its just that instead of setting an arbitrary amount of time to achieve these small goals, you would progress as fast as you recover, or naturally can.

BoneCrusher

I think that just screwing around with 5 lb's of weight each month will be a waste of time. I also think that just focusing on your bench adjustment is also a waste of time. I think you're new. Too new to make a plan spanning 3 months. Start with a 3 week routine and chart your progress daily. Build the next three week routine from that chart. Look at every journal posted here at IM and see what other people are doing. Take from their success and add what they do that you like into your program. Observe their mistakes and injuries and learn from that too.

Change things up every three to five weeks. Gains for you at first should be measured in weeks not months.

Read the diet section here. Figure out your caloric needs and eat the right foods to meet those needs every single day. No more potato chips and a snickers bar washed down with a Red Bull lunches. Use nutritiondata to sort out your diet. using that site will get you up to speed on the nutritional content of what you eat.


Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey down fitness lane

JonnyStead

I think reading the stickies or buy Brawn or Beyond Brawn and get some regular poundage progression going... IMO

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