Hey guys, I don't do a lot of posting here, but I do read through the forums quite often.
Here's a short version of my story. I started trying to improve my bench 1RM back in about August. Before that, I had been doing the basic push/pull workout suggested here for a few months prior. I used a program that a friend recommended to me, which consisted of 5 reps of 65% of 1RM, 3 @ 75%, 3 @ 80%, 2 @ 85%, 2 @ 90%, 1 @ 95%. I just replaced the horizontal push motion and squats with this program, and would continue to do the rest of the push/pull workout.
I did this three times a week, and my system was that if I could get through that last rep without a spotter, I would move the weight (my theoretical 1RM) up 5 lbs for my next workout. It worked great for about 5-6 weeks, I saw my bench go from 160 to about 200, and my squat went from 230 to I believe 280. But right after that I hit a huge plateau, taking maybe 2 weeks just to go from 205-210 on bench, and then I pretty much abandoned the program after that. Just as a side note, my squat weight growth never stalled, I just quit using it at the same time I quit using the program for bench.
In November, I started joining another friend in his workout routine which consisted of 5 workouts (arms, chest, shoulders, legs, and back) each on a separate day of the week. The workouts consisted of a lot of low weight high rep workouts, and I saw quite a bit of muscle growth from this (size-wise, especially in the arms). The chest day consisted of a lot of smith machine bench pressing and dumbell pressing, in case that information is important.
I've just gone back to the basic push/pull workout and recently tried maxing out, just for shits and giggles. I got 190, which doesn't surprise me much because I hadn't done any regular bench press in a few months, but in another sense kind of does surprise me because I saw what seems like no growth in my chest, even though the workouts were very intense.
So I'm looking to start increasing my bench press 1RM again, and I have no idea where to begin. Thanks in advance for any responses, I know you guys are great.
Here's a short version of my story. I started trying to improve my bench 1RM back in about August. Before that, I had been doing the basic push/pull workout suggested here for a few months prior. I used a program that a friend recommended to me, which consisted of 5 reps of 65% of 1RM, 3 @ 75%, 3 @ 80%, 2 @ 85%, 2 @ 90%, 1 @ 95%. I just replaced the horizontal push motion and squats with this program, and would continue to do the rest of the push/pull workout.
I did this three times a week, and my system was that if I could get through that last rep without a spotter, I would move the weight (my theoretical 1RM) up 5 lbs for my next workout. It worked great for about 5-6 weeks, I saw my bench go from 160 to about 200, and my squat went from 230 to I believe 280. But right after that I hit a huge plateau, taking maybe 2 weeks just to go from 205-210 on bench, and then I pretty much abandoned the program after that. Just as a side note, my squat weight growth never stalled, I just quit using it at the same time I quit using the program for bench.
In November, I started joining another friend in his workout routine which consisted of 5 workouts (arms, chest, shoulders, legs, and back) each on a separate day of the week. The workouts consisted of a lot of low weight high rep workouts, and I saw quite a bit of muscle growth from this (size-wise, especially in the arms). The chest day consisted of a lot of smith machine bench pressing and dumbell pressing, in case that information is important.
I've just gone back to the basic push/pull workout and recently tried maxing out, just for shits and giggles. I got 190, which doesn't surprise me much because I hadn't done any regular bench press in a few months, but in another sense kind of does surprise me because I saw what seems like no growth in my chest, even though the workouts were very intense.
So I'm looking to start increasing my bench press 1RM again, and I have no idea where to begin. Thanks in advance for any responses, I know you guys are great.
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