How to improve bench

[nathanlowe]

In comparison to my other gains in compound movements, im struggling to press in my bench press.

I use to bench 45kg 3 x 10 and i never progressed.

Now im doing my bench press at 5 x 5
Week 1 i did 45kg 5 x 5
Week 2 i did 47.5kg 5 x 5
Week 3 i did 48.5kg 5 x 5
Week 4 i did 49.5kg 5 x 5 ( spotter was needed on last set, on last 2 reps. )

Week 5 i am going to try 49.5kg again and see if i can do it without a spotter, if this is possible then i will move to 50kg.

I really dont see my self going any higher then 50kg 5 x 5 for a while, it just doesnt seem possible.

What other reps and sets etc will improve my bench.

Id like to be able to put a 20kg plate either side of the bar, so be benching 60kg.

 

[DOMS]

Do you have any sort of safety device to catch the barbell if your fail?

Not having a safety of some sort when benching will hold you back mentally.

 

[P-funk]

as intensity (resistance) increases, reps should be decreasing (hence the reason you needed a spot on 49.5kg). You can go over 50kg easily. Just don't do sets of 5 (yet, since that intensity is not applicable to that rep range). There is nothing magical about 5's. 2's, 3's, and singles work really well for strength too.

 

[clayu86]

Do you have any sort of safety device to catch the barbell if your fail?

Not having a safety of some sort when benching will hold you back mentally.

Unless your like me...of course your wanna have more experience....on bench man you have to be a mental beast....you have bench and exercise mainly is 60% mentall....I would even say 70%. I remember when I was 17 I went and maxed out at 385 and about a month later maxed out and got 430 mainly because of the mindset. Anyways, I strongly urge you study periodization and how college football teams use it to improve all around strength size and explosiveness. It helped me significantly in the day. It does seem after all the strength area is what you are concerned about. Take a wider grip on the bench. You may have to close of a grip which puts too much emphasis on your triceps. Go about 2 to 3 inches wider than shoulder width to work the entire chest. The chest are where a person builds the most power in the bench.

 

[clayu86]

oh yeh and use common sense...if you need a spotter, use one.

 

[biggfly]

Hey there...in the "Westside Barbell" training system, which is a monster in the bench press world, it states that the tricep is the mainstay of a great bench. It is the muscle that fires first and therefore must be the strongest muscle in a bench press lift, they state. They urge after benching to do 2-3 tricep excercises immediately following, usually high intensity(heavy weight low reps). It also says to work the lats, as this will allow you to properly position the weight squarely upon descent allowing for maximum push due to balanced weight load. Just strictly doing bench is not the key to getting a bigger max or PR. But triceps is definitely a MAIN KEY to benching huge. Check out the link in the stickies for the Westside Barbell methods.

 

[biggfly]

Westside Barbell�"Often Imitated but never duplicated"

 

[orsum]

nathanlowe,

I am doing the same program as you and in week 5 I stalled at 55kg dumbbell bench press should have done 5 reps only managed 3, I am now going into week 8 on Monday.

I think I stalled because I missed 1 meal before my training, now I donâ??????t know if thatâ??????s what cause me to fail but thatâ??????s what happened, I also think that night I convinced myself that it was hard and that I may not be able to do it hence failure.

I looked at my attitude and basically I am not training to fail I am training to improve myself, so I changed my mental attitude and the next time I benched I told myself I can do it and since then I have improved every week to were I am now, last night I really focus on that particular exercise and well another personal best for me 5 reps at 64kg.

It may or may not help but this is how I managed my 64kg. All day I psyched myself up to the nights training and my bench press record. All went well until the third rep on 64kg, I thought no way am I going to do 4 but up it went all be it a bit slow, now on the 5th I stalled about 1/3 the way up and I just kept pushing and slowly up it went yes it was hard but boy did I feel good when I finished.

BTW it took me about 5 OR 6 seconds to get to the top of the push on the 5th rep.

So nutrition and mental aspect was the key and well I train alone no spotter so maybe that holds me back but if I ran into trouble I would just push the dumbbell to one side and let them drop.

Have you tried Dumbbellâ??????s? You may find you will not be able to lift as much as you can with the bar. It could be worth changing for a while, it is harder with dumbbells as stabilisation comes into the press.

It may also be worth you dropping back to week 3 or 4 weights and reset only your bench that was my intension had I had failed again.

We all fail now and again itâ??????s not the end of the world you will pass 50 and you will pass 60kg.

Good luck

orsum

I must try the bar one of these days and get my son to spot for me.

 

[biggfly]

Orsum you are spot on with the attitude. I forgot to mention that in the Westside Barbell system it speaks of benching being an attitude and mindset. It says you need to be a mental beast before you bench, and imrpvements you may not have thought were there, actually were. Dedicate your focus and mind into your bench when you do it. Also, mixing it up, periodization, and different excercises such as swithching to DB press are ways to shock the muscle, keep it guessing, which keeps it developing.

 

[Triple Threat]

Where are you failing on the bench press? Off the chest, half-way, lockout? biggfly is correct about the lats and triceps. The lats get the bar moving off the chest and the triceps start to come into play about half-way up and through the lockout. What are you doing for lats and triceps?