How do you make your best Bench press gains for strength?

[Powerstroke]

Looking for advice on gaining in the poundage department for bench press, I have read the do 3-5 reps with lots of weight and once a week only, lots of shoulder and tricep work too,,, but I am wondering what others do too?

Thanks for lookin.

PS

[roehrigs01]

I am trying my own adaptation of Bill Starr's 5x5 method... more like roehrigs 1x10-4x6 method... if I complete the 5th set, 6th rep... the next time I will up it a pre-set amount depending on the exercise.

I have a hard time remember what weight for where... so I created an excel spreadsheet to figure out current standings, weights for next workout including warmup & final set weight, past monthly lift amounts... so all I have to do when I am at the gym is do what I have listed and mark (tear) my 3x4" paper next to the list of exercises so I know if I hit the 5th set, 6th rep when I come to update the spreadsheet later...if so, I up the weight per the pre-set for the next round... if I don't hit it, it stays the same until I do...

I also rotate upper body & lower body/back/stomach on workouts, which I do tues/weds/thurs.

[Jamiel]

Originally Posted by Powerstroke

Looking for advice on gaining in the poundage department for bench press, I have read the do 3-5 reps with lots of weight and once a week only, lots of shoulder and tricep work too,,, but I am wondering what others do too?

Thanks for lookin.

PS

No one program is best. variety is best and a great diet will help quite a bit. The key is consistency, dedication, hard work and learning from mistakes.

[Caferacer]

Push presses + weighted dips

[Traps]

While not in my 40's, I am quickly approaching, and can see and feel the results of age on performance. What is working best for me is low volume, working the muscle twice a week. On bench for example, my ideal volume is 4 sets, every 4 days. On occasion I'll bump it to 6 sets, and sometimes down to 2 sets. I do best in the 2 to 5 rep range, 1 to 2 reps short of failure.

Just as when we are young, diet is just as important as we age, and rest is even more important.

Here's my current workout

Chest/shoulders/triceps
Legs
Back/traps/biceps
Off
Repeat

Obviously what works for one doesnt work for another. You need to experiment to find your sweet spot on volume, intensity, and rest.

[kovalaybolt17]

make sure you just do every rep full and in control and the weights will go up higher than just trying to move more weight than you can handle with improper form. let the ego go, because who cares how much you bench if its not proper.. and either way youll get stronger and bigger faster doing it right.

[khrolix]

Increase the intensity of your workout. Also DB presses (DB shoulder press, DB incline, DB bench press, etc)help a lot because you can go below parrallel and recruit more muscles and strengthen your ability to stablize higher amounts of weight when using the straight bar

[Caferacer]

DB presses have HORRIBLE carry over to bench. You would be better off just benching than doing DB presses. Even something like incline BB doesn't have very good carry over to bench, so you can imagine the difference between DB and straight bar. Stick with the proven concepts, BB presses (Incline, shoulder, bench) dips and the like.

[khrolix]

How are they horrible for benching?

[dogsoldier]

I dunno about any program per se. I just pyramid my lifts, be they bench, deads or whatever. I figured out my one rep max, the started with 70% of that adding 5-10 pounds per set. Three or four sets for a couple of sessions, then add 5 pounds to the starting weight and repeat. Yes, I do stall, yes I will get fustrated, yes it does take a bit of time. But so far this has been working for me. I am not trying to get to any world records, just trying to see where it goes over a reasonable amount of time. I know actual weight lifted is a measure of success and progress, but it could also be a downer. If you fall into the 40+ crowd, you have to train twice as long as a 20 year old kid to make the same gains.

[joemomma]

Make sure your form is spot-on. Just getting my form corrected (and adjusting to it) has increased my bench considerably.

[BTH]

Here is a great article: Bodybuilding.com - Mike Westerdal - Bench Press Blunders: Don't Let These 8 Mistakes Sabotage Your Bench!

[BTH]

I made my best gains with this routine:

Monday: CHEST / TRI's
pullovers
Flat bench and incline bench(alternate weekly which is done first)
Close Grip Bench


Tuesday: LEGS
Sumo Squat
Calf Raise
SLDL
lunges

Wed:
rest

Thurs: DELTS
military press
Seated 80 degree OH press
Side Lateral Raise
Cuban Rotation and Front Raise combo

Fri: BACK / BI's
Deadlift or Sumo deadlift
Bent Over Row
Rear Delt Row
Curl or Reverse Curl (alternated weekly)


For the chest, you can do both Incline and Flat for each workout but alternate heavy and light. For example, week 1, you go heavy (5 - 8 reps) on Flat bench and lighter (10 - 15 reps) on Incline. Week 2 you switch to heavy inclines and lighter flats.

[hoot]

Originally Posted by Powerstroke

Looking for advice on gaining in the poundage department for bench press, I have read the do 3-5 reps with lots of weight and once a week only, lots of shoulder and tricep work too,,, but I am wondering what others do too?

Thanks for lookin.

PS

I changed to this bench sequence 1x per week and it gave me some very nice gains in total pounds. You first need to find your max. If not known, estimate.

3x3 - with 50lb less than max
burnouts - strip bar by 1/2 weight and rep to failure. reps should be 20 or
more
pauses - with same weight as burnouts. 3 second pause at bottom and
rep to failure. shoot for 15 or more reps.

If you get these rep/weights, add 5 lbs to 3x3 next week and do again. If not, take 15 lbs off 3x3 bar and try again.

I then do incline bench (rotate b/t bb and db)
dips
db flyes
tricep isolate (rotate b/t push downs, skull crusher, close grip
bench)
reverse flyes