tips on bench press improvement

P

Proteinboy

2
help!!! i am 15, 125 lbs and i can hardly bench 95 as my max! i dont think i have a weak point but i just need some form tips. Also, can anyone tell me the best way to increase my bench???
 
When I first started out, I saw some good gains (from 130-185 max) doing barbell flat bench presses for 3 sets of 10 (10 on first set, failure on next two). After I plateau'ed, I started doing low rep, high weight (warm-up + 6 reps for 4 sets) and escalated to 250 + incline bench presses.

As for your form...
 
for a beginner who can't recruit as many fibres as an advanced yet more sets would be the way to go...the further along you go tha less working sets you'll need but more warm up sets...you're well away from 2 sets
 
when you say im well away from 2 sets, what do you mean??? i have heard that beginners are supposed to do lower sets.

(i am not a beginner but i have been overtraining for 2 years now and am now on the right road)
 
I really think it'll do you good to add a set man. I'm not trying to press you into doing anything but perhaps you should give it a shot. Three sets pretty much worked for everyone I trained with.

Also, are you eating well?

Good luck man!
 
oh heck yes

if anything i think i eat too much and i try to eat really natural
i have been wanting to ask someone if like 10-15 meals/snacks is too much for the body to handle. I just have a big appetite

stats:
age:15
weight:125
height:5'6"
bmi:20
 
not every set has to be a "working set to failure"...most of the pros may list that they do 6 x 4 - 6 but about 3 - 5 of those sets will be a warm up to one that counts
 
Proteinboy said:
oh...if i can bench like 75 10 reps, what do you recommend "warming up" on?
Click to expand...

1st warm-up set: 45 x 5
2nd warm-up set: 45 x 5
3rd warm-up set: 60 x 3.
1st set: 70 x 10.
2nd set: 75 x 8.
3rd set: 85 x 6.
4th set: 95 x F (Failure)

those are good warm-ups for that day of bench press.
 
hey

hey i seam to have the same problem im maxing out at 140, this is what i do

1 set at 110 (10 reps)
1 set at 120 (10 reps)
1 set at 130 (10 reps)
1 set at 140 (5 reps)

the only problem is i dont do the whole ten at the same time except for at 110. at 130 i can only do like maybe 3 at a time safely. I know its stupid but i have to bench press alone. When i know i cant lift i just put the bar on my abbs and slowly move it to my legs and then to the bench and put it back on the bar. Any pointers maybe starting with less weight and doing more sets? / reps.
 
i have the same problem, im 5'6 125, and can only do about 100lbs x 10

im just not sure on how many i should be doing

anyone willing to help me figure that out?
 
Most people do a wide grip bench press because it isolates the chest more, but I like my grip so that my pinkies are resting on those "power lines" on the bar...you know...those lines that break up the grip area on the olympic bar. It will incorporate more muscles into your lift. Also, I LOVE doing incline dumbbell presses. I do those first, and they really hit your chest great.
 
about the sets thing. Ive actually read that sets matter little in strenght, but matter more in size.. and that beginners can work with less sets than advanced trainers. Read it on a norwegian training site.. but i dont know how true it is, they did a test, where some did 1 set, and some did more.. they had the same results with increasing 1rm, but not in increasing endurance.

Dont know how reliable it is though, but the site doesnt seam like a hoax or anything, though its been shut down, the site is just there, no one seems to be uppdating it.
 
What worked for me personally was upping my weight and lowering my reps.
When I increased my weight and did only 3 reps I noticed a definite strength improvement in 3-4 weeks.
 
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