Bench Press Weight Gain

[gonnabafiveoh]

SHouldnt he do at least once a week to total failure.
what I have been doing is..

Several different types of bench presses, cable press. seated bench, standard bench.
I do upper body/back/abs 3 times a week

on a normal day
I do 2-15 of 80% of max
then 1-8 at max

Then once a week I do a total failure/ with the help of a spotter
I do 1-10 of max until i physically can't lift it anymore
then the last couple the spotter will help me finish it until ig et 5 more.

I have seen huge improvements, went from benching 120-150 in a month's time
need to put a nother 50 up by december

Preacher curls have gone from 75lbs-95

tricep presses from 65-80

Seated dips from 110-130

Just work at it and work hard. push through the pain, doing a total failure will hurt normally do it and take a couple days off to rest. I take several supplements as well. One called Animal Pack, has about 8 horse sized pills, and CLA its a body fat reducer, gonna start taking creatine soon

[CityOfChicago]

Well, I tend to use rep maxes for my workouts. Basically, it is going to failure for each set, but the weight is determined by the repetition range. If you are looking to increase strength, then you should follow a periodization program. This type of program is cyclical in nature, typically using four (4) week cycles in various repetition ranges. The idea is to provide variety while forever moving towards a goal. A sample program for an intermediate lifter would look like this:

Weeks 1-4 = 10-12 reps
Weeks 5-8 = 6-8 reps
Weeks 9-12 = 3-5 reps
Weeks 13 = 1-3 rep / max test
Week 0 = unloading week

The program would then start over. A rep max scheme works like this. In each phase above, the number of repetitions is the important part. The weight you select should be the heaviest weight you can use for the prescribed number of reps. The idea is to induce muscle failure between, using weeks 1-4 as an example, 10-12 reps. I typically warm up with a few lighter sets (55-65% 1RM) before moving to my heaviest working weight for the first set. I then decrease the weight as needed during each subsequent set. By doing this, I am always working at 100% relative intensity. Set #3 is just as intense as set #1, even if it may be 20 pounds lighter. By doing this, the neural system is always working at 100% - and that is key to increasing strength levels. Doing this, my workouts for bench press typically look like:

Set 1 = 265x10/11 reps
Set 2 = 255x10 reps
Set 3 = 255x9/10 reps with assistance
Set 4 = 245x10 reps

My body weight typically ranges between 198 and 201. This type of program has yielded good results for me.

[CityOfChicago]

In the spirit of the new Physical Fitness Area..... And, my how things change in a year and a half. I weight about 217 now!

[chri360936]

In the spirit of the new Physical Fitness Area..... And, my how things change in a year and a half. I weight about 217 now!

In the year in a half since this thread started, I have been hired and been working for a year.

And for anyone who is curious, I had no problem increasing my bench amount to what I need using Chicago's plan. I have, of course, lost a bit of it but am working to get it back.