Bench Press Weight Gain

[chri360936]

Hey all,

I have a question regarding training for the PATs. I can pass almost all the requirements other than the bench press. I have about a month to add significant weight to the amount I am capable of benching (about 50lbs). What is the best training method to do this? I can kill the run and capable of doing the required sit-ups, but the bench press makes me nervous. Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

[1911]

I don't think adding 50 lbs to your bench in one month is realistic.

Now, there is a strategy which may get you there. I don't know where you are but in most locales the bench press requirement is based upon being able to press a % of your weight. If you are 50 lbs short I would assume you are somewhat overweight.

If you drop body weight and add to your bench at the same time you may be able to do it. Especially if you are heavy to the point that you can drop about 25lbs in a month.

To add to your bench start by lifting every other day. You can't work this muscle group everyday or you'll get nowhere. Do four sets. A warm up set of 8 reps of about 75- 80% of your max. Then do the max you can get 5 reps on, then drop 10 pounds and get as many reps as you can, then drop 10 more pounds and get as many reps as you can, then go to your starting warm up weight and go to exhaustion. Every third workout add 5 to 10 lbs to the weight you are lifting. Eat lots of protein and veggies. to build muscle and get your weight down. No POP except diet!

After you get done lifting go run 5 miles. The running you can do everyday and you will drop weight as long as you eat right. This may or may not get you where you want to be but it is how I would do it..


Tom

[graymatter]

Good advice from 1911, but even working this muscle group every other day will be overtraining. Most fitness experts state that doing a hard chest workout more frequently than every 5-7 days will be doing more harm than good. (Especially if you are just starting.)

Mixing in other excercises to strengthen your triceps and back will help your bench press also. Tricep push downs, dumbell kickbacks, and the boring old push-up may all be things that you can mix in on the off days to help. DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH!

Good Luck - 50lbs is quite a task in one month.

[nypdtrainee]

Are you in the academy now?

If you are then you have 11 weeks left to get to your 50 lb goal.
Go to tutoring and remedial and they will definitely get you to your goal. The academy people know their stuff.

If youre not in the academy yet then dont worry so much. You probably then have 6 months to hit your goal. :cool:

[chri360936]

Thanks, much appreciated. I'm not overweight, if anything, I'm underweight. You're right. Adding fifty in a month is probably unrealistic. I'm not in the academy, but applying to several departments in CT as well as the NYPD. The bench is part of several CT PATs before even being considered. I'll just keep plugging away on it. Thanks again for the advice.

[Neobamboom]

So how do they determine how much you need to bench? Is it a % of your weight as 1911 said or do they put you in a weight range? I can't imagine that everyone would have to be able to bench the same amount.

The key thing is don't overtrain as everyone said. A lot of people make that mistake. It's not the actual lifting that is causing you to get stronger, it's the muscle fiber being repaired while resting.

[chri360936]

It is a percentage of body weight. I hang around 140lbs. The percentage I need to lift is 106%, or approximately 150lbs. The percentage varies based on age (18 - 29 106%, 30 - 39 99%, and so on). Unfortunately, depending on the day and bar placement (all lifts are done on a universal), I can at best get 140, at worst 100 (again, due to bar placement).

[my58vw]

Wow!, I can only bench 130 lbs and I am 230 lbs (6'6"), of course I have not been able to lift for quite some time since I was injured in a car acident. Everything else is fine though. I can lift about 60 percent of my weight. I am glad RPD does not have this requirement.

BTW I have 3 months till my PAT and I am getting stronger all the time, working out 2 to 3 times a week, more than that and I do not see the gains that I want.

[md123]

Are you saying you can lift 140 on a good day? I imagine that the bar is going to be placed a few inches from your chest, or higher. If you can lift 130 or so when the bar is all the way down a few inches from your chest when you are having a good day, then you only need to get it up to 10 or 20 pounds more, and get into better shape so you have more good days than bad.

Sounds to me like you might not have to increase another 50 lbs. and are worrying yourself more than you have too. Maybe. If you train responsibly, it is possible to increase at least 10lbs in a month.

Good luck.

[Metallic4]

Make sure you can touch the bar to your chest to be safe. Now, some people are gonna jump on me, but creatine could probably give you a significant improvement in a month from what I've heard.
Also, you should be doing other chest/upper body excersizes to increase your bench press.
A member here (CityofChicago) is very knowledgeable in this area and will probably be along shortly to help.

[Soxfan101]

Hey, It is good news that the test is on a Universal bench press. I found this machine to be MUCH easier than a regular bench press. Keep training and stay confident and you will make it. Good Luck

[CityOfChicago]

Stick to the basics. That is my advice. 1911's words are a great starting point. Keeping in mind the goal of your program is to increase bench press weight, here's what I would suggest:

Lift 4 days a week - two on press and two on pull. Do not underestimate the importance of upperback strength on bench press performance. Now, the good news is that you are using a machine. This allows you to get away with a little "cheat". What I mean is that no matter how uncoordinated your bench press with a bar is, the machine will translate everything into straight movements becuase it is on a guide. A model program would look like this:
Monday-Press (Bench), Tuesday-Pull (Back), Thurs-Press, Friday-Pull. During your Press days, I would suggest bench press, close grip bench press, dips, and triceps press. Pull days I would offer seated rows, pulldowns or pullups, DB lateral raises, and barbell curls. You should also be working abs every other day. I do not know what your current workouts look like, but hopefully you have been benching for a while and have been doing between 10 to 8 reps. If so, you'll need to cycle down to sets of 4 to 6 reps. Inside this there need to be adjustments to your number of sets and reps, as well as some movement in you intensity. Hit me with a PM for additional info - I need your current workout in detail. Realistically, one month aint realistic for 50lbs. But I dont think you are as far off as you think. Give me your current set and rep schemes and I'll work something out for you no problem.

[Joeyd6]

We had multiple guys in my class behind by ranges of 10 to 73 pounds short. ALL passed witihin 60 days. Could you do it in 30...maybe.

We do I set on the bench of max for 8 reps. That is it on the machine. The rest is all push-ups. As many as possible as many timeas as possible throug out the day. We mix diamond sets with regular sets. We had guys start at 3 sets and work up to 10 in a day. From rise to shine. I say it worked here.....not sure if it willwork for you.

[Juicy2]

unfortunatly we dont have the bench press test in arizona.. we get to do pushups. Im assuming you dont work out much if you cant bench 140 yet.. so a solid month of hard bench press training should do ALOT of good. I remember starting out as a 15 yr old kid i could only bench about 85lbs for reps.. within a few months i was doing 135 for reps.. just work hard at it.

[GrayPatriot]

The fact that you are inexperienced is actually good for you. When people who don't lift first try and bench they usually can't lift very well. Let me give you a motivational story! :D

When I was in the army a bunch of mortar guys challenged us the scouts to a bench competition. The weight was 185 pounds and people lifted it from 5 times to over 25 times. Now I was a very fit in shape guy and even though I didn't lift I figured I could knock it out a dozen times or so!!! nahhhhh! I barely got it up once! My buddies avoided my stare with embaressment for me. A powerlifter friend of mine gave me the 5 sets of 5 lifting plan where you do 5 sets of 5 reps at whatever weight that allows you to do 5 reps. So you should barely be able to get the 5th one up! You only do the flat bench, dead lift, and squats for 3 days, I break day, and then back at it for 3 more day! Within a month or so I benched 215 5 times -- this means I could have probably lifted 225 no problem, and that would have been 40 pounds. I benched 275 3 times (bad form)3 months after that awful first day!!! Now I was taking creatin, protein shakes, and watching my diet. I then became a gym rat for the next 7 yrs or so :D

Of course I got stuck on a plateau for the next 9 months but I made most of my gains in the first 6 to 8 weeks! I don't think you will gain 50 pounds but I believe you can put at least 30 on if you follow a good workout plan like the one CityofChicago suggested!

OK, finished rambling, gotta sleep now!