Bench Press is Suffering

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
21

Thanks for all the responses. As I’m relatively new to most of the terminology on T-Nation I think I’ve been using some of it incorrectly. For example I’ve been describing myself as ‘cutting’ to some people when in fact I’m simply started eating ‘clean’ - cutting out all the crap from my diet and been consistent about it. I used to do Monday to Friday great then pig out at the weekend.

Now that’s all sorted. The result is that I’ve gone for 81kg to 68kg without much effort. Lossing weight was never the goal but it was a aside effect of going for 22% bf to 16%.

So I haven’t been dieting or cutting. I just stopped eating rubbish. The next thing I discovered is that I’m eating no where enough protein. That’s why I’ve invested in so whey protein isolate and BCAAs. And I will be including a lot more turkey, chicken and fish from now on.

Thanks, laroyal for the article link. Some good advice that I’ll be trying out.

As for my bench press. I think the losses are through my diet. I’m guessing with eating more to gain some lean muscle my problem will sort itself out.

22

First warm ups are important no matter what, don’t listen to livefromthe781. Also he should not be worrying about getting a huge arch, super wide grip and using tons of leg drive, this isn’t the strength forum.

I don’t know how long you have been lifting, but from your #'s it doesn’t seem like much. You need to eat more, simple as that. Post what you eat on average day now and you can get some pointers on what to improve on. Also get on a good beginners program, like starting strength or bill starr 5x5.

23

[quote]shizen wrote:
First warm ups are important no matter what, don’t listen to livefromthe781. Also he should not be worrying about getting a huge arch, super wide grip and using tons of leg drive, this isn’t the strength forum.

I don’t know how long you have been lifting, but from your #'s it doesn’t seem like much. You need to eat more, simple as that. Post what you eat on average day now and you can get some pointers on what to improve on. Also get on a good beginners program, like starting strength or bill starr 5x5. [/quote]

The first time I went near any weights was April of last year. My general diet would be something like:

  • Breakfast - oats or All Bran with low fat milk and low fat latte
  • Mid-morning snack - low fat yoghurt with fruit (else a Weider low carb protein bar)
  • Lunch - salad (spinach, red peppers, mozzarella and cheddar) with 50g of either couscous or quinoa or kidney/butter beans
  • Mid-afternoon snack - similar to mid-morning snack ( I try to avoid having 2 protein bars in a day)
  • Dinner - 2 chicken fillets or a steak.

As I said above not much protein. Now (last two weeks) when I workout either weights or HIT session I’ll have a drink containing 20g of whey protein isolate and 50g of carbs either during or directly afterwards. I’ve also started adding 2 chicken fillets instead of quinoa or kidney/butter beans to my lunch. I know this is still probably no where near enough but I don’t want to overload my system all in one good. I try introducing it as much as I can over the next few weeks.

Any suggestions to my diet welcome!

24

As for a warm up set. That’s the way I’ve been shown over the last year. I think I’ll stick with that as I’d be nervous of injuring myself otherwise.

25

go for it, dont listen to me. i increased my DB bench from 85x8 to 100x5 in a month. but i have no clue about anything related to bodybuilding.

26

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
TornadoTommy wrote:
I don’t bench 400 lbs. and there is no way in hell that I’d go straight to my heaviest sets w/o a warmup. Why, you ask? Because I’ve injured myself doing that very thing. LiveFromThe781 gave some good advice but he dropped the ball on this one.

To the OP, do like has been suggested and go easier on your warmups. They are just that - warmups.

incase you missed it, i said if youre prone to injury or have an injury then use a lighter weight to see whats going on.

i really dont see the point in using a warmup to bench 180 pounds or deadlift 315.

ill say it again, IF YOU ARE INJURY PRONE, INCURRING AN INJURY, OR HAVE BAD JOINTS USE A WARMUP TO GAUGE.

ugh, i hate how people use semantics on this site to try and make themselves seem right when in fact theres really no evidence supporting you need a warmup to be effective, if there is please show it to me because ive found from experience i do BETTER WITHOUT a warmup.[/quote]

Look man, I’m not going to get into a pissing contest with you, but you’re WRONG. I didn’t miss anything or take anything out of context. I don’t care who you are, how experienced you are or how many/few injuries you have, you will benefit from a warmup. It doesn’t matter if you are injury prone or not.

Keep jumping straight into your heavy sets and you will become “injury prone” before you can say “torn rotator cuff”. Does there have to be some scientific study to prove this to you? You’re just one of those who’ll have to learn the hard way.

27

Although it’s just anecdotally I find I do better with a warm up set on things specifically like bench press. Just gets my head in the game as far as form is concerned. If I start heavy with BP then i’ll have more trouble holding the bar steady. Same goes for squats and other similar things.

I’m a beginner BTW, my bench is like 170 or 180 1RM, not even bodyweight.

28

[quote]pheneghan wrote:
Is there a good programme for improving the chest/bench press?

I’ve been trying to lose some body fat and as a result my chest press is suffering. Are there any recommended programmes to help? Did a search on T-Nation but I didn’t find any suitable programmes (under bench or chest press).

I’m currently 68kg and my programme consists of:
1st set 35kg at 16 reps, 2nd set 50kg at 12 reps, 3rd set 55kg at 10 reps, 4th set 57.5kg at 8 reps.

I used to find these weight relatively easy but recently it has become very difficult. Any suggests for building back up and maybe even going beyond?

What are the primary and secondary muscles used in the chest/bench press? I’ll try and find exercises to improve on these also. Hopefully that will help.[/quote]

The best thing to do while cutting is to simply lift as heavy as possible (with a spotter for safety). From what I gather this will help you retain muscle, as your body needs a lot to move a lot.

Primary + secondary muscles I am not sure about. I do know this however, if your grip is narrow then you will work your triceps more, and if it is extremely wide, you will work your front deltoids more. Your shooting for somewhere in-between for pecs.
There’s a thread on pec growth if your interested in learning more.

29

[quote]TornadoTommy wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
TornadoTommy wrote:
I don’t bench 400 lbs. and there is no way in hell that I’d go straight to my heaviest sets w/o a warmup. Why, you ask? Because I’ve injured myself doing that very thing. LiveFromThe781 gave some good advice but he dropped the ball on this one.

To the OP, do like has been suggested and go easier on your warmups. They are just that - warmups.

incase you missed it, i said if youre prone to injury or have an injury then use a lighter weight to see whats going on.

i really dont see the point in using a warmup to bench 180 pounds or deadlift 315.

ill say it again, IF YOU ARE INJURY PRONE, INCURRING AN INJURY, OR HAVE BAD JOINTS USE A WARMUP TO GAUGE.

ugh, i hate how people use semantics on this site to try and make themselves seem right when in fact theres really no evidence supporting you need a warmup to be effective, if there is please show it to me because ive found from experience i do BETTER WITHOUT a warmup.

Look man, I’m not going to get into a pissing contest with you, but you’re WRONG. I didn’t miss anything or take anything out of context. I don’t care who you are, how experienced you are or how many/few injuries you have, you will benefit from a warmup. It doesn’t matter if you are injury prone or not.

Keep jumping straight into your heavy sets and you will become “injury prone” before you can say “torn rotator cuff”. Does there have to be some scientific study to prove this to you? You’re just one of those who’ll have to learn the hard way.[/quote]

lol@“straight into heavy sets” i never said that. i just dont think 180 or 230lbs is a “heavy set”. if i was benching 300 lbs id use a warmup, if i was deadlifting 405 id use a warmup. if i was legpressing 4 or 5 plates id use a warmup.

to the other people reading this, just try it out. you guys arent putting up big numbers anyway (or else you wouldnt be here) so next time you go do a bench with 135 try it without warming up and see how you improve or dont. trust me you arent going to injure yourself benching 135 unless you weigh 34lbs.

30

Weight lifting is all proportionate to your own personal abilities. Just because benching 200 lbs for you isn’t a lot and doesn’t require a warm up doesn’t mean that the guy behind you doesn’t need to warm up first. If you can bench 200 lbs, then warm up with 100 lbs. If you can bench 400 lbs, then warm up with 200 lbs. Your muscles need a little movement before you just jump in and start lifting.

Just like in baseball, the pitcher doesn’t just jump on the mound and start pitching, first he does a whole load of warm up pitches to get his arm loosened up so he doesn’t pull anything. Maybe he shouldn’t warm up though, the ball is pretty light and it’s not like during the game he’s throwing a heavier ball.

31

warmups make me lift more and i bench 275, if i run for 5 minutes then do these sets:
45x20
135x10
185x5
225x1

then i lift alot more then if i jumped straight into 225 for working sets

32

what is a “heavy weight” depends on the person lifting it, just because you don’t need a warmup for 135 doesn’t mean a weaker guy wouldn’t benefit from it

33

‘‘go for it, dont listen to me. i increased my DB bench from 85x8 to 100x5 in a month.’’

So one session you did an 8rm an the next you did a 5rm, you’re my hero…

34

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
go for it, dont listen to me. i increased my DB bench from 85x8 to 100x5 in a month. but i have no clue about anything related to bodybuilding.[/quote]

True statement.

Best thing you ever posted.

35

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
TornadoTommy wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
TornadoTommy wrote:
I don’t bench 400 lbs. and there is no way in hell that I’d go straight to my heaviest sets w/o a warmup. Why, you ask? Because I’ve injured myself doing that very thing. LiveFromThe781 gave some good advice but he dropped the ball on this one.

To the OP, do like has been suggested and go easier on your warmups. They are just that - warmups.

incase you missed it, i said if youre prone to injury or have an injury then use a lighter weight to see whats going on.

i really dont see the point in using a warmup to bench 180 pounds or deadlift 315.

ill say it again, IF YOU ARE INJURY PRONE, INCURRING AN INJURY, OR HAVE BAD JOINTS USE A WARMUP TO GAUGE.

ugh, i hate how people use semantics on this site to try and make themselves seem right when in fact theres really no evidence supporting you need a warmup to be effective, if there is please show it to me because ive found from experience i do BETTER WITHOUT a warmup.

Look man, I’m not going to get into a pissing contest with you, but you’re WRONG. I didn’t miss anything or take anything out of context. I don’t care who you are, how experienced you are or how many/few injuries you have, you will benefit from a warmup. It doesn’t matter if you are injury prone or not.

Keep jumping straight into your heavy sets and you will become “injury prone” before you can say “torn rotator cuff”. Does there have to be some scientific study to prove this to you? You’re just one of those who’ll have to learn the hard way.

lol@“straight into heavy sets” i never said that. i just dont think 180 or 230lbs is a “heavy set”. if i was benching 300 lbs id use a warmup, if i was deadlifting 405 id use a warmup. if i was legpressing 4 or 5 plates id use a warmup.

to the other people reading this, just try it out. you guys arent putting up big numbers anyway (or else you wouldnt be here) so next time you go do a bench with 135 try it without warming up and see how you improve or dont. trust me you arent going to injure yourself benching 135 unless you weigh 34lbs.
[/quote]

Please say you didn’t complete your personal training class.

36

Acsually I tried 135lb once straighjt without waarming up (it was me 20rep maxat time)

and I culd only get it fgorr liek 13reps lol.

37

LiveFromThe781 wrote:

lol@“straight into heavy sets” i never said that. i just dont think 180 or 230lbs is a “heavy set”. if i was benching 300 lbs id use a warmup, if i was deadlifting 405 id use a warmup. if i was legpressing 4 or 5 plates id use a warmup.

to the other people reading this, just try it out. you guys arent putting up big numbers anyway (or else you wouldnt be here) so next time you go do a bench with 135 try it without warming up and see how you improve or dont. trust me you arent going to injure yourself benching 135 unless you weigh 34lbs.
[/quote]

As has already been said, heavy is relative to an individual’s capabilities. When you advise someone not to perform warmup sets if they bench only x amount, you are telling them to go straight into their heavy sets, pure and simple. Do your own thing, but don’t be spouting off bullshit to beginners because you obviously aren’t experienced enough to be giving advice.

38

ugh. strength, the ability to move a weight, is relative.

the weight itself is not relative. it is what it is.

the point of warming up is to prepare tendons and joints for the load they are about to endure. if your load is 135 pounds your joints and tendons wont give in sparatically because 135 pounds is still a light fucking weight. unless you already have joint and flexibility problems it isnt imperative to warm up.

39

[quote]toby_w wrote:
‘‘go for it, dont listen to me. i increased my DB bench from 85x8 to 100x5 in a month.’’

So one session you did an 8rm an the next you did a 5rm, you’re my hero…[/quote]

im sure i am. because im the dude benching with 100’s youre the dude watching after your “warm up” set with 30s. school is now in session, bitch.

40

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
ugh. strength, the ability to move a weight, is relative.

the weight itself is not relative. it is what it is.

the point of warming up is to prepare tendons and joints for the load they are about to endure. if your load is 135 pounds your joints and tendons wont give in sparatically because 135 pounds is still a light fucking weight. unless you already have joint and flexibility problems it isnt imperative to warm up. [/quote]

One reason for “preparing tendons and joints for the load they are about to endure” is to help PREVENT injuries, not merely as a result of. This applies to anyone, REGARDLESS of strength levels. Do you honestly believe that beginners are impervious to injury? How do you think people incur injuries in the first place?