Ive always been a really bad bench presser. Here are my stats. Best Bench Press-325 Close Grip Bench-315x2 Incline Bench Press-295 Shoulderhorn Cable External Rotations-35x11 Standing Overhead Press-205x2 Chinups-BW+70x2. Ive never understood why my numbers dont add up. My bench and overhead presses have never been good in relation to my other lifts. Anybody able to make heads or tails of this?
Do you bench press every week or do you rotate other exercises in and leave the bench press alone periodically? If this is the case then it may not be a matter of your bench press being weak but of your other movements being strong. Your triceps and shoulders definitely sound strong enough. It could be your chest is weak (doubtful) if this is the case wide dumbell benches and cambered bar benches will help. Most likely it is your technique that could use some tinkering…see if you can find a powerlifter to show you good technique or read some of Dave Tate’s articles on the subject.
Thanks for the reply Kelly! I do rotate the bench press with other chest exercises. I rotate between Inclines, DB Flat presses, wide and medium grips. The groove has never felt right for Bench Presses. Inclines and close grip have always “felt” good. Its not really a big deal. It just sucks to not be able to tell someone that i bench a lot when i look like i should. I always have to precede the statement with, “Ive never really been good at bench”. haha.
I can strictly leg press 1100 lbs for series of 12 reps, and I don’t hit failure. My 1-2RM for deads is 420. I don’t squat because of certan biomechanical problems I have. However, at 5 ft 11 230 lbs, my bench is 242 lbs!!! Yes, 242! A few months ago my 3RM was 282 but it misteriously dropped down to 242. Funny, because I gained several lbs lbm and lost a few pounds of fat in the past two months.
You may have listed it earlier, but how much do you weigh?
Here is a trick that helped me break through several bench press barriers. Do partials from the top. Slowly increase the range of motion until you are doing a full bench press. This method cycled in to my routine twice a year allowed me to Bench Press 2.5 time my bodyweight at my all time high.
Best of Luck.
226 at 8%bf.
Read Tate’s article “How To Bench Press 600 lbs.” Do a speed day and a max day. Use chains if possible. Build the triceps. Learn how to bench correctly (see Dave Tate). From doing this, my bench has jumped up 40 lbs. in the last two months without equipment (shirt).
Ive been thinking of doing a westside routine for some time now. i think i may be doing that in the near future.
You’re overhead is EXTREMELY low for a bench press like that. Look at CP’s balance article, I think the OH/BP ratio is something like 0.8. Most oly lifters are have a ratio around 0.9. With all the overhead stuff you do with cheering I would have thought that number would be higher. When you deadlift, where are your hands? If they’re down around your knees, they’re pretty long & maybe you’re just not a presser (yes I know about Lamar Gant, but we can’t all be like him) with those long arms.
are your arms long? how’s your technique? what tempo are you using?
Goldy,what’s your approx. max on flat dumbbells?also,I’d use the seated external rotation(like in Poliquin’s “Achieving Structural Balance”) for a better indication of rotator cuff strength.You have some great lifts there,but I understand your concern.With a close grip so close,possibly better,than you “regular” bench,you sound more like a tricep / shoulder bencher.That’s what the boys at Westside stress,and something you should take advantage of.Simmons always says,keep the elbows tucked!
I should add that im not a powerlifter and how much i lift isnt my main concern. I do like to be strong but not just for the sake of being strong in the gym. I checked the Structural Balance article and the ratio was .64 for behind the neck presses. Another weird thing is that i can do seated db presses with 80’s for 5 sets of 5 but would be hard pressed to use 160 for the same sets and reps with a barbell. I have had shoulder injuries in the past which may contribute to the weaknesses. my tempos vary but i almost always incorporate a pause at the bottom. and my arms are of average length i guess.
Just to interject a little reality here… I think that a 325 bench is damn good. If I could bench 300, I’d be dancing on rooftops. Good luck trying to get it even higher, but it ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at now.
I highly reccomend the westside methods, especially the use of maximal loads. I was stuck at 225 for a long time, but shot up to 275 in a month.
This isnt really advice, but I would like to share this experience.
Years ago while I was a student on summer vacation I had tons of time on my hands. Despite the knowledge I already gained I chose to ignore it and give Arnold’s Encyclopedia Advanced routine a try. Unintensionally I landed in a state of overtraining in less than 3 weeks do to the volume of the program, slow rep tempo, and failure on every set. As gung-ho as I was I absolutely had to take 10 days off because I felt so burnt out. I was weak and could barely stay awake. When I finally retuned to the gym I experience supercompensation like never before. That first workout back I added 50 lbs to my benchpress!!! To be absolutely honest I have never been able to bench that weight since =)
Chad Waterbury’s 100 reps helped me add 20 pounds to my 10 rep max in about 2 weeks, I thought that was pretty good.
Hey Goldberg. I have found that flat dumbell pressing, rest/pause with a barbell and high neck all help. I am competitive in both rep and max competitions, and use the different angles to eliminate sticking points and also strenghten some of the synergists. It would be my guess that part of theproblem is deep middle chest strenght, and the pause training and dumbells will build that. AS far as overheads, I use Arnold presses and1/2 rep palms facing presses. On different days than chest. Good luck.