bench press help?

Nopedotjpeg

Dont get all wrapped up in the B*ll**** Bench press Huupla. Use Dumbells. Builds muscles faster anyways. AND WHO cares how much you can bench??? If u haz muscles, flex uhm!

Lolno. Go back to /fit/.

Loko_Ino

OP...search out and do Bill Starr's 5x5 program.
find the one that has the interactive spreadsheet, plug in your numbers, round to the highest weight, and do it for 9 weeks like it says. Last summer I went from benching 285 to 405 in 9 weeks.

If you have a weak tricep your bench will suffer. So dont skip triceps. And like mentioned by others, form is important. Get that down first, the rest comes later.

Oh, I hold no medical degress...but been lifting for 20 years, competed in strongman events, and, in my youth, bench a 565 max, so I offer this advice from experience, not what I read or learned in class.

Nopedotjpeg

As many people mentioned, tuck your shoulders and keep a slight arch. Try to increase the weight as often as possible while maintaining good form and hitting your desired reps. Everyone has their preferred rep range (usually 12 or under is agreed upon). From interviews I've seen and some reading it seems like 5's give the best of both hypertrophy and strength.

Nopedotjpeg

Or try low weight high reps, slowly up the weight but keep the high reps. You'll gain more defined muscle less bulk.

First post? I smell a troll.

dzarello

Learn the correct form first. Then add appropriate weight till you can do 10 perfect reps. Stick with that till you get used to feeling the right mechanics of the lift. Then gradually increase the weight till you can only complete 10 reps again. Once you've mastered the movement, then you attack the higher weights to build strength. It may take a few weeks.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

^ This

Ditto. Dont worry about the weight. Focus on form first. Proper form will help prevent injuries. Check out Dave Tate on Youtube for proper form.

Z_I_L_L_A

OP...search out and do Bill Starr's 5x5 program.
find the one that has the interactive spreadsheet, plug in your numbers, round to the highest weight, and do it for 9 weeks like it says. Last summer I went from benching 285 to 405 in 9 weeks.

If you have a weak tricep your bench will suffer. So dont skip triceps. And like mentioned by others, form is important. Get that down first, the rest comes later.

Oh, I hold no medical degress...but been lifting for 20 years, competed in strongman events, and, in my youth, bench a 565 max, so I offer this advice from experience, not what I read or learned in class.

So are you still competing or no? I will be in the fall its been 12 years since I have and just started back 4 months ago. I will be in the drug free masters class. Its gonna be a blast....

JNick77

Or try low weight high reps, slowly up the weight but keep the high reps.

Bodybuilders typically use higher rep-schemes when on a bulk, that whole high-rep thing is a myth.

JNick77

I was ecstatic to learn how to bench press with no rotator cuff problems. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/bench-press-technique.html

Nice post

JNick77

Dont get all wrapped up in the B*ll**** Bench press Huupla. Use Dumbells. Builds muscles faster anyways. AND WHO cares how much you can bench??? If u haz muscles, flex uhm!

Exactly what this guy said.

I agree with the not getting caught-up in the fascination with bench press strength that seems to dominate gyms. Ease into and build, patience is important. But the statement regarding Dumbells build muscle faster is ridiculous. Bilateral exercises are not always better than Unilateral and vice versa. Ideally there would be a balance of maximal strength lifting with the barbell bench and non-maximal strength lifting with dumbells.

Also, exercises that improve supporting muscle groups of the bench press are important too.
- Triceps
- Traps
- Lats
- Rear Deltoids.

OOPS forgot the supporting muscle groups as well in my post.... GOOD POST there. First time I exceeded my 1 rep max I was supersetting a push pull workout with bench press and lat pull down.

That's awesome. I don't recall who it was but they wanted to demonstrate how much the lats play into the bench. They had me hold my arms in bench position and then flex my lats and I was surprised to see my arms move a little bit forward in the bench motion.

There's really a lot to it depending on how involved you want to get.

Topsking2010

Bump