If your goal is to conquer weights in the bench press? Then be sure to familiarize yourself with the training methodology, which will increase the current performance by 20 kg.
Before moving on to a discussion of the training methodology itself, you should talk about the exercise itself, or rather, some of the subtleties that will help you improve your personal performance. Let's start with grip width, as this is a highly debated topic. As many athletes know, the grip can be medium narrow to wide.
You are now faced with the task of choosing the best for yourself, for which you should perform a small exercise. Sit on the floor and take a comfortable position for you to do the bench press. Ask a friend to measure the distance between your hands. This will be your optimal grip, which should be used in the future. You may think that this is not a scientific approach, but your body knows best how it will feel comfortable doing the press.
The second secret lies in the direction of the movement. Most often, athletes squeeze the sports equipment straight and up. However, if you look at professional powerlifters, they perform this movement differently - up and at a slight angle to the head.
And the last nuance of the bench press is arching the back. Of course, this allows you to use more working weight, but this happens only due to a reduction in the distance between the chest and sports equipment. But this will not affect the increase in power indicators in any way. In turn, in order to progress, you need to develop precisely strength.
Bench training method
It should be said right away that training according to this method should be carried out only after performing warm-up sets. It is better to start with an empty bar, slowly doing 5 to 6 repetitions. Then do 3 to 4 more light weight reps for 4 sets. After a three-minute pause, you can start training directly.
The technique was created for the development of the muscles of the whole body and you do not need to make major adjustments to the training program. The technique is based on the principle of "pull-push", which implies the simultaneous training on one day of all the muscles that perform pushing movements, and on the other - pulling. The first group includes the muscles of the chest, shoulder girdle and triceps. The back and biceps belong to the second group, as do the legs.
This is due to the fact that the duration of the training of the back and biceps is shorter in comparison with the pushing muscle group. Legs should be trained once a week. The muscles of the legs are large and they train quite hard, requiring a lot of energy for this. If you train your legs more often, then you may not achieve the desired result in the press.
Most training systems involve the maximum load on the muscles, followed by rest to restore the body. The technique described today is based on a gradual increase in working weight. You do not have to increase the weight in each session, but you need to do this gradually, thereby creating a more real increase in strength and muscle mass.
At the first stage, this method involves two day split and you have no choice. The training schedule is rigid and must be followed. Unless of course you want to achieve your goal in the bench press.
The training program is quite simple. Basic exercises should be performed for each muscle group. At the same time, there will be auxiliary exercises for the development of the back, deltas, biceps and triceps.
Also, do not increase the load yourself and follow the recommendations. Otherwise, this can lead to overtraining, but it is better that the muscles are slightly undertrained. At the same time, you should not be afraid that you will lose muscle volume or strength indicators will decrease.
On the contrary, after the transition to normal training, they will increase. When training the chest, there will be some nuances, which we will talk about later. For example, in one lesson you need to perform three sets of 1, 2 and 3 repetitions, and in another - 4, 5 and 6 repetitions.
If you haven't done sets with less than four sets before, now you have to do it. Such approaches lead to an increase in strength indicators, and this is exactly what we are trying to achieve.
The same can be said about the intensity of training. When performing sets with a low number of repetitions, it is necessary to work with practically maximum weights which also increases the intensity of training. You should remember that the closer the working weight is to the repeated maximum, the higher the intensity of the training will be. At the same time, the volume of muscles will not increase so quickly, but the strength indicators will grow perfectly.
In addition to the fact that once a week there will be leg training, you will have to slightly reduce the load on the shoulder girdle. The training program includes several types of overhead presses and the anterior deltas do not need further loading. Shoulder girdle training is given Monday and Friday.
On the first day of classes, you should perform swing movements with dumbbells to the sides, and on the second day, the muscles that rotate the shoulder joint will develop. To increase the performance in the bench press, you must have strong shoulder joints. Each training session will last about an hour. It should not be extended. And now about the exercises themselves.
Monday
- Bench press in the prone position;
- Dumbbell bench press in the prone position;
- Mahi to the sides with dumbbells;
- French press.
Wednesday
- Block thrust in the direction of the chest, the grip is narrow;
- Tilt rods;
- Curl with barbell for biceps.
Friday
- Exercises for rotating shoulder muscles;
- Bench press in the prone position;
- Push-ups on bars.
Saturday
- Squats;
- Leg press;
- Leg curl;
- Block pull in the direction of the chest, reverse grip;
- Bent over dumbbell row;
- Bending the arms with dumbbells in a sitting position.
Bench press progress is key factor effectiveness of training for almost all novice athletes. You always want to press more than others and brag about the fact that in just a couple of months of training, you have shrugged an impressive weight. However, within the framework of this article, we will not consider the correctness or incorrectness of such an approach, but we will analyze the most relevant question for beginners - how many times a week should you bench press?
Goals as the basis for building training
To answer main question article, you must, first of all, decide on your goals in gym. Namely, what do you want to achieve? It can be strength in several exercises, strength in any one exercise (for example, bench press), endurance, set muscle mass or just keep yourself normal physical form. Your training schedule will depend on what goal you set for yourself. The universal answer to the question - "how often do bench press?" - does not exist. It all depends on what you want to end up with.
Consider for example 2 the most common goals - weight gain and strength growth.
Goal: a set of muscle mass (pumping muscles, relief, etc.)
For the purpose of muscle growth and muscle gain, it makes no sense to bench press the bar more than 1 time per week. This is due to the fact that on every training day we pump certain muscle groups, so more frequent execution bench press for a week will lead to damage in pumping some other muscle group.
In bodybuilding training, we only bench press on chest day. That is, our goal is not to develop performance in one or more exercises, but to load the target working muscles. And the bench press in this case acts only as a means of providing this load.
Goal: increase strength in a specific exercise
This goal is set, as a rule, by athletes who want to closely engage in powerlifting, bench press, or simply want to press a lot without competing. In this case, the training will be significantly different from bodybuilding, since it will not be based on pumping each specific muscle group, but on improving performance in one or more exercises.
With this goal, the bench press can be performed 2 times a week. In this case, one of the workouts should be heavy (low reps, maximum working weight, one-time maximum training), and the other should be light (many repetitions, many approaches). Thus, the specific bench press will be trained both in a heavy power manner and in a volumetric multi-rep.
The main mistakes athletes make when training bench press strength are too many heavy bench press workouts, which seriously deplete nervous system and lead to long-term stagnation in performance. The optimal technique is the one given above, which is based on a combination of heavy strength and volume multi-repetition training.
Article Conclusions
Thus, the optimal frequency of bench press is 1-2 times a week (depending on the training goals). More frequent training has no advantage in terms of either strength gains or mass gains, and can lead to overtraining and stagnation.
150 kg is not the limit. It is possible to reach 180-200 kg, but does it make sense? After all, it is important not only to reap a lot, but this is not the goal in most cases. Basically click to download pectoral muscles(excluding powerlifting) and there is no direct relationship between the squeezed weight.
I’ll tell you how to properly perform a bench press, while simultaneously progressing in working weights and chest volume.
Bench press is different
There are two main options classic bench press lying on horizontal bench:
- bodybuilding;
- powerlifting.
The latter is aimed at maximum result in one repetition and it doesn’t matter how you achieved it. For example, techniques are used to reduce the amplitude of movement like a "bridge":
Also, in addition to the chest, absolutely all possible assistant muscles are involved to the maximum, starting with the legs, continuing with the back and ending with the triceps with deltas. Compared to the bodybuilding version, the movement is similar, but fundamentally it is completely different.
Of course, with an increase in strength, the volume of the pectoral muscles also grows, but developing them with the help of powerlifting is like hammering pushpins with a sledgehammer. Harmful and meaningless. Unless, for a change, you can sometimes try power penetrations, but no more.
In this article, I will talk specifically about the bodybuilding version of the bench press, increasing strength and effective training chest in general, which will require a number of other exercises.
However, if you want to work in the direction of powerlifting, start with a video Yuri Belkin:
And the nuances of the power bench press from him:
Bench Press Technique Bodybuilding Style
Usually guys come into the gym and just press the bar from the chest. He lowered it to his chest, lifted it - nothing complicated. At first sight.
Working with an empty bar is really easy and not even traumatic. But as soon as you start to increase weight - and beginners like to do it abruptly and thoughtlessly - as problems begin with the hands, shoulders, pectoral muscles are torn, and even lumbago happens.
The second problem of mediocre exercise technique is that people very quickly hit the ceiling, which they then cannot overcome for years. Moreover, the "ceiling" is quite modest - 60-70 kg, rarely more. And this is when training the pectoral muscles several times a week with a dozen exercises.
Do you recognize yourself? Well, you will have to work again with an empty neck in order to set the technique for performing the exercise, and only then proceed to a very smooth increase in weights. We will talk about the training program a little later, but for now we will analyze the technique of performing the exercise directly.
In fact, there are many options, although each differs only in details, and the base is the same. First, let's talk about her darling, and then about the details.
Highlights of proper bodybuilding bench press technique:
- Bar grip closed ( thumb wraps around the bottom of the neck).
- The buttocks are pressed to the bench, the lower back, if possible, too, the legs rest on the floor with the entire foot.
- Grip width - slightly wider than shoulders, so that in the lower position the barbells of the hand are exactly opposite the elbows, and not to the left or right of them.
- The bar lies on the base of the palm, keep the brush straight and in no case bend it back - this is fraught with injuries.
- The bar is lowered to the level of the nipples or slightly below them, so that, again, the hands are opposite the elbows and do not move forward or backward in relation to them.
- The amplitude of movement along the arc, that is, the bar falls to the level of the nipples or slightly lower, and rises to the level of the eyes, and not strictly up (in the latter case, the triceps are strongly involved in the work, stealing the load from the chest).
- At the top point, do not fully unbend the arms (do not insert the elbows), maintaining tension in the chest. At the bottom point, do not throw the barbell on the chest and also do not relax the muscles, but only lightly touch the chest. We work within the amplitude.
- In no case do not drop the barbell on the chest. We lower it under control and smoothly: 2 seconds for a negative movement (lowering) and in the process we inhale air, 1 second for lifting (positive movement) and exhaling.
The bench press was shown clearly and quite well in his video Denis Borisov, albeit with its own characteristics:
In particular, I do not advise you to throw your legs on the bench at first - this is quite dangerous. Too precarious. Although the load on the pectoral muscles increases, plus this a good option if you feel discomfort in your lower back. When it happened to me, for a couple of weeks I could press from the chest only with my feet on the bench.
In addition, Denis suggests not to reduce the shoulder blades, but instead fill the chest with air as much as possible. Try this way and that, but I personally find it more convenient to reduce the shoulder blades, which noticeably takes the load off the front deltas and makes you more stable during the press, as the back becomes flat. This was very well said (and shown) Bradley Martin:
Also pay attention to the position of the hands relative to the body. Bradley showed lifter and builder options. I'm comfortable with something in between, you try this way and that. We are all different - the attachment of the ligaments, the structure of the muscles is different, so someone will be more comfortable with one thing, someone else. In any case, at the bottom of the amplitude, the arms should not diverge strictly to the sides, since this is not a completely natural and working position for the chest during the press.
How to pump chest and increase the working weight in the bench press
I'll start with the working weight, if the number of plates on the bar is still a priority for you. In addition, increasing the working weights also increases muscle mass. The easiest option is to read a book Stuart McRoberta « Bench press 180 kg". There are several simple programs that really work, allow you to get out of a state of deep stagnation (plateau) and significantly increase the result in the bench press. At the same time, in other basic movements, grow strength.
What helped me personally significantly increase the working weight in the bench press, as well as noticeably grow the pectoral muscles. In fact, a whole range of exercises and specialization. But I'll tell you about everything in order.
A year and a half or two years ago, my bench press “floated” in the region of 100-110 kg, although more often the working weight for 10-12 repetitions in several approaches did not exceed 90 kg. Now I'm benching 130 for 6-8 reps, and my 1-rep max is in the range of 150-155kg, although obviously it could be more if I focus on powerlifting technique. At the same time, my own weight is 102-104 kg.
The first notable shift was when I began to train the chest more than once a week, plus added such an exercise as push-ups from the bars with weights. About 10 years ago, I tore my chest while doing it and have not done it since then, returning it only last year.
In particular, for a couple of months I did three times a week, in which I alternated bench presses and chest push-ups from the bars, gradually increasing the weight. By the way, Denis Borisov showed the technique of chest push-ups well, but I also recommend that you extend your arms less at the elbows (up to 90 °) so as not to load the triceps, due to fatigue of which you can simply not load the chest:
As for the smooth increase in load, I talked in detail about how to do this in.
In addition, work on the assistant muscles gave me a clear progress in the bench press. In particular, on deltas ( army press, barbell pull to the chin) and triceps (press narrow grip, French bench press). At that time, the working weight in the bench press increased to 115-120 kg by 6-10 times.
Then I tried to specialize directly in the chest, as well as in the back and deltas. The point was that every muscle in which he specialized, he trained twice a week. In the case of the chest, one workout was strength (up to reaching the one-rep maximum), the second was high-volume for 15 repetitions. Plus, a special selection of exercises (bench press, hammer press on the upper beam of the chest, push-ups from the uneven bars, breeding in the "butterfly" or crossover) and a smooth increase in working weight from workout to workout. Details about this, including a training program, are written in the following article:
As a result, I reached the current indicators in the bench press.
Important nuances
Finally, I will raise a few points regarding chest training that will help you progress.
In particular, the bench press on a horizontal bench is not suitable for everyone directly to increase the volume of the pectoral muscles, that is, for their hypertrophy. For example, for some people, deltas and triceps work more in this movement. Bench press is considered more effective incline bench at an angle of 30-45°. I personally prefer the dumbbell incline bench press:
Bench press with a negative angle, whether it be barbells or dumbbells, is not very effective., as it loads the bottom of the chest more, which already works well in many other movements, including chest push-ups from the bars. I suggest not to waste time on the mentioned exercises.
At strength training for 3-6 repetitions try not to work in failure- this is traumatic, because you are not thinking about the technique of performing the exercise, but about somehow squeezing the weight. It is best to bench under the supervision of a safety partner so that he can pick up the bar in time if he sees that you are no longer pulling it. It is to pick up, and not to push with two fingers and watch how you wriggle like a snake under the barbell. Believe me, it is better to avoid injury than to please your heart rate by squeezing 2 kg more than last time.
The closer you get to your 1-rep max, the slower the weight gain., and when overcoming it, you can increase the load by 1 kg per week, if there are such small pancakes in the hall.
Impossible to keep progressing. We reached our maximum, overcame it, even if it is 2.5-5 kg from above, you feel that you are already at the limit - ok! End there, take a couple of weeks off from light training with 50% of working weights, then roll back 30-40% from your last maximum and slowly start working on the program again, approaching it for 5-6 weeks, and then and overcoming his previous maximum with a minimum step in weight.
Two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward again. Try to step forward all the time, or you will get into a state of stagnation, or get injured.
I also advise you to watch this video by Yaroslav Brin about training the pectoral muscles:
The bench press is not only one of the disciplines of triathlon, but also simply an indicator of human strength. Therefore, the question of how to increase the bench press is one of the most relevant for gym visitors.
Bench press for different purposes
Each person, coming to the gym, sets different goals for himself. They change over time. But, in most cases, one thing remains the same - the weight in the bench press and other exercises increases up to a certain point.
Then a plateau comes and progress stops, as if the body has run out of resources. Stagnation in the bench press, squat, etc., each athlete perceives differently.
Some athletes give up and return to their usual way of life. They quit training, convinced that the sport is for someone else. Usually such people visit the hall for no more than six months or even a year.
Others heavily increase the load until the first injury, and then also leave. But already because of the physical impossibility to continue training.
As a result, few calmly remain to train and continue to achieve their goals.
The goals of going to the gym are different for everyone: from gaining muscle to increasing in specific exercises. Someone is only interested in the volume of muscles, someone constantly presses, someone pulls, and someone is preparing to participate in triathlon. Whatever the athlete's goal, good performance is only achieved through patience, discipline, and hard work.
Different pressing techniques also serve different purposes. Let's break them down. To make it clearer, in our case we will talk about bench press wide grip on a horizontal bench. And consider the main thing that interests absolutely everyone involved: how to improve the bench press.
For muscle growth
For a detailed study of the pectoral muscles, you need to press the barbell so that it falls on upper part chest. With this technique, the muscles are stretched as much as possible and, when contracted, receive the necessary amount of load.
The technique for performing the exercise is described in detail in the article “bench press”, so we will not dwell on it here.
When working on the mass, the exercise should be performed in 3-4 sets of 6-8 times. Choose the weight so that the last repetition is given with great difficulty. If you feel that after the eighth, you are able to perform another repetition, increase the load so that you return to six repetitions again.
It makes no sense to press at times in this way - this is not a lifter's technique.
Work according to the sensations - you can do more - hang a couple more kg, but do not increase the weight due to violation of technique!
For maximum weight lifting
This is the second goal for which you can press the bar. Someone needs to show results in competitions, someone works for themselves. Naturally, the training program for strength in each case will be different.
The bench press technique in powerlifting is very different from the bodybuilding options that most people in the gym do. We will analyze this a little later. And now we will discuss strategies for increasing weights, and precautions.
We go to the maximum: bench press at a time
How to increase your bench press results: First of all, you need to exercise regularly, experiment and be prepared for defeat. You will also need a competent program to increase strength. By defeat, I mean "didn't shake" or "pulled a muscle." Such moments should not unsettle you.
When athletes prepare for power competitions, they do not go in cycles in the study of muscles. They work for strength - and this is the main principle. It is important - how many kg you squeezed out, and not what kind of biceps you have. The mass of the body will follow the force. Maybe there will not be such a relief and definition of muscles as in bodybuilders, but still you will stand out from the crowd.
Press technique for one time
To finally raise Weight Limit you need to regularly, at least twice a week, do the bench press.
In powerlifting, the bench press is done from a position called a bridge. This position must be clearly worked out in order to feel stable and confident in it.
How to get into the starting position for the bench press:
- We lay down on the bench. But! Don't put your feet on the floor, put them together on the other end of the bench.
- Bend your stomach up to stretch before the press, holding on to a barbell or neck, the fulcrum is the heels and your shoulder blades. By the way, the shoulder blades need to be reduced as much as possible.
- Now we lower the pelvis onto the bench, after that we put our legs on the floor and rest on our heels.
- This is the starting position.
You can, of course, make everything easier and immediately bend from a prone position, but then the bridge will not be so round.
The essence of the bridge is the distance that the bar travels is less than in the straight position of the body. And the bar touches the body faster, which greatly facilitates the bench press procedure. without bridge big weight will be harder to take. Sometimes a bench press is performed with a pause.
The exercise can be performed with or without equipment. On this moment the largest bench press in equipment, which is listed in the book of records, is 486 kg, and without - 335 (by the way, it belongs to a Russian athlete and was made in 2015). To this day, these are the most significant weights ever lifted on this planet (officially, at least).
At first, getting into the “bridge” will be unusual, but over time you will get used to it. If you’re just doing it for yourself, you don’t need a bridge, calmly lie down on the bench with your back, bring your shoulder blades together, maintain a slight deflection in the lower back and put your feet on the floor.
Please note that if the surface of the bench is slippery, the shoulder blades will move apart. The same thing will happen if you train in poor quality clothing.
When you are not preparing for a competition, but simply working on strength, you also need to consistently work out at least 2 times a week to increase the bench press.
You need to bend until you are comfortable. Your task is not to get into the bridge, but just to make the pectoral muscles work, and not the shoulders and triceps. Then you can reap more.
What can help you gain weight?
First of all, you should understand that when you train for strength, your task is to make maximum amount muscle groups to work on the result. When working on the mass, you purposefully load a separate muscle group so that it grows as much as possible.
Golden rule number 1 - pump the whole body
In addition to the bench press, do other basic exercises. That is, be sure to pump the rest of the body, and not just the chest. The coordinated work of a large array of muscles will help you lift more weight than one swung muscle group.
It happens that squats cause discomfort in the lower back, but deadlift is going fine. Then you can replace squats with leg presses. This is also a good option that makes you grow muscle mass.
Practice shows that by doing just one bench press from workout to workout, significant progress cannot be achieved. Muscles get tired and stop responding to the load.
So when the bench press program isn't limited to just pressing, the chest, triceps, and shoulders rest while you train other muscles. And this is very important.
Plus, heavy exercises (like the squat or leg press) boost testosterone production, which will directly affect your strength.
Rule 2 - let the muscles rest
Overwork negatively affects the results of training. If you feel that you haven't fully recovered from the previous session, it's better to reduce the intensity of your workout and give yourself time to rest.
Overworked muscles lose 10-15% of their strength. For example, if you bench press 100 kg for 3 times, you will, in a state of overtraining, shake 85–90 for the same 3.
It is believed that the power press should be done once a week. But you have to focus on your body. Someone presses not 2 times a week, but 3. Someone only 1 time. Each person has their own training regimen.
Rule 3 - a convenient schedule and a good program
Choose the best training regimen for you. It should be in harmony with your lifestyle and daily routine. Competent trainers based on the characteristics of the life rhythm of clients.
Your bench press program should include basic power complex and in fact, preparatory exercises for bench press. In order to increase your strength indicators, so that there really is an improvement, and not a regression of your muscles, you need to competently train both the whole body and specifically the working muscles (chest, triceps and shoulder).
Sometimes in the programs the bench press is done either 8–10 times, or three to five times. Once a week so, the second so.
Chest exercises include dumbbell raises, dips, pullovers, and more.
Once a month and a half, it is desirable to make changes to the program.
Rule 4 - Don't try to max out at once
In normal mode, do 5 repetitions, well, or at least 3. The maximum weight at one time is a competitive moment, and for strength training it is better and safer to do several repetitions.
By lifting the maximum weight, you run the risk of pulling something or otherwise injuring yourself. After all, when you press the weight lying down 5 times or even 3 - this is one thing. But you don’t know your one-time maximum, you can easily fail to guess and get serious damage to muscles or joints.
Indeed, in your case it is more important to understand how to increase weight, albeit gradually, but reliably. And do not squeeze out, no matter how much at a time, risking your health. You are not in competition.
If you really want to, once a month you can arrange test drives for yourself in increments of 5–2.5 kg and with insurance. But before that, warm up very well.
Rule 5 - eat well and sleep well
There are no comments here. Enough has been said about nutrition and sleep. Let's talk about a plateau or that state when the weight does not increase.
Overcoming the plateau
What to do when there is no bench press? He may not go long. In the end, either you give up, or the muscle will ache from overload.
- Alternatively, you can forget about the press for a couple of weeks and do other exercises, for example, perform training complex on the chest on an inclined bench and uneven bars. And then, back to the bench press.
- You can also increase the weights in other exercises that improve your bench. As mentioned above, the maximum result is obtained by the complex work of the muscles of the whole body.
- Change your bench press routine periodically. Then the muscles do not have time to get used to or overwork, and one day you will lift the biggest weight for yourself.
That is, for a while, in general, stop wondering how to increase the bench press. Just train, pay attention to other exercises and do not leave the gym.
- There is another approach - do not stop reaping. You can temporarily reduce the working weight. This will give some rollback, but in the end, after returning to your schedule and old weights, you will be able to surpass the result obtained earlier.
- Try moving to 10 reps with less weight. You need to be able to do these 10 times not with ease, but through labor. Gradually increase the weight in this mode. And then go back to low-repetition training.
The essence of the above is that the bench program should be varied. When the results stop, you need to temporarily change the training vector. To finally break through the bench press, to overcome your barriers, you need to work hard and patiently. Try different variants. One will work just for you.
By the way, the option of achieving some natural physiological maximum is not ruled out. This can be said if you have been doing it for a long time and have already achieved significant results. Think about whether you really need to increase the weight? How often do you get injured in Lately? Maybe this is the same physiological barrier, after which your body will begin to “break down”? If you do not compete, you absolutely do not need to go for records at any cost.
After all, weight gain always has two sides, one of which is pride in the result, and the other is stress for the body. Balance is important here.
So, be careful: warm up well and train smart!
10 tips to increase weights and results in the bench press. Find out what training, nutrition, and recovery recommendations to follow.
The bench press is often considered a universal measure of an athlete's strength. This is not true, and anyone who is more or less productive in the gym will confirm this. However, this is one of the best exercises for the development of strength and a set of muscle mass of the torso. Below are 10 tips to improve your bench press performance. Most importantly, they will help you avoid a plateau - after all, the lack of progress within a few months will unsettle anyone. But using the tips below, you can overcome stagnation and add a few pounds to your record.10 tips to increase your bench press results:
1.Extra train triceps
About 80% of the time athletes fail to make progress on the bench press is due to weak triceps. Need to train hard triceps basic exercises like close grip bench press or french press with a bar. Don't waste time working block simulators, work with heavy barbells and dumbbells.
2. Shock Your Pecs
It is easy to train according to the knurled pattern. Ask yourself: am I getting out of my comfort zone in training? Most people don't. Yes, they train hard, but they don't give it their all. So pick up your pace, turn up the intensity. Change your rest between sets. Do supersets. Do 30 pushups after each set. Do you understand what's the point?
3. Don't Overtrain
Many people think that the more they train, the bigger they will get. This myth is especially common among beginners. The quality of all your reps, sets and exercises is much more important than their number. Train your chest muscles 1 or 2 times a week, more often does not make sense, unless, of course, you are striving to set a world record in the bench press.
4. Pay more attention to recovery
This is directly related to the previous advice, without this mass gain is impossible. Your muscles grow as you rest and recover, so getting enough sleep is essential to progress. Get at least 8 hours of sleep and get enough rest between workouts.
5. Bench Press Negative Reps Are Your Helper
The negative phase of the amplitude is when you lower the bar down. You can make negatives using huge weights (up to 150% of your one-time maximum). Your task is to slowly lower the bar to your chest, two spotters will lift it for you.Negative Reps - Underrated,
and with its help you can achieve an impressive breakthrough in strength.
6. Don't Train Chest and Triceps in the Same Workout
If you want to build really strong triceps, you need to train it when you are full of energy, and not after a long bench workout.
7. Nutrition is the basis of gaining muscle mass
If your goal is to get bigger and stronger, you must have an appetite like Ronnie Coleman, 8-time Mr. Olympia winner. You need to make 7 meals daily. Each of them should be rich in protein from different sources and complex carbohydrates. Without this, there will be no increase in the result in the bench press. You can't count on progress if you don't consume the required number of calories per day.
8. Take a week off
Sometimes all you need is a break. Even professional bodybuilders allow themselves 7-10 days of complete rest per year. Your muscles are overworked, and this does not allow them to grow further. You can completely forget about training for a week, or you can do 3 light workouts for the whole body.
9. Use sports nutrition
Sports supplements – The best way quickly provide the body with the necessary nutrients. This is extremely important for the bench press. Should accept immediately after waking up, after exercise and before bed.
10. Work on technique
You'd be surprised how many experienced athletes have the wrong technique. Many people think that the bench press is technically a simple exercise, but if you initially get used to doing it wrong, there will be no progress. The most common mistakes are: incorrect positioning of the hands on the bar, tearing the pelvis off the bench or legs off the floor, lowering the barbell to the wrong point and open grip.
