If your bench press max progress has stopped, find your weak spot and follow these tips to blast through that plateau.
Many weight lifters at the gym ask the same question: “I’ve been trying to increase my bench press, but my progress has stopped. What should I do?” Well, the first thing they should do is change their workout variables.
If anyone has ever been in rehabilitation, they could tell you that sometimes you have to take a few steps back before you can move forward. Go back to the beginning and make sure form is perfect. These tips will get anyone back on track.
- Once the bar is in hand, make sure you do not let your hands fall back. The wrist should be straight and the bar should be in line with the forearm. Also, make sure the wrist and elbow are in the same line. This way, the skeletal system will support the weight. Let the muscular and nervous systems move it.
- Change the movement from week to week. Try a wide grip one week and a close grip the next. After that, try a board press or floor press.
- If you tend to fail at the bottom, try pulling the bar apart.
- If you tend to fail towards the top, try to pull the bar in.
- Complete repetitive effort and speed work, as well as max effort work.
- During a bench press competition, the judges will make sure the bar comes to a complete stop on the chest. Do not bounce the weight and do not let the bar sink into the chest.
- The quickest from point A to point B is always a straight line. Make sure the bar touches the same point on the chest with every rep and locks out at the same spot. A good way to accomplish this is to put a small object (like a sticky pad) on the chest and touch it every time.
- Focus on one spot on the ceiling during the entire lift.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Doing so will decrease the distance the bar has to travel.
- Drive your feet through the floor.
- Keep your head on the bench.
- Don’t squeeze the bar with your hands very hard except during max effort reps. False-grip (with the thumb on same side as fingers) is okay for everyday training. However, for safety reasons, false-grip should not be used for maximal training. Wrap your thumbs around the bar.
- Don’t be afraid to videotape your reps. The camera never lies. Place the camera at a 45-degree angle.
- Don’t overwork the chest and shoulders. A big upper back and strong triceps are what’s needed for a big bench, so include lots of rear-deltoid work, rows, pull-ups, dips and triceps presses into your routine.
- If you hate an exercise you have to do, do it every week until you like it.
- If you’re not training for an event on a specific day, don’t train as if you are. Periodization workouts are very date-specific. Instead, set goals while completing well-rounded workouts.
- Only try to max out once every six to twelve weeks.
- Don’t be afraid to grunt.
- Take a week off every 12 weeks. This allows the body to recover and grow.
Follow these rules, eat right, work hard and your bench press max will increase. For a good strength workout, view the "High-Weight, Low-Weight Workout."
Sources:
- Conjugate Strength Training for Athletic Performance by Greg Werner
- Why Periodization Doesn’t Work by Charles Staley
- Eat My Meat by Dave Tate
The copyright of the article How To Increase Your Bench Press in Strength Training is owned by Ken Kashubara. Permission to republish How To Increase Your Bench Press in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
