How much to increase your bench press each week/month

[MuscleBeach9999]

alrighty i have found a very neat tool on bodybuilding.com that allows me to look at bodybuilders stats, but allows me to look at their journal entries to see how much they increase each week/month. Now for some of the really, really good bodybuilders, it took them really long to develop strength. Its not an overnight thing. Heck its not even 10lbs/week on your bench press. Hell i use to think 10lbs/week added to yoru bench press was nothing. but i am now an intermediate lifter and i have to be serious. So i was thinking if i added 2.5lbs each week to my bench press, that would equal to around 10lbs/month, and around 120lbs increase to my bench press in 1 year. So my bench would go from 185lbs(currently), to 305lbs. Now i don't know if this is possible or not? What do you guys think??? LIke honestly 2.5lbs per week on a compound lift, doesn't seem like much. what do you guys think? possible or not

[Lencho]

Adding that much to your bench in one year will be next to impossible. Depending on how much weight you plan on adding to your frame, I'd say 250ish would be more doable.

Linear gains eventually come to an end. When they do, you've got to come up with other ways of spurring strength and size gains.

[MuscleBeach9999]

I hear people all the time say they add 5-10lbs to their big 3 lifts all the time. I don't see why 2.5lbs would be any different. Also right now i am sitting at around 13 percent body fat, 182lbs. So i plan on being around 5'10 195lbs then cutting to about 188lbs. Hopefully i can keep my lifts going up. Also what do you think about the deadlift, you think i should go with 2.5lb increase or have around 5lb increase each week?

[Lencho]

I hear people all the time say they add 5-10lbs to their big 3 lifts all the time.

Yeah, but not ad infinitum. Do you plan on benching 400+ in two years?*

[MuscleBeach9999]

ya thats ture, ya no way i see myself benching that, maybe in 10 years lol. I could see myself maybe increasing the weight by 2.5lbs each week for maybe 6 months, after that i say maybe 2.5lbs every 2 weeks. So around 5lbs per month for 6 months. So that would be about 60lbs in 6 months, and then 30lbs in 6 months, which would equal to about a 280lbs bench press. But of course with real life and fatigue and everything else the planning can go sideways, and ya i will hit plateaus thats of course as well. oh well those are my goals to have a 280lb bench press in 1 year, wish me luck bro. Hopefully i will be able to add around 10-15lbs of muscle as well in 1 year. I think that is a reasonable goal as well.

[MrMisanthrope]

Add weight to your bench when your body has fully adapted to the weight of your current bench.

[AmazinJason]

I would say 5 lbs per month is more realistic.

[supmannn]

Add 5 pounds per week until you can't. *Then add 2.5 pounds per week until you can't. *Then add 5 pounds per month until you can't. *It all adds up very quickly.

[chazzy1864]

I hear people all the time say they add 5-10lbs to their big 3 lifts all the time. I don't see why 2.5lbs would be any different. Also right now i am sitting at around 13 percent body fat, 182lbs. So i plan on being around 5'10 195lbs then cutting to about 188lbs. Hopefully i can keep my lifts going up. Also what do you think about the deadlift, you think i should go with 2.5lb increase or have around 5lb increase each week?

How long have those people been lifting?

My guess is most of them were pure beginners in starting strength.

[rasit]

I'd say add 5 lb every month

[Reppintheinv]

I've been working out pretty hardcore for the last 6 months as I've been in Afghanistan and there isn't anything better to do. At first i gained alot on my bench pretty quick but now i just put my st weight on and do 4 sets 5-6 reps. When i can do all of those sets at 6 reps i put the 2.5lb weights on the bar or the 5lbers if i already have the 2.5lbs on there. I prolly add about 5lbs a month now to each side of the bar.

[MuscleBeach9999]

ya thats true. I have been lifting for 1 year but had a 5 month layoff due to playing baseball, physcial job, and wisdom teeth out, all of those added in a 11lb weight loss. Anyways my bench use to be around 230lbs. I also use to cheat a bit, due to baseball i never alwasy never touched the chest 100 percent, so thats why i am starting at 185lbs and making sure every rep touches the chest.

[VoxExMachina]

It shouldn't be much of a problem for most people to gain quickly up to the point that they can bench their body weight. It will slow down from there until you get to 1.5x. After that, plan your increases in ounces or reps...or years

[MuscleBeach9999]

ya thats true, i myself can already bench my weight with awesome form. I could probaly bench around 200lbs or more of right now, but i don't know how good the form would be, i hate when people bouce the damn bar on their chest, stuff like that. But ya 5lbs a month still seems like a good weight increase. But i am still going to try for 10lbs a month, heheh

[christos_swc]

Don't want to offend you or anything, but as I was reading through your post I felt the need to check your age.
It just doesn't work like that, you're just crunching numbers through impatience to get big/strong.
Or so it seems to me.
If you train naturally progress will slow down a lot pretty soon and after that you will have to learn and put everything you learn to good use to keep going at a decent pace.
You're talking weeks and months while you should be thinking in terms of years if you want to achieve any poundage that can be called impressive.
Weight lifting is fun in itself and any progress is welcome.
At some point you may have to rethink about your form on certain exercises and sacrifice ego lifting in the interests of actually doing something right.
There's a lot of bumps along the way so just try to enjoy any time spent at the gym while at it.
My 2 cents.

[terman1]

Don't want to offend you or anything, but as I was reading through your post I felt the need to check your age.
It just doesn't work like that, you're just crunching numbers through impatience to get big/strong.
Or so it seems to me.
If you train naturally progress will slow down a lot pretty soon and after that you will have to learn and put everything you learn to good use to keep going at a decent pace.
You're talking weeks and months while you should be thinking in terms of years if you want to achieve any poundage that can be called impressive.
Weight lifting is fun in itself and any progress is welcome.
At some point you may have to rethink about your form on certain exercises and sacrifice ego lifting in the interests of actually doing something right.
There's a lot of bumps along the way so just try to enjoy any time spent at the gym while at it.
My 2 cents.

I can agree with a lot of this. OP, just keep in mind that progress does not always come in the form of adding weight. It sometimes gets to the point where just adding 1-2 reps to each of your working sets becomes an achievement in itself.

[PeteyFunk]

Don't want to offend you or anything, but as I was reading through your post I felt the need to check your age.
It just doesn't work like that, you're just crunching numbers through impatience to get big/strong.
Or so it seems to me.
If you train naturally progress will slow down a lot pretty soon and after that you will have to learn and put everything you learn to good use to keep going at a decent pace.
You're talking weeks and months while you should be thinking in terms of years if you want to achieve any poundage that can be called impressive.
Weight lifting is fun in itself and any progress is welcome.
At some point you may have to rethink about your form on certain exercises and sacrifice ego lifting in the interests of actually doing something right.
There's a lot of bumps along the way so just try to enjoy any time spent at the gym while at it.
My 2 cents.

This.
Pretty much my entire year of being 19 and the latter half of 18 all I cared about was benching and how far behind I was. Today, almost three days later I hit a new PR of 255 (not much for my size, but I'm happy with it) on bench and when I started I couldn't even do 135. No formula is going to work 100% in every scenario. Lift hard and enjoy it.

[Austere]

Squat and Deadlift rise pretty fast, and you can get 10 lbs/month or so depending on your body.

Bench press CRAWLS upward. I'm serious, if you're getting gains of 5 pounds a month (stated rate of improvement on Wendler 5/3/1), you're doing great. It's even worse if you have long arms like me.

[MuscleBeach9999]

Ya thats true, seriously i am taking everything into effect, all of you guys have given me great info. I was just talking about the big 3 lifts, but already even on isloation exercises i know what you guys are talking about. Right now on my incline dumbell bench press i am doing 80lbs on each arm, and one day i will do 5 reps, next week i do 6 reps, next week 7 reps. Like seriously, it does take long, but as long as i do a little extra each time, i am satisifed. All about progression. Thx for the info everyone, really appreciate it

[xRequiem]

I'd have to disagree with everyone in this thread. Getting to 300lbs 1RM is very feasible for one year of lifting, and I'm actually on my way to that goal. I started at about 135 x 3 and I'm currently at 225 x 5 or 260 1RM. In the next four months I CAN GUARANTEE i'll hit 300lbs 1rm. So just keep pushing, eating big and make sure you have a spotter on heavy days. Also, my squat has went up over 200lbs ATG this year.

[casuncion11]

I'd have to disagree with everyone in this thread. Getting to 300lbs 1RM is very feasible for one year of lifting, and I'm actually on my way to that goal. I started at about 135 x 3 and I'm currently at 225 x 5 or 260 1RM. In the next four months I CAN GUARANTEE i'll hit 300lbs 1rm. So just keep pushing, eating big and make sure you have a spotter on heavy days. Also, my squat has went up over 200lbs ATG this year.

this.

agreed

[micheljohn]

It much difficult to increase bench press weight in every week/month.it's depend on you that how much weight you increase in a month.

[WillGoesBoing]

People who tell you to increase your weight by X amount "every week" are newbies that haven't been lifting for very long. Once you start lifting consistently for more than two years or even a year, your lifts will stall.

[jarod1981]

I think it can also depend on genetics a little bit but I think training smart can help anyone. I can easily increase my bench a 100lbs in a year if I stay at it and not take weeks off here and there. For me the trick is changing my routine every month in anticipation of hitting a plateau. I start with say bench press for 3 or 4 intense sets to failure and then go to incline but do it with dumbbells for 2 to 3 sets till failure and then 2 or 3 sets of dumbbells flys. I do my chest twice every 7 or 8 days so after about 3 or 3 1/2 weeks I change it up and start with incline dumbbells and then dumbbell bench presses and some explosive regular bench presses with light weight at the end of the workout. Then boom my incline dumbbells is stronger then it was because I am doing them fresh in the beginning. I would do 5 more pounds with each dumbbell and maybe a couple more reps then I did with the 5lbs less on each dumbbell and that is a 10 pound increase and maybe 15 considering the extra couple of reps. I consistently always get stronger every month about 10 to 15 pounds. The key is change it up. If your incline dum. get stronger your incline bench will be stronger and if your incline bench gets stronger then your bench press will be stronger. I juggle these around these exercises around every 3 weeks with this in mind and timing my creatine cycles perfectly to physically and mentally minipulate my body to get stronger.

[MichaeltheBeast]

my bench went from 135-205 in a matter of 6 months so your goals are very realistic keep in mind the only supplement i was using was creatine.

[TheShadowMan]

2.5-5 is what I generally go for. I want to progress, but I don't want to go too fast and end up with more than my body is adjusted to, and then stall out and wait around til I can add something again. Smaller amounts keeps it moving, but doesn't let it get ahead of my abilities.

[wesleytimmons41]

You can do that or better in a great year, being completely dedicated to your diet and training.
From my experience life will get in the way, there will be excuses , some valid ,some not .

[clarkjk]

ya thats ture, ya no way i see myself benching that, maybe in 10 years lol. I could see myself maybe increasing the weight by 2.5lbs each week for maybe 6 months, after that i say maybe 2.5lbs every 2 weeks. So around 5lbs per month for 6 months. So that would be about 60lbs in 6 months, and then 30lbs in 6 months, which would equal to about a 280lbs bench press. But of course with real life and fatigue and everything else the planning can go sideways, and ya i will hit plateaus thats of course as well. oh well those are my goals to have a 280lb bench press in 1 year, wish me luck bro. Hopefully i will be able to add around 10-15lbs of muscle as well in 1 year. I think that is a reasonable goal as well.

I was always told to only add weight when you can, with proper form, do more than 12 reps.

If say I can bench 265 (that's my 3 rep max) I would do the same exercise next week but try to get one more rep. once I can get up to 12 reps, I add weight and start the cycle all over again. One thing I've learned is gains are not linear, because there are too many variables.
Examples of these variables are:
- Timing of nutrition
-proper sleep
-proper form
- which muscles you worked prior in the week (if you decided to do triceps on moday and chest on tuesday, your chest probably wont be at it's peak performance).

there are many other factors, but that being said you also need to take into consideration diminishing returns. Our body gets efficient at what it does. If you bench 250, then 252.50, then 255, then 257.50 and so on, eventually your body will recognize this linear pattern and will work it's hardest to become efficient. at that point kiss your gainz bye bye.

[BtchW8]

you're an 'intermediate' lifter? From what you wrote above think not. Strength gains on compound movements are all relative, how much are you training, how much knowledge to you have, how serious do you take it. If you are serious and dedicated, a person your size could go from 135 bench to 225 in under a year. but once you get to a certain level increases will come much less. This year I can only expect my bench to go from 250-270, if I'm lucky more. Advanced lifters spend months working towards 10lb increases, beginners-a week.