How to prepare for benching max weight

[lalaila]

On monday me and my friend are going to try to break our records on bench press, what is the best way to prepare for it after warm-up? is it starting bench light weight 10times than 8..6..4..2..and MAX or just go for couple sets on your 50%max ?

[LlamaWithARifle]

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...st_performance

Warm-up Like Dave Tate and Bench More Weight

If you think Dave Tate just gets under the bar and lifts, you're sadly mistaken. A stickler for perfect technique, Tate knows how to truly prepare for a PR. You don't.

"Show me a guy who wants to bench 300 pounds for a new PR, and I'll show you a guy who's warming-up like an idiot," says Tate.

The Idiot Warm-up

135 x 12
185 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 3
300 x 0

"That's 5650 pound of volume before testing your max," says Tate. "Plus you only did 28 ****ing reps."

The Tate Warm-up

4 x 5 with the bar
2 x 3 with 95 pounds
135 x 3
165 x 3
195 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 1
280 x 1
300 x 1 awesome ****ing rep.

"This way you're doing 3910 pounds of volume but with 40 total reps," explains Tate. "It's 31 percent less volume but 42 percentmore repetitions; it's more warm-up but less fatigue."

According to Tate, the smart lifter primes technique, activates the nervous and muscular systems, and gets the job done.

The stupid lifter gets pinned.

A good warm up can instantly add to a 1rm.

[Joe106]

Thats seems wayyyyyyyyyy to long to go through lol ^ When I went for my 315lb max all I did was warmed up with 20 pushups, 8 reps of 135 lb, 3 reps of 225, and then I went for the 1 rep of 315 and did it.

[Rusty56]

Thats seems wayyyyyyyyyy to long to go through lol ^ When I went for my 315lb max all I did was warmed up with 20 pushups, 8 reps of 135 lb, 3 reps of 225, and then I went for the 1 rep of 315 and did it.

........were they cock pushups.......?

[gameNlift]

Thats seems wayyyyyyyyyy to long to go through lol ^ When I went for my 315lb max all I did was warmed up with 20 pushups, 8 reps of 135 lb, 3 reps of 225, and then I went for the 1 rep of 315 and did it.

Everyone's different. I personally like to get my joints nice and warm. I think in the long run your joints and muscles will thank you for it. It's also a technical lift so I feel it's good to get in those extra sets to fine tune the movement and prep yourself mentally.

Here's what my last max attempt looked like, previous best was 315

45x20
95x10
135x10
195x5
245x1
285x1
325x1
335x1

[Joe106]

........were they cock pushups.......?

No way man , I can only do 10 of those not 20

Everyone's different. I personally like to get my joints nice and warm. I think in the long run your joints and muscles will thank you for it. It's also a technical lift so I feel it's good to get in those extra sets to fine tune the movement and prep yourself mentally.

Here's what my last max attempt looked like, previous best was 315

45x20
95x10
135x10
195x5
245x1
285x1
325x1
335x1

Don't you feel exhausted by the time you do 325? That's why I don't do so many warm up sets cuz I feel like I'll have more energy by the time its time to try a new max

[Link815]

For a meet day, I'll go:

Bar x however many I feel like, 10ish
135x5ish
185x5ish
225x3ish
275-295ish x 2-3
315-335ish x 1
365-375x1

Open 405-420


Depends on how I'm feeling that day. I usually don't set up with my full arch until the 275ish rep. Takes a few sets of just sort of arching to get to where I can do my full set up.

[Fivefootkillerz]

i used to do
bar 5
50% at 10 reps
65% at 5 reps
75% at 3 reps
85% at 1 rep
then max

now to just go by feel

[Torrtrefireto]

Everyone does so much work
Here was my day of 405
45-10
135-5
225-3
275-1
315-1
355-1
375-1
405-1
Why anyone does more than 5 reps with weight on the bar doesn't make sense to me

[isaku900]

Everyone does so much work
...
Why anyone does more than 5 reps with weight on the bar doesn't make sense to me

agreed.

[yummy22]

I think a proper warm up before you touch a bar helps a lot more. Get a nice sweat going before you start benching to get your cns fixing and do as little reps as possible working up to your max. There are a lot of decent dynamic warm ups you can go through to help loosen you up and get a sweat going.

[ShortDave]

I think a proper warm up before you touch a bar helps a lot more. Get a nice sweat going before you start benching to get your cns fixing and do as little reps as possible working up to your max. There are a lot of decent dynamic warm ups you can go through to help loosen you up and get a sweat going.

if sweating is important can I just jump in a sauna? What if I have a fever, does that mean I don't have to do any warmups at all?

If you're attempting a bench press warm up with bench, not a skipping rope or yoga

[HamburgerTrain]

Thats seems wayyyyyyyyyy to long to go through lol ^ When I went for my 315lb max all I did was warmed up with 20 pushups, 8 reps of 135 lb, 3 reps of 225, and then I went for the 1 rep of 315 and did it.

I will literally take 20 minutes to do soft tissue, mobility, blood flow, and explosive work work before I even touch an unloaded bar. One of the best things you can do to ensure longevity in a sport with more wash-up injured meatheads than actual competetors is get on or develop a structured/specialized warm up protocol.

[evilscout6]

agreed.

X2 for this

[evilscout6]

Everyone does so much work
Here was my day of 405
45-10
135-5
225-3
275-1
315-1
355-1
375-1
405-1
Why anyone does more than 5 reps with weight on the bar doesn't make sense to me

This is quick and to the point...

[yummy22]

if sweating is important can I just jump in a sauna? What if I have a fever, does that mean I don't have to do any warmups at all?

If you're attempting a bench press warm up with bench, not a skipping rope or yoga

Or throw some water on yourself.....

thats not the point at all its to get the cns firing and the body ready to lift

wasting too much energy on the bench is counterproductive to a max day

[untranslatedZA]

i always warm up with 60kgs for about 5 repsx2 sets, getting my form right, then at 15kgs and just do 2 reps at 75kg 2 reps at 90kgs then just singles, i do this with my squat aswell, never missed any lift in competition after 3 full meets now, and my max feels like i have another 5-10kgs in me. Good warmup really important in a meet.

[ink81]

I will literally take 20 minutes to do soft tissue, mobility, blood flow, and explosive work work before I even touch an unloaded bar. One of the best things you can do to ensure longevity in a sport with more wash-up injured meatheads than actual competetors is get on or develop a structured/specialized warm up protocol.

This is so true. I spend probably 5 minutes just on my rotator cuffs alone, then at least another 5-10 minutes stretching. I'll always warm up with a set at 60kg's first then jump up in 20's till i'm getting up near 75% where i'll go back to 1 rep and jump in 5-10kg increments. Touch wood, I've never had even a slight injury from Benching and I put it down to doing the correct warm ups.

[TomMutaffis]

Here is an article that I wrote "So You Want To Hit a PR?" which details how to warm up for a 1RM: http://mutaffis.wordpress.com/articles/

This is an excerpt from the article:

Warm-up

Immediately prior to the PR attempt, a proper warm-up is crucial. Care must be taken to gradually warm-up the musculature and then move on to heavier loads which will do the same for the CNS. The use of relatively heavy loads during this process must be tempered with the fact that one does not wish to fatigue the body such that the PR attempt is compromised, rather a gradual increase in loads used which both stimulate and do not overly fatigue is ideal. Isolation movements can also be incorporated to prime specific muscles which are to be used in a compound exercise PR attempt. The following sample warm-up is based upon a PR attempt of 300 lbs in the bench press:

Generalized Warm-up:

5 minutes walking on elliptical trainer at low resistance.

Light Stretching & Dynamic Warm-Up:

2-3 minutes of upper body stretches, arm swings, shoulder mobility, etc.

Isolated warm-up for involved muscle groups:

Pushups – Body weight x 2 sets of 10 reps
Triceps Pushdown – 50 lbs x 15 reps

Movement Specific Warm-up & Work Sets: (using Bench Press as an example)

Empty Bar (45 lbs) x 10 x 2 sets
95 lbs x 10
135 lbs x 7
185 lbs x 5
225 lbs x 2
255 lbs x 2 **
275 lbs x 1
300 lbs x 1- PR!
Attempt 305-315 lbs assuming clean lift @ 300 lbs.

**This is the first “work set” where you should add chalk, put on wrist wraps, flip hat backwards, or do whatever else you plan to do on your max attempt.