I'm 5'9, 180LB
I can comfortably bench my weight at 10 reps.
I do my fair share of incline workouts and weighted dips and flys, military presses, DL's, squats, all that and my numbers are solid.
but when i get into the 2 plate bench range its always x1-2 reps and cant seem to improve that.
i've gotten as high as 275LB x1 rep recently.
Do you guys think i should just start doing as many sets of 225LB bench presses for a few weeks? (not go higher than that).
i'm more so trying to strengthen my chest much much more than to make it bigger.
Or maybe using the smith machine to do more 225LB reps til it starts to feel easier?
any advice is appreciated.
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Results 1 to 6 of 6
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11-01-2019, 12:12 PM #1Registered User
- Join Date: Nov 2019
- Age: 49
- Posts: 2
- Rep Power: 0
Bench Advice (strengthening chest)
Last edited by LFT4FN; 11-01-2019 at 12:18 PM.
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11-01-2019, 06:42 PM #2idk wtf I'm doin'
- Join Date: Sep 2016
- Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Posts: 1,138
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Work on your technique. Bench is a pretty technical lift.
Doing only sets of 1-2 reps won't help you that much. Volume is the main driver of growth.
Best thing at your level now is to follow a good program, eat to gain some weight (bench is correlated with bodyweight), and be patient. Fancy tricks or magic tips don't work for the long-term.Currently running a PHLU template:
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=175647011&p=1587578081&viewfull=1#post1587578081
Burger bulk crew
Squats in socks crew
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11-02-2019, 12:08 AM #3Kiwi Battler
- Join Date: Jul 2015
- Posts: 2,187
- Rep Power: 5453
I'd keep in the same rep range and continue climbing up incrementally. Try figure out your limiting muscle group (lats or tris) and introduce a new exercise for them at the end of the day, then focus on using the new strength when putting your bench press up, that always helps break through a plateau. And don't really plan in the weeks time frame, but months. It takes a long time, but small gains add up.
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11-02-2019, 11:22 AM #4Registered User
- Join Date: Jan 2015
- Age: 48
- Posts: 24
- Rep Power: 0
Maybe up the volume in the 190-200 lbs range? There's a big drop between 180 lbs and 225 lbs. Also some close grip work as well? That's what I'm focusing on at the moment.
Gym PR's:
495/320/585
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11-04-2019, 09:29 AM #5Registered User
- Join Date: Sep 2014
- Posts: 1,840
- Rep Power: 11219
If your wanting to strengthen do lower rep ranges. Heavy pauses of 4, 3,2 and singles
My reps of ten dont directly impact my lower rep ranges, the can be a 30lb difference of my lower rep ranges compared to what I can do on my higher top ranges.
I bench twice a week one focused on teps of ten and the other workout focused on lower rep paused.Best Raw total 1850 at 181 lbs
best comp raw lifts @ 181
squat 710
bench 500
deadlift 670
"Lightest man to bench 500 raw in a full meet"
my you tube channel of my training http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkt7CVJ7443k6Vu_1DwP3UA
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11-04-2019, 10:52 AM #6Registered User
- Join Date: Sep 2019
- Age: 49
- Posts: 501
- Rep Power: 987
if you want to improve your actual 1RM specifically, you should be practicing heavy singles to triples
sets of 4-6 work too. try upping your bench frequency if you aren't already benching 3x a week already. use bench variations as well like tempo, paused, bands, cgbp, blocks, floor, pins, etc.
as mentioned above, sets of 10 probably isn't the best way to increase your 1RM
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