Does anyone have a good Bench Press
Routine. Looking to add a few pounds to my
bench and I seem to have bottomed out on my workouts.
A little older now but looking to get back to my
old strength.
chains or bands. Make sure you know what you're doing though, and not just randomly throwing chains on to look cool. Also strengthen other muscles groups to better support yourself while benching (upper back, bi's, tri's ect..). Also try adding DBs into your routine for bench.
8 reps @ 55-65% of 1 rep max
6 reps 75% 1 rep max
4 reps @ 85% of 1 rep max
3 @ 90%
Then next time to establish new 1 rep do:
10 reps of 50%
6 reps @75%
3 @ 85%
1 @ 100% max 1 rep lift
--Repeat--
If you do NOT have a 1 rep, follow the first workout based on 125 lbs or whatever you feel you can lift at least once and then on the last set, lift as many times as you can. If you lift it 5 or less times, only move up by 2.5 lbs. If you move the weight 10 times or more, move up by 10 lbs. If you move it 15 times or more, move up 15-20 lbs.
The key is moving up fairly gradually. But if its super easy, be a little more aggressive. Moderation is the key. Hope this helps. It's what my gym goes by...CrossFit, but we do Olympic style lifts multiple times a week.
RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline.
Haha. Exactly. Good lord.
You can bench more on a decline rep. Especially with long arms. Holy shit.
My advice - decrease the weight slightly and move your hands in on the bar. Work your triceps a bit more in conjunction with your chest.
Make sure you work in dumbbells to activate stabilizers. Alternate your arms, work machines, but measure your gains on the bench - not the Smith - negate your hands and find a good spotter who knows what he's doing.
Don't worry so much about inclining or declining your reps. You'll get to that.
What will give you the best gains are negatives on the bench, confused reps and spotted heavies.
RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
lifting heavy on incline, bench, Flys. I always thought you have to do at least 8 reps. I've seen a noticeable improvement in my bench and other chest exercises. I'm looking in the mirror more than ever now. Don't forget your helper muscle which is your tricep plays a role in ur bench. Do work.
First, you want to make sure your form is ok. Bench isn't shoulder exercise, nor is it a tricep exercise. People with bad form fail at this exercise because they put the emphasis on these groups instead of their chest.
That being said, they are worked secondarily in this exercise.
My question to you is, how are you failing? Is it because the secondary muscles are failing or because your chest muscles are failing?
If your form is right and you are failing due to secondary muscles, those need to be strengthened. You also want to make sure your rear delts are strong. They are a stabilizing muscle on the bench press as well.
As far as a chest routine, I've had great success with bench, then incline bench, then incline hammer superset into push-ups. I'd typically do 4 sets on the bench, 4 on the incline, and then 2-3 sets of that superset.
To spice thing up, sometimes I stayed on the flat bench for 5-6 sets and worked my way into heavy/low rep sets, skipped the incline, and went right to the incline hammer superset. Sometimes I'd do a cable fly - push-up superset instead. You just want to mix it up. It's also good to toss in a high rep-low weight set at the end of each exercise. And of course this all depends on time constraints and how many body parts in working in the day. Another good technique is negative reps. Take a weight you are comfortable benching 15 times. Lower it slowly and fight the weight, like 8 seconds down. Let it drop all the way to your chest so it's resting on it. Wait a second or two and explode up, that's one rep.
RE: RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
RE: RE: RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
lifting heavy on incline, bench, Flys. I always thought you have to do at least 8 reps. I've seen a noticeable improvement in my bench and other chest exercises. I'm looking in the mirror more than ever now. Don't forget your helper muscle which is your tricep plays a role in ur bench. Do work.
I disagree with the bench press almost entirely. At virtually no point during a human being's life are they going to be asked to lift heavy while lying on their backs supported by a firm object. I find the exercise to be an unbelievably narcissistic routine. It requires no athleticism, no aerobics and guys who excel at bench look like they can barely wipe their own asses
That said, it is a part of the 6/7 general lifts that I do fairly regularly. If you want to use the bench as a measuring point for chest and shoulder strength? Ok. But you should be focusing your workouts around the press, push press, jerk and, for when you are ready to feel like you can punch a hole through the ceiling of heaven, thrusters. I did heavy thrusters the other day, and I swear Stallone has never groaned like I did getting up to my 2 rep heavy max.
Seriously. Follow the plan I had laid out before with press, then push press then jerk. Then follow the plan I laid out for your 1 rep on bench once a week or so. My guess is you'll be jumping 10 lbs a week for about 2 months before the increments get smaller.
Benching is literally one of the dumber measures of strength with the dumbest being dumbbell curls. Just look at the Olympic lifts: Clean & Jerk and Snatches...both Very athletic.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
It's more just lifting it up at all. For example, on an incline, I can bench 200 pounds a few times (say 8-12). Lying flat on my back, I can't even lift 200 pounds once. I always attributed to my very long arms.
It's probably not the soundest system, but I would do what I called "pyramiding down". For me, that meant doing one warmup set of eight or ten reps at 135 pounds. Then I would go right to 225 (which was close to my maximum) and do four reps. Then I would lower it to 205 and do six reps, then lower it to 185 and try to do eight reps.
My thinking was that the only way I was going to be able to do four reps at 225 was if it was my first step. If I was "pyramiding up" the normal way, by the time I got to 225, my muscles would be too exhausted to manage more than a rep or two.
So the basic idea is to make sure you've done your stretching and banged out at least one good warmup set. And then pick the weight at which you think the maximum amount of reps you can manage is four or five and start with that weight. And then lower the weight from there at intervals that will allow you to do more and more reps. Make sure you have a spotter. Also--this should be the first exercise of your workout schedule.
DISCLAIMER: This system is not backed up by any research or professional in the field. It's just something that seemed to work for me when I was in my thirties and weighed around 160 pounds.
It's probably not the soundest system, but I would do what I called "pyramiding down". For me, that meant doing one warmup set of eight or ten reps at 135 pounds. Then I would go right to 225 (which was close to my maximum) and do four reps. Then I would lower it to 205 and do six reps, then lower it to 185 and try to do eight reps.
My thinking was that the only way I was going to be able to do four reps at 225 was if it was my first step. If I was "pyramiding up" the normal way, by the time I got to 225, my muscles would be too exhausted to manage more than a rep or two.
So the basic idea is to make sure you've done your stretching and banged out at least one good warmup set. And then pick the weight at which you think the maximum amount of reps you can manage is four or five and start with that weight. And then lower the weight from there at intervals that will allow you to do more and more reps. Make sure you have a spotter. Also--this should be the first exercise of your workout schedule.
DISCLAIMER: This system is not backed up by any research or professional in the field. It's just something that seemed to work for me when I was in my thirties and weighed around 160 pounds.
Milton, while it might be a good workout for you, that plan is not a good way to increase your 1 rep max a.k.a. strength. That is a good way to build endurance for that muscle group. But jumping 70-80 lbs in weight in one leap is not something muscles are generally ready for. But again, depends on what you are looking to accomplish.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: I seem to be able to bench a lot more when I incline the bench
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
It's more just lifting it up at all. For example, on an incline, I can bench 200 pounds a few times (say 8-12). Lying flat on my back, I can't even lift 200 pounds once. I always attributed to my very long arms.
Anak, not trying to call you out...again. But based on you doing 8-12 reps of 200 (I did the math at 8 reps and went at the higher end of a warm-up of 65%), that sets your 1 rep at about 310. Which is more than I can lift and while I don't bench often, I lift a lot. 310 is a shade more than I can back squat. 310 is not a huge number by any means, but it's also not chicken shit. If you can bench that, or 200 lbs 8-10 times, I have a hard time believing you are unable to move 200 lbs on your back even once. I'm sorry, but your numbers or something is off. Maybe by a lot.
I missed it, but I don't think anyone mentioned the most important thing. Eat more. How are you going to get stronger if you don't consume more energy? And I would avoid all these fancy exercises and routines. Keep it simple; don't reinvent the wheel. Often it leads to injury and poor shoulder mechanics. Look at Mark Rippetoe and his books.
thanks for all the feedback I should have gave more info
im 248 and can do 250 3 reps. Im 65 years old and want to try to hit 300 once again.
do progressive sets of twos. So next time to 255x2 for 3 sets. Time after that do 260x2 for 3 sets. Keep adding 5 pounds until you cant do all your sets (say 270-290 range?). Then the next time after that failure, do 255x3.
I don't care what anyway says... it's all about getting in as many sets as possible. I think on flat you want to try and do 8 sets. I also use rubber bands to help
Funny, because when I was lifting regularly I weighed around 164lbs, and 315 was always my goal, but 255 was the maximum I reached. If I had stuck with it, I think I could've reached that goal of three 45lb plates on each side, but my routine kept getting interrupted. That was twenty years ago.
Milton, while it might be a good workout for you, that plan is not a good way to increase your 1 rep max a.k.a. strength. That is a good way to build endurance for that muscle group. But jumping 70-80 lbs in weight in one leap is not something muscles are generally ready for.
Oftentimes I did a second "warmup" set at 185lbs, but I would only do a few reps at that weight, because I didn't want my muscles too taxed before I put the two 45lb plates on each side. Maybe it was purely psychological, but I wanted to be able to do at least one good set to exhaustion at 225 and I knew that if I had been pyramiding up, I wouldn't be able to.
This may explain...you may be pushing with your legs and using your core more when doing incline on a machine since it allows for terrible form without getting you killed, hence you are able to lift that much in incline form. Learn to do bench (both flat and incline) properly with either barbell or dumbbells, and you may see your lifts matching up to what is normal on benching (flat being stronger than incline).
This may explain...you may be pushing with your legs and using your core more when doing incline on a machine since it allows for terrible form without getting you killed, hence you are able to lift that much in incline form. Learn to do bench (both flat and incline) properly with either barbell or dumbbells, and you may see your lifts matching up to what is normal on benching (flat being stronger than incline).
I never learned the proper technique. No one ever taught me. I just started going to the gym and just winged it. I know, not the wisest choice, but alas.
4-6 sets of low reps (2-3 sets max) fairly close together
dumbells can also be helpful (heavy & closer to your body to protect your shoulders). might want to try one arm
might want to ask someone knowledgeable to watch you so they can identify weak links (shoulders, tris, legs, form) you can often pick up pounds simply by lifting w/proper form.
If you have a 1 rep max:
8 reps @ 55-65% of 1 rep max
6 reps 75% 1 rep max
4 reps @ 85% of 1 rep max
3 @ 90%
Then next time to establish new 1 rep do:
10 reps of 50%
6 reps @75%
3 @ 85%
1 @ 100% max 1 rep lift
--Repeat--
If you do NOT have a 1 rep, follow the first workout based on 125 lbs or whatever you feel you can lift at least once and then on the last set, lift as many times as you can. If you lift it 5 or less times, only move up by 2.5 lbs. If you move the weight 10 times or more, move up by 10 lbs. If you move it 15 times or more, move up 15-20 lbs.
The key is moving up fairly gradually. But if its super easy, be a little more aggressive. Moderation is the key. Hope this helps. It's what my gym goes by...CrossFit, but we do Olympic style lifts multiple times a week.
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline.
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline.
Haha. Exactly. Good lord.
You can bench more on a decline rep. Especially with long arms. Holy shit.
My advice - decrease the weight slightly and move your hands in on the bar. Work your triceps a bit more in conjunction with your chest.
Make sure you work in dumbbells to activate stabilizers. Alternate your arms, work machines, but measure your gains on the bench - not the Smith - negate your hands and find a good spotter who knows what he's doing.
Don't worry so much about inclining or declining your reps. You'll get to that.
What will give you the best gains are negatives on the bench, confused reps and spotted heavies.
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
That being said, they are worked secondarily in this exercise.
My question to you is, how are you failing? Is it because the secondary muscles are failing or because your chest muscles are failing?
If your form is right and you are failing due to secondary muscles, those need to be strengthened. You also want to make sure your rear delts are strong. They are a stabilizing muscle on the bench press as well.
As far as a chest routine, I've had great success with bench, then incline bench, then incline hammer superset into push-ups. I'd typically do 4 sets on the bench, 4 on the incline, and then 2-3 sets of that superset.
To spice thing up, sometimes I stayed on the flat bench for 5-6 sets and worked my way into heavy/low rep sets, skipped the incline, and went right to the incline hammer superset. Sometimes I'd do a cable fly - push-up superset instead. You just want to mix it up. It's also good to toss in a high rep-low weight set at the end of each exercise. And of course this all depends on time constraints and how many body parts in working in the day. Another good technique is negative reps. Take a weight you are comfortable benching 15 times. Lower it slowly and fight the weight, like 8 seconds down. Let it drop all the way to your chest so it's resting on it. Wait a second or two and explode up, that's one rep.
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
Quote:
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
I disagree with the bench press almost entirely. At virtually no point during a human being's life are they going to be asked to lift heavy while lying on their backs supported by a firm object. I find the exercise to be an unbelievably narcissistic routine. It requires no athleticism, no aerobics and guys who excel at bench look like they can barely wipe their own asses
That said, it is a part of the 6/7 general lifts that I do fairly regularly. If you want to use the bench as a measuring point for chest and shoulder strength? Ok. But you should be focusing your workouts around the press, push press, jerk and, for when you are ready to feel like you can punch a hole through the ceiling of heaven, thrusters. I did heavy thrusters the other day, and I swear Stallone has never groaned like I did getting up to my 2 rep heavy max.
Seriously. Follow the plan I had laid out before with press, then push press then jerk. Then follow the plan I laid out for your 1 rep on bench once a week or so. My guess is you'll be jumping 10 lbs a week for about 2 months before the increments get smaller.
Benching is literally one of the dumber measures of strength with the dumbest being dumbbell curls. Just look at the Olympic lifts: Clean & Jerk and Snatches...both Very athletic.
Quote:
In comment 12205700 Anakim said:
Quote:
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
Quote:
In comment 12205725 chopperhatch said:
Quote:
In comment 12205700 Anakim said:
Quote:
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
It's more just lifting it up at all. For example, on an incline, I can bench 200 pounds a few times (say 8-12). Lying flat on my back, I can't even lift 200 pounds once. I always attributed to my very long arms.
My thinking was that the only way I was going to be able to do four reps at 225 was if it was my first step. If I was "pyramiding up" the normal way, by the time I got to 225, my muscles would be too exhausted to manage more than a rep or two.
So the basic idea is to make sure you've done your stretching and banged out at least one good warmup set. And then pick the weight at which you think the maximum amount of reps you can manage is four or five and start with that weight. And then lower the weight from there at intervals that will allow you to do more and more reps. Make sure you have a spotter. Also--this should be the first exercise of your workout schedule.
DISCLAIMER: This system is not backed up by any research or professional in the field. It's just something that seemed to work for me when I was in my thirties and weighed around 160 pounds.
My thinking was that the only way I was going to be able to do four reps at 225 was if it was my first step. If I was "pyramiding up" the normal way, by the time I got to 225, my muscles would be too exhausted to manage more than a rep or two.
So the basic idea is to make sure you've done your stretching and banged out at least one good warmup set. And then pick the weight at which you think the maximum amount of reps you can manage is four or five and start with that weight. And then lower the weight from there at intervals that will allow you to do more and more reps. Make sure you have a spotter. Also--this should be the first exercise of your workout schedule.
DISCLAIMER: This system is not backed up by any research or professional in the field. It's just something that seemed to work for me when I was in my thirties and weighed around 160 pounds.
Milton, while it might be a good workout for you, that plan is not a good way to increase your 1 rep max a.k.a. strength. That is a good way to build endurance for that muscle group. But jumping 70-80 lbs in weight in one leap is not something muscles are generally ready for. But again, depends on what you are looking to accomplish.
Quote:
In comment 12205727 Anakim said:
Quote:
In comment 12205725 chopperhatch said:
Quote:
In comment 12205700 Anakim said:
Quote:
In comment 12205693 chopperhatch said:
[quote] In comment 12205661 Anakim said:
Quote:
So instead of lying down like on the bed and benching, I have it at like a 45 degree angle and bench. It works well and I have very long arms
This sounds like you are ready to hurt yourself...no offense. You should NOT be able to bench more at incline. [/quote
It's been working for me for over a year. I can't explain it. I just seem to bench more on the incline than I do lying flat on my back.
Anak, you simply CANNOT bench 1 rep max more on incline than flat. It's literally physiologically impossible unless your mechanics on your flat lift are way off or you're just not comfortable lifting from that position.
It might be that. I don't know nor was I ever taught the proper technique. I just know I can bench about 50 pounds more on an incline than I do flat on my back.
At one rep? Is it a heavy weight? I'm not calling you out but something is very wrong if that's the case.
I had a situation similar to that in that my heavy thruster is less than my strict press which makes NO sense...except that my mechanics were off. I had no explosion out of the pocket of my front squat and I was all arms finishing the lift. Since I corrected it, my thruster is at 50 lbs heavier than my press.
If you can 1 rep more from the incline than you can from your back, you are not putting enough on the bar when you are on your back. It just isn't possible.
It's more just lifting it up at all. For example, on an incline, I can bench 200 pounds a few times (say 8-12). Lying flat on my back, I can't even lift 200 pounds once. I always attributed to my very long arms.
Anak, not trying to call you out...again. But based on you doing 8-12 reps of 200 (I did the math at 8 reps and went at the higher end of a warm-up of 65%), that sets your 1 rep at about 310. Which is more than I can lift and while I don't bench often, I lift a lot. 310 is a shade more than I can back squat. 310 is not a huge number by any means, but it's also not chicken shit. If you can bench that, or 200 lbs 8-10 times, I have a hard time believing you are unable to move 200 lbs on your back even once. I'm sorry, but your numbers or something is off. Maybe by a lot.
im 248 and can do 250 3 reps. Im 65 years old and want to try to hit 300 once again.
im 248 and can do 250 3 reps. Im 65 years old and want to try to hit 300 once again.
do progressive sets of twos. So next time to 255x2 for 3 sets. Time after that do 260x2 for 3 sets. Keep adding 5 pounds until you cant do all your sets (say 270-290 range?). Then the next time after that failure, do 255x3.
I don't care what anyway says... it's all about getting in as many sets as possible. I think on flat you want to try and do 8 sets. I also use rubber bands to help
Same thing with squats
Yeah, a multi-press
Oftentimes I did a second "warmup" set at 185lbs, but I would only do a few reps at that weight, because I didn't want my muscles too taxed before I put the two 45lb plates on each side. Maybe it was purely psychological, but I wanted to be able to do at least one good set to exhaustion at 225 and I knew that if I had been pyramiding up, I wouldn't be able to.
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machine?
Yeah, a multi-press
This may explain...you may be pushing with your legs and using your core more when doing incline on a machine since it allows for terrible form without getting you killed, hence you are able to lift that much in incline form. Learn to do bench (both flat and incline) properly with either barbell or dumbbells, and you may see your lifts matching up to what is normal on benching (flat being stronger than incline).
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In comment 12205741 chopperhatch said:
Quote:
machine?
Yeah, a multi-press
This may explain...you may be pushing with your legs and using your core more when doing incline on a machine since it allows for terrible form without getting you killed, hence you are able to lift that much in incline form. Learn to do bench (both flat and incline) properly with either barbell or dumbbells, and you may see your lifts matching up to what is normal on benching (flat being stronger than incline).
I never learned the proper technique. No one ever taught me. I just started going to the gym and just winged it. I know, not the wisest choice, but alas.
4-6 sets of low reps (2-3 sets max) fairly close together
dumbells can also be helpful (heavy & closer to your body to protect your shoulders). might want to try one arm
might want to ask someone knowledgeable to watch you so they can identify weak links (shoulders, tris, legs, form) you can often pick up pounds simply by lifting w/proper form.