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Bench Press: Reps at Bodyweight

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Longhorn85

New member
Any value to this? My goal for years was to be able to bench 300lbs.

Now my goal is to get 20 reps at my bodyweight.

I weigh 225, and right now I'm at 12 reps. I've been picking up a rep pretty much every time I work pecs, so I hope I'll get it by years end.

If post-workout soreness is any indication, it's doing some good.
 
Hmmmmm......I have an idea, and it is NOT something I have every tried before or done. However, it would use progression principles, and it may help you reach your goal.

Week 1: You stated you can do 12 now. One minute later, do 1 more. Keep doing that until you have reached 25, which will take 13 additional minutes. The rest of the week, train your chest as you normally would.

Week 2: The following week, go for 13 on the first set. One minute later, do as many more as you can. After that, go back to your one per minute, until you have reached 25.

Week 3: Go for 14 on the first. As many as you can on the second and third sets. One per minute from the fourth set on, until 25.

Week 4: Retest and follow week 1 protocol. Only 1 rep per minute for the remaining reps. Consider it a "backoff" week to recuperate, and keep the rest of your chest workouts for the week much lighter to allow for full recovery.

From that point, keep repeating, as in week 2, week 3, week 4. Week 2, week 3, week 4. The variation is in the second and third sets to failure, which will be tough. The "week 4" protocol should help you deload for a week.

ANYone's thoughts or opinions on this would be appreciated!
 
nelmsjer said:
Hmmmmm......I have an idea, and it is NOT something I have every tried before or done. However, it would use progression principles, and it may help you reach your goal.

Week 1: You stated you can do 12 now. One minute later, do 1 more. Keep doing that until you have reached 25, which will take 13 additional minutes. The rest of the week, train your chest as you normally would.

Week 2: The following week, go for 13 on the first set. One minute later, do as many more as you can. After that, go back to your one per minute, until you have reached 25.

Week 3: Go for 14 on the first. As many as you can on the second and third sets. One per minute from the fourth set on, until 25.

Week 4: Retest and follow week 1 protocol. Only 1 rep per minute for the remaining reps. Consider it a "backoff" week to recuperate, and keep the rest of your chest workouts for the week much lighter to allow for full recovery.

From that point, keep repeating, as in week 2, week 3, week 4. Week 2, week 3, week 4. The variation is in the second and third sets to failure, which will be tough. The "week 4" protocol should help you deload for a week.

ANYone's thoughts or opinions on this would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea. I guess I've been doing something similar because after warming up I go for reps at 225, then I do 2 more sets at 225, usually 8 the 5. Maybe I'll do one or two reps at 275 after that.

I only work chest once a week.
 
being able to rep your body weight 20lbs will do very little to help you with your goal of beingh able to bench 300lbs. but if that is your goal, and not to get stronger, then good luck.


Longhorn85 said:
Any value to this? My goal for years was to be able to bench 300lbs.

Now my goal is to get 20 reps at my bodyweight.

I weigh 225, and right now I'm at 12 reps. I've been picking up a rep pretty much every time I work pecs, so I hope I'll get it by years end.

If post-workout soreness is any indication, it's doing some good.
Click to expand...
 
I utilize my bodyweight for reps as my last set of my heavy bench day (250x20) I do this and hold my breathe for all 20 reps to help lung expansion and to deplete my muscles of lactic acid. It has work great for my training.
 
Illuminati said:
being able to rep your body weight 20lbs will do very little to help you with your goal of beingh able to bench 300lbs. but if that is your goal, and not to get stronger, then good luck.
Click to expand...

I should have been more clear - already met my goal for a 300 lb bench last fall, this is my new mark on the wall.

I am now up to 14 reps at 225 (today).

So you don't think high reps increases muscular strength? What about muscular endurance? Also how do you think it will affect physique?

Thanks.
 
tribal 1 said:
I utilize my bodyweight for reps as my last set of my heavy bench day (250x20) I do this and hold my breathe for all 20 reps to help lung expansion and to deplete my muscles of lactic acid. It has work great for my training.
Click to expand...

Isn't holding your breath dangerous in a situation like this
 
train heavier and you'll get more reps with the light weight. More reps with 315 = more reps with 225.

More reps with 225 will almost certainly not mean more reps with 315.

hth
 
Tweakle said:
train heavier and you'll get more reps with the light weight. More reps with 315 = more reps with 225.

More reps with 225 will almost certainly not mean more reps with 315.

hth
Click to expand...

Ah, so maybe train with 6-8 reps at 250 progressing to 6-8 reps at 270 then try in 6 mos to check progress at 225? Good idea.

BTW, the reason I thought of trying this is because at the NFL combine one of the events is reps at 225. I want to see how I compare to NFL players about my size (6'1" 225).
 
Yeah, I tried it myself after reading about that.. I found doing the 225 as a backdown after a couple of heavier worksets was a good way to do it, becuase your CNS is so primed for a heavy load the 225 feels like 135. (take 15 mins break after the last workset)

good luck getting the target reps, 20 with bodyweight is a good goal.
 
Tweakle said:
Yeah, I tried it myself after reading about that.. I found doing the 225 as a backdown after a couple of heavier worksets was a good way to do it, becuase your CNS is so primed for a heavy load the 225 feels like 135. (take 15 mins break after the last workset)

good luck getting the target reps, 20 with bodyweight is a good goal.
Click to expand...

Great tips, thanks.
 
20 reps with my bodyweight seems like a dream to me...

hell i can't even do 10 reps with my bodyweight... i've never been condusive to bench press though... :(

a guy repping out 225 for 20 is damn impressive to me... especially if he weighs that or less...
 
Not real sure about the body weight for reps but i can do 27 reps with 225 pounds at a body weight of about 205 pounds. I will guess i could do about 33 to 37 reps with my body weight, at the end of my workout.
 
Longhorn85 said:
Any value to this? My goal for years was to be able to bench 300lbs.
Click to expand...

value. well, theres no real value of anything, unless you cherish it...

go for both, get the 300, and 20 reps of the BW. getting the 20 reps will be easier, depending on your body weight. neither of them go hand in hand.

step 2, train chest more then once a week, one day of heavy triples, one day of endurance or speed work.

also, train your triceps hard, they take almost half of the load. you also need a strong grip to bench alot, whoever says you dont knows nothing about strength, so get your wrists/grip stronger

and SQUAT!!!

my bw is 180, and i have done 225 for 25, just to see what was up.

you can also try reducing your BF. many more options...
 
interesting how people's builds go

i can hit 20 with 225 now, and this is post surgery

of course, my arms aren't really arms, they're stumps, and the damn military wants us to have [snide voice=kethnaab] anaerobic endurance[/snide voice]. :P

I would never really train for high reps, because I hate it.

I don't really know if I have anything worthwhile to contribute to this thread, except that doing high reps is nice once in awhile for your joints to give 'em a break.
 
TheOak84 said:
go for both, get the 300, and 20 reps of the BW. getting the 20 reps will be easier, depending on your body weight. neither of them go hand in hand.

step 2, train chest more then once a week, one day of heavy triples, one day of endurance or speed work.

also, train your triceps hard, they take almost half of the load. you also need a strong grip to bench alot, whoever says you dont knows nothing about strength, so get your wrists/grip stronger

and SQUAT!!!

..
Click to expand...

Already got 300 which is why I chose this new goal. I already squat, are you saying that will help me get 25x225?

I hear you on increasing the chest sessions, but I think once a week is what works best for me. I'm seeing good progress so far.

Thanks
 
i always do heavy chest workouts than as a burnout set rep out 225 like its goin out of style...i always get around 20 reps ...but im also 270, but im positive i can hit 275 over 15 times
 
Tried a different approach tonight. 10x225, 5x250,3x250. Then moved on to dips, incline flyes. I think starting next workout I'll eliminate the reps at 225, start at 250.

Then in a few weeks I'll take another shot at reps at 225.
 
training heavy will help your 225 rep alot. That is what i do and i can hit 225 28-29 times and plan on hitting it 35 by the end of the year. lifting heavy makes 225 feel like nothing. I do 225 test everyweek on a leg day after my chest has recovered. i do 5 sets on the bench and i go from 6 down to 2 rep and even 1 rep sets but really heavy sometimes even forced reps. I can hit 425 on the bench and i am gonna go for 455 very soon. good luck.
 
NFL combine was fun to watch on the nfl network, some lineman do 35 reps....jay culter the 3rd best QB in the draft did 23 reps at 225 I believe. QBs arent even asked to do bench press reps but if you can do that many...you do it!
 
Jeremy Freeman did 57 reps with 225. Of course, his rep range was this tiny little 4 inches of movement.
 
bigcountry61 said:
training heavy will help your 225 rep alot. That is what i do and i can hit 225 28-29 times and plan on hitting it 35 by the end of the year. lifting heavy makes 225 feel like nothing. I do 225 test everyweek on a leg day after my chest has recovered. i do 5 sets on the bench and i go from 6 down to 2 rep and even 1 rep sets but really heavy sometimes even forced reps. I can hit 425 on the bench and i am gonna go for 455 very soon. good luck.
Click to expand...

Wow, you're an animal to even think of trying bench on leg day. Thanks for the advice, as you can see by my log I have been focusing on heavier lifts. I'll give my 225 reps another shot in a few weeks.
 
letsrun4it said:
NFL combine was fun to watch on the nfl network, some lineman do 35 reps....jay culter the 3rd best QB in the draft did 23 reps at 225 I believe. QBs arent even asked to do bench press reps but if you can do that many...you do it!
Click to expand...

I don't have the NFL network but I would like to have seen that. Like AAP said, I wonder how the form was for most of them? Do they judge that at all?
 
15 Mar: 2x265,2x270,2x280,1x285; DIPS (3x12). Felt great and form was strict, but I am sure I could have added one rep to each set had I used a spotter, which I rarely do. These reps might be too low?
 
20 Mar: 3 x 265, 2 x 275, 1 x 290; DIPS (4 x 12). Felt great again but I've got some major stiffness in the right collar bone area. May have to wait a full week until the next chest workout.
 
Longhorn85 said:
I don't have the NFL network but I would like to have seen that. Like AAP said, I wonder how the form was for most of them? Do they judge that at all?
Click to expand...

The form was ok, it wasnt like a weight lifting competition where you gotta have the pause, but had to keep a flat back and touch your chest, so typical high school level bench press protocol..good enough
 
I saw this thread a couple days ago and it got me thinking about repping out with 225 again. I havent done it in probably almost a year. So last night this is what i did for a chest workout. I was pretty smoked by the time i got to the rep-out, so ill post what i did before it so you have some idea what i went through first
warmup
135x8x2
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x1

add shirt / 3"board
365x3
405x3
455x3
495x1
2.5"board
495x1

triceps and shoulders are blasted, but i figured i might as well try it after my cns was used to handling 500 pounds, 225 felt like air at first.

225x20 could have gotten 2-3 more, but it burned sooooo bad i was just like fuck that lol.

I weigh 198, so i figure i could get my bodyweight fresh for probably 35-40reps.
 
Very impressive I think could hang with you for your first set (up to 315), but you're on your own for the second part.

That seems like a lot of warming up, why spend do many reps in the <300 range?
 
lots of warmups is a good thing, you want the blood in the muscles and joints nice and warm. as long as your not going too heavy and doing too many reps for warmups its great. All too often i see some guy in the gym who wants to max out, so he loads 135 and does it for 10, then 225 for 10 then 275 to failure(like 4-5) and then 315 for 1 hideous rep. What the fuck is the point of that? it should be like 135x8, 185x5, 225x5, 275x1, 315x? guarantee it'd be more than 1 shitty rep.

maybe your thinking i am going heavier that i should for the warmups? which is exactly what they are for me, i can do 315 for 8-10 good reps, 1 is definatly just a warmup, so no i dont think my warmup scheme is too much.

also going up in smaller weight increments (25-50lbs) is much better for the CNS. Meaning, big jumps the weight feels heavier, smaller jumps, your body adapts and it doesnt "feel" as heavy.
 
|3ossman said:
225x20 could have gotten 2-3 more, but it burned sooooo bad i was just like fuck that lol.
Click to expand...

Strained my right shoulder back in March so I had to back off for a while but now I'm fine. I'm back up to 225x10 easy so I hope to see 15 reps by Labor Day and still on track to make my goal of 20 by year's end.
 
Want to hear something insane? There was a guy that played football for Miami University in Ohio that just got drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. During one of the NFL tests they have to bench 225 lbs for as many reps as they can. I dont know his bodyweight, but in his picture he didnt look to be over 245 lbs max. He managed to bench 225 lbs for 45 reps! Sweet jesus, I couldnt even squat that much and I weigh 230 lbs now.
 
maldorf said:
Want to hear something insane? There was a guy that played football for Miami University in Ohio that just got drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. During one of the NFL tests they have to bench 225 lbs for as many reps as they can. I dont know his bodyweight, but in his picture he didnt look to be over 245 lbs max. He managed to bench 225 lbs for 45 reps! Sweet jesus, I couldnt even squat that much and I weigh 230 lbs now.
Click to expand...

That is freakish! The NFL combine bench press test is my inspiration for this training goal. I weigh about the same as you do so I figure 20 reps is a good goal. 45 is ridiculous!
Phaded said:
i can rep 335 x 5 and 225 x 12 what gives?
Click to expand...

Impressive. With 335 x 5 I would have guessed that you can get more at 225 though.

At what point in your routine do you rep out at 225?
 
Longhorn85 said:
Impressive. With 335 x 5 I would have guessed that you can get more at 225 though.

At what point in your routine do you rep out at 225?
Click to expand...

actually i have never tried more ill rep out as many i as i can at the gym today..
 
forgot to do it.. i repped 120 lb dumbells incline x 6 today instead :)
 
I think i heard somewhere that for the combine the players usually wear heavy and thick sweatshirts so they can bounce the weight off so they can record more reps. Anyone know if this is true??
 
It wouldn't surprise me at all, but I've never watched the combine. I think they televise it on ESPN now. The clips I've seen show most of the guys wearing UA shirts.
 
225 x 12 today after a couple of warmup sets. I did cardio before lifting today so I was a little winded.

Next workout: 14 reps!
 
Been awhile since Ive posted so I figured what the hell.....My bench has taken a phenominal leap forward lately.Hit 485 for a double and 500 for a single (raw).I do reps with 225 as my last set on heavy day I have done 42. As I said earlier in this post I hold my breath on every set I do, I do this to build lung copasity. I found this to be very important when staying tight in your benchpress. I benched Sat and did 20 reps with 315 as a last set.
 
tribal 1 said:
I do reps with 225 as my last set on heavy day I have done 42. As I said earlier in this post I hold my breath on every set I do, I do this to build lung copasity. I found this to be very important when staying tight in your benchpress.
Click to expand...


I'll have to try that next time. I have it ingrained in my mind to exhale as I exert while lifting.

42 reps at 225 is just sick. What is your bodyweight?
 
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