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Benching and me

Eric1987

New member
So I weigh 155 I usually start out repping 145x7 and go down and do however many I can of 135. I maxed out at I think 180. Does that sound bad? I want to be able to bench 200 like I do 145. I know there is a bunch of ways but I want to know personal ways. I read the deadlift that sounds interesting. And curling. I usually do 35 pounds 10x then go down to 30 pounds and do that 7x. Is that good? I am 5"9'. Sorry if I missed something.
 
First off if you can bench more than your bodyweight you are doing pretty well.

Secondly doing one set and then going back down in weight is not going to increase your strength very much. I'd suggest either a classic pyramid (10,8,6,4,6,8) or the 5x5 with increased weight on each set.

Deadlifting will make your body stronger overall and help improve your bench as will squatting. Make sure to work your back and shoulder hard as well as they are the big assisters on bench.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
5x5 with increased weight? Like do 5 reps then increase the weight? To 5 sets? And where would I even start on the pyramid? 115? I do millitary press is that good for shoulders? I dont know any back work outs.
 
5x5 with increased weight? Like do 5 reps then increase the weight? To 5 sets? And where would I even start on the pyramid? 115? I do millitary press is that good for shoulders? I dont know any back work outs.

MP is great for the shoulders. Sounds like your new to working out so welcome to this fantastic life. What is your workout split? upper/lower or like a 5x wk each day a muscle group? this will help us determine some back workouts for you.

As for the bench when you do a 5x5 split do this..

8x 90lbs (warm-up)
5x 100
5x 110
5x 115
5x 135
5x 140

this is based on your 180lb 1 rep max...increase the weight every week your doing 5x5's. enjoy :P
 
Well basically what we do is...WHen we get to the gym we do usually 135 or 145 however many times we can. Then we go to the bar bells and do some curls. Then we do triceps then go back to biceps. Then we do abs. We sometimes do military. Thats about it. We dont really have a routine though. I did weight training in high school for wrestling. Not too much though. We only do upper body. I never do my legs. We go around 2-3x a week. I know its pretty bad. I am still new so I'm tryin.
 
Scotsman said:
First off if you can bench more than your bodyweight you are doing pretty well.

Secondly doing one set and then going back down in weight is not going to increase your strength very much. I'd suggest either a classic pyramid (10,8,6,4,6,8) or the 5x5 with increased weight on each set.

Deadlifting will make your body stronger overall and help improve your bench as will squatting. Make sure to work your back and shoulder hard as well as they are the big assisters on bench.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Is that a fact? About Benching your own weight?
Im about 100kgs. And I do that same weight for 3x5.

Id like to be able to do more but I continually put more weight on. And with that my bench goes up to the sme weight like a month later.
 
if you compare yourself to joe average, then benching your bodyweight for reps is an ok achievement.... may not be fantastic for us iron warriors, but it's something to start with.
 
deathdroprob said:
Is that a fact? About Benching your own weight?
Im about 100kgs. And I do that same weight for 3x5.

Id like to be able to do more but I continually put more weight on. And with that my bench goes up to the sme weight like a month later.


I can't remember the exact figures but it's something like 80% of the population(men) can't bench their own bodyweight. I'll see if I can locate the figures.

Most college football programs use this as their gold standard for strength:

Bench 1.5 xBW
Dead 2x BW
Squat 2.5x BW

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
I would really get on the 5*5 the program your on now isnt going to cut it. With the 5*5 you need to know your one rep and five rep maxes for squat, deadlift, row, bench, and incline bench, or military press. I would go with military press. Then you just plug those numbers in and you have 9 weeks worth of goals.
 
Bro, this is a link to Sean Phillips program "How to add 40 lbs to your bench in 6 weeks"

http://www.geocities.com/~slopitch/mm2k/

This is a goofy little program that showed up in 1995... and it works for EVERYBODY that does it. If you want your bench to go up... follow this progam to the letter and you will be benching 30 to 40 lbs more in 7-8 weeks.

This isn't a program for an advanced lifter... but for beginners and guys with moderate development this is one of those magic programs that works for everybody.

I think a real key to the success of this program is that for a lot of guys for the first time it incorporates aspects of PL philosophy of training into what they are doing.

All I can say is - just do it. You will gain from it and you will learn from it.
 
Thank you guys you have been a big help. If I could go up 40 pounds that would be fantastic. Should I do the 5x5 for benching then be done for the day? Or do that and 5x5 millitary? Not sure whats a good routine for days.
 
Bro, the Sean Philips program isn't a 5 x 5. It's something completely different. It's based on a program designed by a college football coach who had more 600 lbs benchers than anybody else in college football history.

It's meant to be a ladder... something you use for 7-8 weeks to take you to a new place in how much weight you can work with.

5 X 5 is pretty much my favorite training style... but for making a significant improvement in your bench max in a short time... I'd seriously suggest you read through the "40 lbs" program. There is a lot people can learn from power lifters and strong men.
 
Hi I weigh 220/230 and easily bench more than that for 6 sets X 8 reps.

I think with bench you have to be carefull about technique and stck a short vid on my blog www.freefitnessguru.com/blog/

I hope its OK to post that here - its just a youtube vid. If you use proper technique its easy to bench your body weight.
 
i just started the 3x5 that was written up in the stickies a few weeks ago and you sound like your in the same area i am. i read the sticky got a notebook and started out on lightweights for lifts i was so sure on and so far im lovin it.. if i dont stall out in a few months i should have some impressive numbers to share with you all.. i really think that being a noob at lifting that i am this journal of numbers and the 5lb increase every lifting day is great. i recommend it
 
FreeFitnessGuru said:
Hi I weigh 220/230 and easily bench more than that for 6 sets X 8 reps.

I think with bench you have to be carefull about technique and stck a short vid on my blog www.freefitnessguru.com/blog/

I hope its OK to post that here - its just a youtube vid. If you use proper technique its easy to bench your body weight.

I dont see anything for benching techniques....And 5x5 but you go up to higher weight. I want to be more bulk than cut so I do heavier weights? I want to get around benching 200 pounds 4-5x then I'll be satisfied with myself. What about curling? I usually do 35 pounds 7-10 times then do 30 pounds 7-10 times then I'm done.

EDIT: Just got back from the gym and I did that 5x5 benching and I did it without much of a problem. Is that normal?
 
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the 5x5 is an entire routine.. to do just 1 exercise of it is just goofy i think.. your supposed to do the 6 *i believe* exercises listed and follow the steps for each one as far as weight increase and then u continue following it for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE or until max out and wish to try somthing new.. but id stick with it for a few months atleast until you stall
 
What do you mean its an entire routine? I did the whole 5x5 listed on the first page and then some. I did 145x5 and then 155x3.
 
Okay thank you. I appreciate everyones help! I'll definetly post up my updates. I'll probably post again when I reach my goal of benching 200x5! Does that show the whole upper body? Thats what I'm lookin for really...
 
He means eating a shitload all day every day (clean food of course). All your lifts will go up when you do that.
 
Eric1987 said:
by turning into a pig? What do you mean?


Gaining weight makes you stronger to a point. Add a good 10-15 lbs of bodyweight even just fat and all your lifts will go up.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
Oh that....LOL my friend at work thinks weight has nothing to do with how much you lift. I told him hes stupid and it has a lot to do. I want to have a nice looking body too so I cant do that. 155 too skinny for being 5'9"?
 
As long as its just soar its normal, if its a deep pain then thats not good.

Heres my work out you can try it if youd like.

monday-chest
flat bb 4X3
incline db 3X5
low rack lock outs- 3X1

Tues- back/bi`s
dead lift-3X3
T-bar- 3x5
lat pull down-3X8
BB rows 2X6
ez-bar curl-3X6
hammer curl-3X10

wed off

thurs-
shoulders/tri`s
db shoulder press-5X5
standing behind neck bb press 4x5
shrugs- 4X10
close grip- 5x3
high rack lock outs-4*1
You can do some skull crushers or pull downs if you like keep it at 2x15 tho

fri-off

sat-legs
Squat- 5x5
box squats-5X5
Calves 5*30

sun-off
 
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