Help! -- Bench advice.

[eat big]

So I did the bench competition today and got 330. Won my weight class but didn't win the whole event. People told me I had potential because I have two more years to win it at my school. So I liked this event and am thinking of going powerlifting instead of pseudo-bodybuilding. Right now I have a bench routine like this:

Incline Bench 5x5
Flat Bench 5x5
Decline 3x12
Cable Flyes 3x12
Inc DB Flye 3x12

What general routine would you suggest for power and strength and I'm thinking of using chains or bands. If chains, can I just get any chains at a hardware store? How long? Thanks, I appreciate any advice.

 

[djeclipse]

330 is an impressive and even more impressive for 19.

I can't help you with your benching routine but I know when I started doing standing military pres it really helped my bench.

 

[eat big]

Anyone have any links to some powerlifting bench routines? Any info on chains?

 

[Guinness5.0]

Keep the bands/chains in mind, but there's nothing magic about 'em. You'd be best served, IMO, by jsut doing a little PL focued training. In the course of learning about PL, you'l learn where you weknesses are, why they're there (meaning what muscles need work) and how to address them.

Check out this thread that Illuminati put up:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=469668

I bet if you run westside for a bit you'll likely find that training like a PL is better for bodybuilding than training like a bodybuilder

 

[TheOak84]

use bands, speed work, chains, blocks, different grips, and intensities to gain strenght.

doin just plain bench press is fine, but it can only take u so far. i found that changing the way i do the lift every 4 weeks works wonders. it also takes alot of time.

for instance i gained 20 pounds on my dead lift in the past 6 weeks. i did 3 weeks of pulls off a 4 inch block (5x5, 3x3, 3x5) and 3 weeks of heavy rack pulls (3x3 for 3 weeks). tested my max today, 20 pounds more.

im sure if i just stuck with plain old 5x5 or w/e for 6-8 weeks, it wouldnt have improved as much as fast. id like 20 pounds every six weeks forever, but ill have to wait and see how it goes.

the moral of the story, try many things. although what works for me may not work for another

 

[eat big]

use bands, speed work, chains, blocks, different grips, and intensities to gain strenght.

doin just plain bench press is fine, but it can only take u so far. i found that changing the way i do the lift every 4 weeks works wonders. it also takes alot of time.

for instance i gained 20 pounds on my dead lift in the past 6 weeks. i did 3 weeks of pulls off a 4 inch block (5x5, 3x3, 3x5) and 3 weeks of heavy rack pulls (3x3 for 3 weeks). tested my max today, 20 pounds more.

im sure if i just stuck with plain old 5x5 or w/e for 6-8 weeks, it wouldnt have improved as much as fast. id like 20 pounds every six weeks forever, but ill have to wait and see how it goes.

the moral of the story, try many things. although what works for me may not work for another

Okay, I'm gonna try different speeds, bands and chains.

 

[newbie210]

Do dips (weighted) too, try leaning forward to put more pressure on your chest. focus on core lifts, they tend to improve overall strength...just my thoughts

 

[sidney61199]

When I hit a wall I switch from normal free weights (barbells) to dumbells to the smith machine. I just keep switching up till I hit a wall in each one. I was stuck at 225 for a long time but just kept switching and in a month I jumped to 245+ (varies day to day but 245 for sure). One huge thing is to hit the dumbells when your stuck. They isolate so much better than anyting else, for example if you bench 330lbs that is 165lbs per arm. Try doing flat bench with 165lb dumbbells, its unheard of (unless your hitting the juice). Just give it a shot and see what you think (the switching up thing, not 165lb dumbbells).

 

[eat big]

Thanks for the suggestions, K when I can. Only problem is my gym doesn't have dumbells above 90. It's a college gym.

 

[sidney61199]

If you can rep out 10 to 12 with 90lb dumbbells your doing pretty good. If you can just keep going till your chest really starts to burn.

 

[eat big]

If you can rep out 10 to 12 with 90lb dumbbells your doing pretty good. If you can just keep going till your chest really starts to burn.

Yeah, I figure I'll probably do low reps, use chains and work on speed on the barbell and high reps using dumbells.

 

[gstacker]

my gym doesnt have chains i wonder what kinda looks i would get if i walked into the gym with a bunch of chains? i want to give it a shot id like to bring my bench up 30lbs more this year