How to lift for STRENGTH only

[Jayhawk21]

I have just turned 24 and got a deskjob so it's been easier to me to pack weight on lately. I've gained some weight, but it hasn't really equivalented into great strength gains. I have been stuck in between 175 and 185 for the last 3 years. NOTHING I do in the gym matters. It really doesn't. As long as I lift and eat I maintain. If I don't eat, I lose weight and strength. That is all there is too it. I've tried to lift bodybuilder like with no luck, actually losing strength and weight.(I don't know how guys gain weight with bodybuilder routines, I can't even fathom it) Tried 5x5, and a bunch of other training methods. No luck really. So I've had it, all I want to do is bench 300 pounds one time in my life. That is all. Sure, if I eat more I gain more weight and bench more. But when I weigh 175 I benched about 250, now I'm 185 and I bench 260. So 10 pounds of BW and 10 pounds on the bench is not a good ratio. I'd have to weigh 240 before I could bench 300. How do you train STRICTLY for strength training only on the bench. I already do very little isolation mainly focusing on military presses, squats, deads, rows, etc. I'm sick and tired of being stuck in the jam. It seems if I eat more, I get stronger, but more fatter.

 

[anotherbutters]

Good training ought to get you stronger whether you're eating more to get bigger or not. I suspect you're not following the programs you've tried properly and you're probably being too optimistic with the weights and you're starting too high, not giving yourself enough of a lead up to your existing PRs. Tell us what weights you used during one of your training attempts.

 

[mad dipz]

I have just turned 24 and got a deskjob so it's been easier to me to pack weight on lately. I've gained some weight, but it hasn't really equivalented into great strength gains. I have been stuck in between 175 and 185 for the last 3 years. NOTHING I do in the gym matters. It really doesn't. As long as I lift and eat I maintain. If I don't eat, I lose weight and strength. That is all there is too it. I've tried to lift bodybuilder like with no luck, actually losing strength and weight.(I don't know how guys gain weight with bodybuilder routines, I can't even fathom it) Tried 5x5, and a bunch of other training methods. No luck really. So I've had it, all I want to do is bench 300 pounds one time in my life. That is all. Sure, if I eat more I gain more weight and bench more. But when I weigh 175 I benched about 250, now I'm 185 and I bench 260. So 10 pounds of BW and 10 pounds on the bench is not a good ratio. I'd have to weigh 240 before I could bench 300. How do you train STRICTLY for strength training only on the bench. I already do very little isolation mainly focusing on military presses, squats, deads, rows, etc. I'm sick and tired of being stuck in the jam. It seems if I eat more, I get stronger, but more fatter.

I wish I can squat 600 one day

 

[Protobuilder]

I feel your pain on this one. Big time.

If you're eating, and gaining weight, and training, but not going anywhere, your training sucks. Plain and simple. You will have to find what works for you. The hard part is, it might be a moving target. It might work for you "now" but not work for you two months down the road. I don't know what to tell you. Take what you're doing, and do the opposite for awhile. See what happens.

 

[Steviemh]

Try lifting heavier weight with less reps...for example if you max bench is 260 try going 3X3 with 210 lbs.,230 lbs., and 250 lbs. you probably wont get the last set, butif you don't push your muscle to the exhaustion point you will never get stronger you will just maintain, also try to throw a negative in there about 1 EOW.
Thanks,
Stevie

 

[Micker]

I have the same problem as you basically. I weigh between 180-185(5'7") and can't get past 275 for the bench press. All my other exercises seem to increase, but BP is at a ceiling. I can deadlift over 450lbs, curl 120 for 10 good reps etc., but I also can't reach my goal of 300lb bench.

I know with the BP, leverage is a huge issue. Some peoples bodies have the right shape to really get maximum leverage while bp'ing and some are not designed very efficently for the BP. I also read an article long ago about wrist size and bp max. It said you can tell someones max bp potential by the size of their wrist, the bigger the wrist the more weight they could potentially bench. I have VERY small wrist, not making excuses, but it makes me wonder.

I'm sure if I went gung ho and did westside BB routines, I would go up, but the bench is something that my body just doesn't naturally excel at.

 

[beerdrinker]

I'm sure if I went gung ho and did westside BB routines, I would go up, but the bench is something that my body just doesn't naturally excel at.

Well, either you want it or you don't.

 

[Micker]

Well, either you want it or you don't.

Well, I go as gung ho as I can and still keep my motivation to lift. My point was that if I wanted it bad enough I probably could have done it, like you said, but I didn't feel I should have to break my balls to bench 300lbs., when my other lifts seem to go up fine. I did a 5x5 and upped my max from 245 to 275, did another 5x5 and went down to 270(colds etc). Been lifting since and my bench kinda hits this ceiling and without a special focus/training, it just doesn't go anywhere.

I don't let it bother me too much. My main goal is to keep lifting and keep my body looking good. Its so easy to stop lifting due to colds, work, burnout etc.. I have been working out for over 3 yrs now(35 yrs old, took about 10yrs off) and I will never quit again. I'm not going to use steroids or kill myself to reach a bp goal and jepordize my health or my outlook on lifting. I hope to get there someday, but if I don't, at least I will be a very muscular 70yr old man who can still get an erection ;p.

 

[jackangel]

a few general things occur to me. they may or may not apply to you:

1. form. specifically, benching form. from what little i've read or experienced, i gather there are a few things that one should do in order to use the force his muscles generate most efficiently in the bench press. examples include: bringing your arms in to the body (approximately 45 degrees), bringing the bar down to your lower chest/upper abs, activating your lats and actively using them to help press the weight up at the bottom of the movement, using leg drive, etc.

2. training approach in general. if strength is your only concern, then you're going to train more like a pl/wl as oppoosed to a bber. as others have mentioned, that does mean working in a lower rep range and with heavier weights. the important thing to keep in mind here is that you don't want to over-train by exhausting your CNS. so that means you'll either need to go heavy for a few weeks, and then back off according to some schedule...to give your body (not just nervous system, but joints, etc.) time to recover. if not that, then you'll need to vary the specific kinds of exercises you do from workout to workout or week to week. powerlifters (west side, for example, i think) train heavy year-round, but they don't just max out on bench every week...they variations which serve as max effort movements for a given day, with each one working a different part of the bench press ROM.

3. assistance work. the bench press requires the cooperation of various sets of muscle groups together...triceps, shoulders, chest, lats. doing specific work to target weaker muscles will help strengthen 'weak links' in your bench.

4. diet. as an aside to the above points, if your diet can use improvement, it may allow you to get stronger through increasing muscle mass as well, but without unnecessary fat gain. you will, of course, gain some fat, but there's no need to gain a lot. perhaps you can post that up on the diet board and get feedback. if you can eat more cleanly and build muscle, then perhaps lean out and maintain strength for a while, you can find a way to get stronger while staying between 180-200 (as an example).

 

[Oceano]

concentrate on dumbells and cable to develop your core power

this will pay dividends in the long run

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I wouldn't get too caught up with a 300lbs bench press, at least to the point it frustrates you to no end.

Are you hitting your body hard with squats and deadlifts? The stronger your back and whole body gets the better your bench will get if you are training it.

Also it would help if you described you upper body build. I know noone likes to be told you can't do something or are incapable of it, but some people truly are not built to do certain things quite to the level they might like?

I know a powerlifter that can raw deadlift 500lbs and squat 400lbs that has been training consistently for years that cannot bench 225lbs and that is his lifetime goal.

BUT, I don't think this applies to you at all. 260lbs bench at 185lbs is very good for a non competitive gym lifter like yourself.

IF you truly want 300 make sure you are getting stronger on your squats and deadlifts, eat to gain and get alot of protein and keep hitting the bench hard. My guess is that by 200lbs bodyweight you'll bench 300 if you have strengthened your whole body as you grew in size.

One other thign I coudl recommend is taek your main focus off bench for 6 months and do heavy squats in your workout before every thing else. Keep hitting the bench hard, but always do a hard full body lift first in your workout to drive total body gains. This might help.

 

[Guinness5.0]

I hate to be corny, but keep a positive mental attitude. You WILL get 300 if you want it bad enough. It's not a ridiculous goal, but it will take education and dedication. I can say from similar exoerience (wanting a 500 deadlift) that it can seem maddening to be within shooting distance of a goal only to be see it slip away time after time.

I juicd before I saw my goal. I'm not saying you should do the same. I would have hit it without, and have done so enough far enough removed from my last cycle to know that I could do it natty. If the goal is to do it clean, you will. Find your weak spot and make it a strength.

Where are you stalling? If it;s right of the chest, you may have relatively weak lats. If it's the middle portion, it's likely your chest/shoulders. If it;s lockout, you probaly need more tricep strength.

I would look into Westside if I were you. Keep in mind that as a raw (no bench shirt) lifter that many of the standard PL techniques will not apply.

300 will be yours if your will permits it.

 

[Jayhawk21]

I wouldn't get too caught up with a 300lbs bench press, at least to the point it frustrates you to no end.

Are you hitting your body hard with squats and deadlifts? The stronger your back and whole body gets the better your bench will get if you are training it.

Also it would help if you described you upper body build. I know noone likes to be told you can't do something or are incapable of it, but some people truly are not built to do certain things quite to the level they might like?

I know a powerlifter that can raw deadlift 500lbs and squat 400lbs that has been training consistently for years that cannot bench 225lbs and that is his lifetime goal.

BUT, I don't think this applies to you at all. 260lbs bench at 185lbs is very good for a non competitive gym lifter like yourself.

IF you truly want 300 make sure you are getting stronger on your squats and deadlifts, eat to gain and get alot of protein and keep hitting the bench hard. My guess is that by 200lbs bodyweight you'll bench 300 if you have strengthened your whole body as you grew in size.

One other thign I coudl recommend is taek your main focus off bench for 6 months and do heavy squats in your workout before every thing else. Keep hitting the bench hard, but always do a hard full body lift first in your workout to drive total body gains. This might help.

Yeah, I do the deadlifts and the squats every week. I hit them hard for a while, then lay off. Usually do 4 sets of deads 245, 285, 315, 385 for 5-8 sets. I try to focus on compound movements. I've actually got up to 192 and 270-275 naturally from gulping a whole lot of weight gainer and food. A year and a half ago I got up to 189 and benched 280 on Oral Turanabol. Only cycle I ever did. But when I went on vacation for just one week I lost pretty much the 10 pounds I gained...so definitely not a route I'm going to do again. I don't feel roid gain is real attainable unless you are really crazy anal and don't ever take time off or vacation, at least someone like me.

My upper body build is if I had a bad weakness, is probably my arms. They are unproportiately smaller. I have small wrists, very small boned, so thats just how it goes.

I guess I'll take a look at that Westside Training, see what that is about.

 

[Illuminati]

Yeah, I do the deadlifts and the squats every week. I hit them hard for a while, then lay off. Usually do 4 sets of deads 245, 285, 315, 385 for 5-8 sets. I try to focus on compound movements. I've actually got up to 192 and 270-275 naturally from gulping a whole lot of weight gainer and food. A year and a half ago I got up to 189 and benched 280 on Oral Turanabol. Only cycle I ever did. But when I went on vacation for just one week I lost pretty much the 10 pounds I gained...so definitely not a route I'm going to do again. I don't feel roid gain is real attainable unless you are really crazy anal and don't ever take time off or vacation, at least someone like me.

My upper body build is if I had a bad weakness, is probably my arms. They are unproportiately smaller. I have small wrists, very small boned, so thats just how it goes.

I guess I'll take a look at that Westside Training, see what that is about.

stop doing so much rep work. get down to doing triples, and singles for compound movements. if you want rep work, do it in your accessory movements, and not your compound movements (your squats, deads, and bench).
to make your bench go up, you need to strengthen everything. leg drive is important for a big bench. look at some of the people who can throw up huge numbers on the bench. all of them can squat an ass load of weight.

 

[coolcolj]

I bet most progress or lack of progress is due to not recovering or training too much.....

people rarely undertrain

 

[calder]

Strength training 101-

find out what your 1 reps max is. Bench once a week. Do 3-4 sets working between 80%-95% of your 1rm. Reps between 1-5. Cycle your intensity.

sample cycle-
week 1- 80%- 4 sets 5
week 2 - 85% -4 sets 3
week 4- 90% - 4 sets 2
week 5- 95%- 5 sets of 1
week 6- unload- 70% 4 sets 4
week 7- max effort- hit a new max.

 

[Illuminati]

Strength training 101-

find out what your 1 reps max is. Bench once a week. Do 3-4 sets working between 80%-95% of your 1rm. Reps between 1-5. Cycle your intensity.

sample cycle-
week 1- 80%- 4 sets 5
week 2 - 85% -4 sets 3
week 4- 90% - 4 sets 2
week 5- 95%- 5 sets of 1
week 6- unload- 70% 4 sets 4
week 7- max effort- hit a new max.

not always the best idea. who is to say that on week 7, you are not feeling 100%, or injured, and then you can't hit a max?

 

[mekannik]

Bench program: based off of current max

Warmup: rest between sets=as fast as possible
bar X 20
50% x 8
60% x 5
75% x 3
90% x 1

Neural: rest between sets=2 to 3 minutes
95% of max x 1
95% of max x 1
95% of max x 1
95% of max x 1

First workout is 4 singles, if you make them all, add another single the next week. Work up to 8 singles in a workout. Max out 7-10 days after last workout

Hypertrophy: rest between sets 2 minutes
75% for 5x5

Following workout can be at same weight (if you did not make all reps) or increase by 5% if all reps are completed.

 

[perp69]

Check out the benching sticky in the powerlifting section. Got some good advice on improving bench.

Perp

 

[fortunatesun]

Lot's of good advice in here already. I just want to add something about diet. As you've noticed, desk job is a major lifestyle change. Also, what worked for you 3-4 years ago isn't necessarily going to be the same, even with everything else being equal. I don't know if you've done this, but it might be worth your time to review your food intake plan: what you eat and how much.
Diet doesn't have to be rigid. For instance, you could try a few weeks at +100-300 cal. ed to see if it helps jumpstart thing in the gym and then cut back at -100-300 when necessary. Cycling your diet through smaller increments this way allows you to burn fuel more efficiently and avoids potential disasters.

 

[markshark]

I have the same problem as you basically. I weigh between 180-185(5'7") and can't get past 275 for the bench press. All my other exercises seem to increase, but BP is at a ceiling. I can deadlift over 450lbs, curl 120 for 10 good reps etc., but I also can't reach my goal of 300lb bench.

I know with the BP, leverage is a huge issue. Some peoples bodies have the right shape to really get maximum leverage while bp'ing and some are not designed very efficently for the BP. I also read an article long ago about wrist size and bp max. It said you can tell someones max bp potential by the size of their wrist, the bigger the wrist the more weight they could potentially bench. I have VERY small wrist, not making excuses, but it makes me wonder.

I'm sure if I went gung ho and did westside BB routines, I would go up, but the bench is something that my body just doesn't naturally excel at.

i agree i have very small wrists as well. the best ive ever done on bench press was 255 for 4, 5 with help from a spotter, with good form and not cheating. i have a friend who weighs less than i do (im at about 183) and he weighs 176 and throws up 255 for 10 easy mainly because he has naturally wide lats, wide shoulders and yes, large veiny ass forearms....and a perfect 6 pack to boot. pisses me off.