How to lift for STRENGTH only

[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.