Lagging bench press

[Cuda]

Iam hitting chest twice a week flat and incline dumbbell presses,flat and incline dumbbell flyes and flat and incline bench press usally do bench first.Three sets of 5 to 6 reps.
I just feel like my bench isnt where it should be for my size.Have got a few pointers like thumbs under bar and elbows in,Lighten the weight and do more sets and reps & board presses.
What has worked best for you? Please share I wanna hit the 350 mark by summer.
Cuda

[getthepump40]

Switch it up man

Do cables, work those shoulders ex. military press and other workouts that will help support your bench. and at the end of your workout you should do negatives....(heavy weight reverse bench) just have someone to lift it for you and go as slow down AS POSSIBLE.


might wanna burnout with light weight at the end of bench also throw a 45 with alot of 10's (maybe a 25 also depends) and have friends take them off every so many reps. and don't rack it have a spotter when you can't throw it up anymore

GOOD LUCK!

[Ronn]

At the risk of stating the obvious, train chest first so it's fresh.

But more constructively, what helped me was noting where I tended to "fail" on my max's (or last reps in low-rep sets). If I failed out with the bar close to my chest, I hit more dumbbell work focusing on the pec’s. If I failed out closer to lockout, I hit more triceps work.

I have a nice 48 in chest, but I can't bench 300--never had a great bench either. Sometimes it's not just about size/strength but the mechanics of our joint structure that is the limiting factor.

Ronn

[Elite Power]

a tip to increase bench is to train your shoulders and triceps. they are both used when benching, and the stronger they are, the better the bench. I found that once I upped the weight when training triceps and shoulders, my bench followed.

[Midevil]

it's important to change it up. training chest twice a week puts you at risk for overtraining. i'd go every 5 to 6 days. Mix in some 8-12 rep sets and as mentioned.....Drop sets, wave sets, negitives and max out "1 to 3 rep" sets now and then. Work on the tri's with the same commitment and your bench WILL go up. Just my 2 cc's.

[Quazi]

My tip would be lower your volume.
You're going for strength, pick 1 pressing mvmt, pyramid up to a max set, but not a max out, ie a heavy weight where you work for 6-8 reps.
Then train shoulders, followed by triceps.
You want a heavy bench, then train for bench not for chest.

[shoalin]

Do you use machines or just free weights

[Cuda]

Originally Posted by shoalin

Do you use machines or just free weights

Just free weights....

[STONES2]

Everybody ask's "how much do bench", I tell them around 135lb.

What dose it matter I am in the game to look good not try to out do someone and hurt myself(not implying that is what is going on in your situation).


I have seen a lot of injuries because of the desire for a heavy bench.

2stones

[Blindsight]

I think you need to analyze which muscle groups are lagging that would cause your bench press to lag. Are your shoulders small? Do you blow off triceps? Maybe it is actually your pecs themselves that are lagging? Obviously if you can identify the culprit, you should put more emphasis on that muscle group.

A large percentage of the time it's lack of rotator cuff strength. Granted, most of the power from bench press is supplied by the pecs/delts/triceps, and the rotator cuffs just play a supportive role in balancing the weight. However, if they are weak, the other muscles will have to waste their energy to compensate.

Another thing to consider is hand spacing along the bar. Most of the guys I've seen who can put up huge weight on bench (500 lbs. +) use a narrower grip than a lot of guys in the gym, which allows them to get the most power out of their shoulders and triceps, in addition to their pecs. You are trying to push the most weight possible, not "isolate" the pecs using a wider grip (personally I've never understood the point of the latter).

Get on the floor, and without overthinking it, do a few pushups. Now note the distance between your hands, and use this distance on bench press. I know when I first did this, I was really surprised at how much closer together my hands were than I thought they would have been.

Along the same lines, "elbows in" is probably the right idea, meaning that the upper arm should not be at a 90 degree angle with your body, as I see frequently. Keeping it at about 45 degrees will give you better leverage and allow the anterior delts to contribute a lot of power. It is much harder to maintain this angle with a wider grip.

If either of the above suggestions causes you to have to change your form, the weight may drop slightly the first few times you try it, but it will be beneficial in the long run.

Also, as had been suggested, you need to train for strength if that is your goal... longer rest, fewer reps, higher weight. If you want, you could always try one of those "increase your bench press by X lbs in Y weeks!!" programs. Back in late high school/early college, I actually used a program similar to this: Muscle Media's Benchpress Routine. I did the program twice over a period of about a year and added about 30 lbs to my 1RM each time.