bench pressing

[Maddwraph]

hey, i just started this last week and want to get my chest mucles looking nice and strong. im 5"11, 154 pounds. how much should i be benching?

also, how much of a certain weight do you do to say you bench that much. like how many repetitions of it and stuff.

i did 115 last week and did 8 reps, without much problem, but i did 125 yesterday and did 2, then went back to 115 and did like 4.

and can i work out my triceps on a different day? like mon, wed, fri bench, then tues, thurs, and sat triceps with dumblells?

should i do push ups on the days im not doing bench press.

thanks a lot, im new to chest exercises.

[shogeri]

You should never reach your goal easily. 10 reps is the average. 15 for those serious.

At the 75 percent market, perhaps just before, you should start to feel resistance, or muscle strain.

Basically you should be concentrating on the technique, and connecting your brain to the muscles being worked.

Squeeze the whole way, and squeeze a little more at the end of one rep.

Holding it for a moment.

Don't forget to drink your water.

Do chest and back on twice a week, on the same day, and arms and shoulders twice week on the same day. Do legs the same day you do arms.

For your fifth day, do 15 of every muscle group, straight through, with about a 30 second gap, using a manageable weight. This brings a little aerobic into the mix. Make it a concentrated effort, don't be sloppy.

At least 20 minutes of aerobic everyday.

That's what I have done in the past...I am no expert on this. Just someone else who works out.

[SatyagrahaKF]

Maddwraph, the general rule I think is that you should be able to bench as much as your bodyweight. If your really looking to build muscle in your chest quickly without developing good definition, then you should do high weights and low reps. If you're looking for good definition then you should do low weights and high reps. It all depends what you are looking for. Now for your workout routine, you should bench every other day and do the triceps on the same day you bench. You are working out both the chest and tricep when you bench so you don't want to overwork the tricep on your rest day in between. I started out at very similair the same bench you are doing now last year. (Same height 148lbs.) I am now benching 200 and my weight has gone up to about 165. I am focusing more on the building of muscle rather than definition, but good luck either way!!

[Maddwraph]

building muscle sounds good, i do need to get stronger. ill swtich my biceps from mon, wed, and fri to tues thurs, and sat, and swtich teh triceps. what do you eat becasue your doing really well?

[Meguro]

If you're struggling with the weight you're using now and have questions about benching, you should have a trainer or spotter at your side. I don't want to presume too much, but, your questions seem to indicate that you haven't much experience with these exercises. A trainer will be able to give you tips on technique and make sure you aren't doing anything that might cause injury. Someone to spot you would also be nice so that you don't drop the bar.

I cold be way off on the next bit of advice, but, a gym rat buddy of mine recommends starting off your work out with squats. Supposedly some hormone is released by the body when doing squats that promotes muscle gain in other areas of the body (chest & arms). Maybe some other iron pumpers can corroborate.

[orion82698]

You're asking a question that is not one that we can give. Genetics plays a big roll in this. I have seen people who weigh less than me put up more weight than I can, and have only been lifting for a few months.

A couple things to remember.

-Stay between 8-10 reps, 3 sets.

-3 exercise per group (Incline bench, flat bench, dumbell/cable flys)

-If you're looking for endurance, train with less weight, but higher reps (12-15)

-If you're looking for strength, lift heavy, 4-6 reps.

-Just like Martial arts, technique is everything. If your form is off, you won't be hitting the target muscle groups correctly, or you could do damage to your body.

-Eat properly. You need a clean diet with a caloric intake over 2600 maybe even 3000 to put on mass. Get yourself on a 40/40/20 % diet

40 - protein

40 - carbs

20 - fats

-Above all, give it time. Losing/gaining weight is a test of patients and dedication.

-REST IS A MUST. Make sure you get atleast 7 hours of sleep a night. Your muscle groups need this to recover.

Good luck!

[orion82698]

Oh... some other things that I forgot.

- Train with intensity. If you train like an animal, you'll resemble that. If you train like a little boy, you'll resemble that too

- Remember that your bench is only going to be as strong as your triceps and shoulders are. This is a pushing exercise. If you train your triceps and shoulders hard too, your bench will increase.

- Forget about comparing yourself to others. No two people are alike, and there is always someone bigger, stronger, and faster than you.

- Set goals. Increasing your bench 5lbs every 3 weeks is good.

I started training hard back in June. I have increase my bench 45lbs since then.

Keep us informed!

Good luck!

-O

[shogeri]

They are pretty much saying what I said. And I agree with the premise that you need to get involved with someone who can be there with you, and guide you, and push you.

Always have a spotter...

At your weakest, 75% of your body weight on the bench.

After you have progressed past a certain point, you should be able to bench your weight.

Form is what builds a strong torso, and trunk.

To get abs, it's about high cardio 5 to 6 times a week, along with high protein and low fat meals 5 times a day.

A million crunches are not the answer. Nor is doing ab resistance training either.

Muscle (the more you have the more it) burns fat. So watch your diet, and stay away from starches and sugars. You should be able to see definition (density, shape, veins) the more you get closer 10 percent body fat.

Weighting routines can be changed around to fit most backgrounds of health, fitness or genetics.

I have bursitis in both shoulders, so have to do things differently than most in just about every activity.

Take it easy.

[MizuRyu]

If you want size and raw strength, powerlift. That means to do between 3 and 5 repetitions in up to 3 sets of the HIGHEST weight physically possible, the mentality has to be that if you won $6 million for a 6th rep, you couldn't do it. If you're looking for power, speed and strength, plyometric training is recommended, which for a bench is basically letting it drop with gravity and forcefully launching it back up, an overload and total contraction of a muscle. This is DANGEROUS with benches, so stick with a weight you're comfortable at at about 10 reps, and have a strong spotter. The only thing piling more reps on accomplishes is increased stamina and speed, it has very little effect on strength. I would recommend working your chest all 3 days that you should be working out, it's one of the easiest muscles in your body to build. Also, accompany the benching with deadlifts, squats, and wide range exercises. Your body likes to grow as a whole much more than it likes to grow part by part.

[cvkid]

Another trick to getting a wide range of tissue involvement is to change your grip placement occasionally. Every once in a while go way wide, or mid wide, or anywhere between. I also like to change up the speed of my lifts. Sometimes I'll go ultra slow. Somethings I actually come to a complete pause, that makes the lift a lot harder. I've noticed that those tircks have really increased my stardard speed bench.

P.S. I ALWAYS repeat in my head..."It's light, it's light, it's light"

Good luck with your lifting bro.

Edited November 17, 2005 by cvkid