Need help with bench press!!

[Daywalker934]

Hey i've been working out for 1-2years now and at first bench came on really well, but over the past year its been really slow. I mix it up, I have just completed this routine, which I did once a week in conjunction with biceps, and have been doing it for the past 4-6 weeks:

Incline Bench Press, 4 sets, Reps; 12,10,8,8
Flat Bench Flyes, 3 sets, Reps; 10,8,8
Decline Dumbbell Press, 3 sets, Reps; 10,8,8

I have just Changed to this routine:

Bench Press, 4 sets, Reps; 12,10,8,8
Incline Bench Flyes, 3 sets, Reps; 10,8,8
Incline Dumbbell Press, 3 sets, Reps; 10,8,8

It's the weight on bench that i really want to increase, and get a big chest, last flat bench sessions went like this: 40kg for 12 reps, 42.5kg for 10 reps, 45kg for 8 reps and then 50kg for 6 reps.

Any help with this will be gratefully received, and any tips for getting a bigger chest as well.

[Packard]

We need to look at your allowed recovery times between workouts. To do so we need to see the rest of your workouts and the days of the week you train the other body parts. Especially we need to see the days you work your triceps and shoulders.

[swanso5]

you didn't really change it, just the exercises really

try this for chest (do not add to it):

mon 4 x 6 using the same wt for all sets

tue - 2 x almost to failure but not quite push ups

fri - 3 x 12 using the same wt for all sets

do for 4 - 6 weeks and retest...you'll put 10kgs on it easily

www.uponlinetraining.com

[MrCheese]

mon 4 x 6 using the same wt for all sets

tue - 2 x almost to failure but not quite push ups

fri - 3 x 12 using the same wt for all sets

I'll give that a go too. Chur

[vamp]

simple and straight forward swanso, I like it. One question... Why back to back chest days? I realize they are push-ups and not weights but ?? You peaked curiousity.

cheers

[swanso5]

1 - more overall volume (not that much of us need more chest volume but that's another story for another day)

2 - you should be sore after the ehavy workout so a few sets will flush the by products (lactic acid etc) away leaving you fresh as a daisy for the next workout...you could also pop the push ups in on the sat after workout 2 but you should also match this up on a 1:2 chest:back ratio so you'll also need a lot of back work too

after all that our upper body will blow up with that volume

a point i left out is to leave out all most or all arm work and keep some shoulder stuff in depending on your split

www.uponlinetraining.com

[fitnessedu]

It looks like you've come down with a case of over-trained muscle syndrome. The human body is amazingly adaptable, and with all of your strength training, it has become even more so. Give your chest a 1 week break...don't train it at all. This is basically a twist on muscle confusion. I've been using this strategy to get past physical plateaus for a few years now.

Check out fitness and nutrition blog http://fitnessnutritioneducation.blogspot.com. I'm sure that you'll find some useful information there.

Good luck!

[Daywalker934]

thanks for all the replies guys !

Swanso with reference to the push ups, not at all that i don't believe so please don't take any offence, but i thought to gain size and strength you do low reps. If this is the case then surely the push ups wouldn't help with size and strength as they would just be much higher reps with only bodyweight. im a bit confused .

[swanso5]

from last post:

2 - you should be sore after the ehavy workout so a few sets will flush the by products (lactic acid etc) away leaving you fresh as a daisy for the next workout...you could also pop the push ups in on the sat after workout 2 but you should also match this up on a 1:2 chest:back ratio so you'll also need a lot of back work too

[vamp]

actually, low reps/high weight (2-6) = strength, size will come

middle reps (6-12) is good for strength increase and size increase

high reps (12-20) is for muscle endurance and "cut" look, great for defining (will also help with growth over time)

true body builders / shape lifters use all three rep ranges to acheive their desired look.

cheers

PS Swanso thank you for the explanation. I understand the logic behind it and may try it through next program. Although, Say I did heavy squats, the following day would you recommend a day of box jumps, stair climbing or any other activity to accomplish the same training technique for the legs, or would a sprint session be a good idea?


cheers

[swanso5]

legs are a bit funny as you probably couldn't do 3 sessions a week on them...also you'd probably get sorer from the sporints then from a deadlifting session in which case pop the "high rep" session the day after the sprints such as:

mon - deads or squats 4 x 6 usuing same wt fopr all sets

thu - sprints 5 - 10 x 50 meters

fri - bodyweight squats 2 x 30 or bodyweight lunges 2 x 20

if you can't do the sprint option then do:

mon - deads or squats

tue - bodyweight squats or lunges

thu/fri - pullthroughs 3 x 12

www.uponlinetraining.com

[vamp]

Thanks swanso, appreciate the imput.

Hope Daywalker finds the info usefull as well

Cheers

[Packard]

We still need to see what your other workout days look like to see what your recovery times are.