forever The bench press was the bench of strength training, just as men clanged iron plates over barbells.mark. Some people swear that it’s useless unless you can push at least two plates. Some argue that it should be able to pressurize up to its own weight, or even twice that weight.
reality? “There’s nothing magical about the bench. We use it as an indicator of upper body strength, but the back can be pretty strong as well.” Dr. Sean Arendt, CSCS, Chair of the Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina. “In some ways, we might be able to provide a better rationale for how many push-ups you should do.” [as a gauge of strength]”
That’s because, unlike the bench press, push-ups use your own body weight to express relative strength. There are factors that make it difficult to measure barbell bench presses on different bodies, but we’ll get to that later.
But even if this classic exercise isn’t the most logical thing to use as a one-size-fits-all measuring stick, there’s one simple reason why it’s captured the hearts of so many men in the gym. Barbell bench press is better than other upper body exercises. If that draws you to the weight room, that’s magic enough.
How much weight should a man be able to bench press?
There is no right answer to the question of how much weight you should be able to bench press with for a variety of reasons. Your ability here will depend less on universal standards and more on personal factors such as your goals, fitness level, training age (how long you’ve been working out consistently), and specific anatomy. It is related to Sure, there are milestones you can accomplish, like repeating 225 pounds like at the NFL Combine, building bodyweight, or layering on extra plates. But it’s all up to you.
Still, this is a question nearly every man who enters the weight room has asked himself. Arendt amounts are as follows: Kurt Ellis, CSCSowner of Performance beyond numbersI think you need to set it like this your Bench standards and some tips for building towards those numbers. It also provides tips for building muscle and strength even if you’re not interested or able to bench.
Bench press standards that can be used
You can find countless calculators and charts online that show you how much weight you should aim for for barbell bench presses. These can be helpful in some ways, especially if they’re tied to a specific program you’re following, but otherwise they’re only useful to a point. Also, they aren’t accurate and throw out weights you can’t even put on a gym barbell. Like 194 pounds..
Arendt suggests simplifying your expectations. “If he can bench press with his own weight, he should be doing pretty well,” he says. “If you’re a powerlifter, you can do more than that. But for most people, it’s very impressive.”
However, if you’re new to the iron game, you shouldn’t expect to be able to roll up and push a bar that weighs as much as you do from day one. And, according to Ellis, you shouldn’t expect much improvement within the first year. “Generally speaking, for beginners with 0 months to 1 year of training experience, a good goal is to be able to bench train with at least half your body weight,” he says. .
Ellis suggests using a tiered goal system based on training age.
Beginner (0-12 months of experience): Half your body weight
Lifters with 1-3 years of experience: 1-1.25 times body weight
Athletes with 3+ years of lifting experience: Increase weight by 1.5 times and then double it.
According to Ellis, there’s nothing inherently special about these specific numbers, but they can be helpful to trainees who are trying to push their bench press harder for two reasons: It’s a concrete goal, so it’s worth the effort. Also, they are realistic so you won’t get discouraged when building your foundation of strength.
How to improve your bench press ability
If your goal is to reach the standards listed above, Ellis says there’s one thing you need to focus on above all else. And this is the same progressive overload that helps you improve your lifts.
The idea is simple. Lifting more weight requires increased stimulation. To build muscle and strength, it’s important to do more over time, increasing the total weight you lift each week, month, and beyond. When the total amount lifted increases in this way, it is called progressive overload.
The key is to find ways to fine-tune your training volume and continue to see steady gains. Here are four tips to help you increase your workouts over time, overcome common pitfalls, and stay focused on your goal of a killer bench press.
sit on the bench at least once a week
If you’re focusing on your bench press on Monday (also known as International Bench Press Day), there’s a good chance you’re not training enough to see your bench press numbers inflate, Ellis says.
“If bench is a lift you want to improve, be intentional about working on it,” he says, making this movement a priority. A beginner may be able to improve with 4 sets per week. But for an advanced trainee, “he probably needs to accomplish more than 12 sets.”
These sets of 12 or more may include other variations of the bench press, such as incline presses, decline presses, and dumbbell presses. However, the movements you want to improve on should be practiced and done often. Instead of doing chest splits one day a week, plan to program the bench two to three times a week.
Bust up through sticky points
Sometimes when you’re pushing through reps, the bar gets stuck. You can’t push through the rest of the reps. Reaching a stuck point in the lift is one of the most common difficulties players face as they develop off the bench, according to Ellis.
According to Ellis, you can overcome this problem by doing multiple pin presses. In addition to a full range of motion set, shorten your range of motion by setting up a bench in your power rack and placing the bar on pins just below the sticking point. Push the bar from this point to the end of the rep, then slowly lower the bar back to the pins and repeat.
“I’m focused on getting out of the amortization phase and focusing on concentric pushes,” he says, strengthening areas that usually feel weak.
Don’t stick to a one rep scheme
Conventional wisdom holds that to build muscle strength, you need to perform a low rep, high weight repetition scheme. Usually he does 3 to 5 sets of 2 to 6 repetitions, with 2 to 5 minutes of rest between sets. However, this is not the only way you should train. Sticking to the same training structure is just asking for a plateau.
So, to increase your total bench press volume, you need to increase your total weight through more sets, reps, or sessions, instead of doing the typical 3 sets of 10 reps with the same weight for months on end. there is. Change your approach and run a different rep scheme for a while. Doing this will increase your max bench, says Ellis.
The “for a while” part is important. Don’t make this change just for one bench press session. According to Ellis, he will continue making these changes for four to eight weeks after testing the max bench. At the end of the cycle, test the maximum value again. Reprogram as necessary.
Be patient with progress
There’s a reason Ellis’ standards are broken not by weeks or months, but by years of experience. Getting stronger doesn’t stop quickly, especially after the initial gym-going stage.
“Keep training consistently,” Arendt says. “If you do these two things, you can go where you want to go.”
Add accessories with care in the form
For more emergency tips on dealing with issues that can keep you from training to training, check to see if you’re making common bench press form mistakes.
If you’re serious about improving your bench press, you need to do more than just that exercise. In addition to the chest, the shoulders, triceps, and even the lats are essential, especially if you want to be as strong as possible.
Try these supplementary exercises in your workouts to build a foundation of strength that will pay off when you hit the bench.
Alternatives to bench press
Maybe the barbell bench press isn’t calling to you. Even worse, it can become painful if you start working on it consistently. Arendt says that because of the fixed hand position on the bar and the shoulder angle used in the press, this exercise may not always suit everyone’s anatomy or mobility. , which can cause shoulder injuries.
Some lifters, including former Olympia champions Jay Cutler and phil heath (and M.H.Don’t use a barbell for presses, says fitness director Ebenezer Samuel (CSCS). They prefer the chest stretch obtained with dumbbell bench presses. According to Arendt, dumbbells allow you to change the angle of your wrists and shoulders to best suit your body’s movements, allowing you to press in a way that is most comfortable for your body and provides maximum compression for your chest.
Other options, like the machine chest press (also a Heath favorite), can also help develop your chest without putting you in a hunched-shoulder position.
What if you can’t make it to the gym? Stick to the basics: There’s a reason the tried and true push-up is the king of upper body bodyweight exercises. Use this as a baseline for your strength and aim for 30, 40, or 50 or more. All done in perfect form.
Greg Presto is a fitness and sports reporter and videographer in Washington, DC.
Men’s Health magazine fitness editor Brett Williams is a NASM-CPT certified trainer, former pro football player and technical reporter who splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts, and running. I am. His work can be found on Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
