Stronger Bench Press Blog

Heavy Bench Press Workouts

by Rob L on 10/19/11

If you want to increase bench press strength you need to shake up your routine every now and then. This will help you avoid hitting a plateau in your progress. One way to do this is to change the amount of reps you do per set. You can do this all of the time by setting up your bench press routine so that you do a light weight - high rep workout, a medium weight - medium rep workout, and a heavy weight - low rep workout.

When you do heavy bench press workouts you should use weights that will only allow you to do a few reps per set. Three to six reps is ideal when you are training heavy on the bench. Since you will be lifting very heavy, you should have somebody spot you. Rep out until you can't possible do any more, and get an extra rep with the help of your spotter every now and then.

You can also try maxing out when you perform heavy bench press workouts. Testing your one rep max every now and then is a good way to gauge your strength level. You will definitely want somebody spotting you when doing this.

When you do a heavy bench press workout, you will want to stick with just a few compound exercises. Since you are only doing a few reps per set you can stick to flat, incline, and decline presses. Isolation exercises don't work as well when only doing this many reps, and you do these types of exercises during your light and medium bench workouts. You can try using dumbbells if you want to, though you will likely need some assistance.

Heavy bench workouts are a great way for you to strengthen your pecs. If you always try to use a little more weight, you will eventually get a stronger bench press.

Comments (0)

Using Bench Press Chains

by Rob L on 07/25/11

There are certain techniques you can use to gain strength on the bench press. These include forced reps, negative only reps, and training your weakest part of a bench press rep. There is another great technique you can try that involves using bench press chains.

For many weight trainers, the toughest part of a bench press rep is the point where they lift the bar off of their chests after lowering it. For most of us, the easiest part of a rep is the last few inches, also known as the lockout. If you've ever tried a partial bench press repetition (just performing the lockout portion of the lift), you could almost certainly use a lot more weight than you can for a full rep. Using bench press chains will allow the overall weight you are lifting to get lighter as you lower the barbell, and heavier as you lift it.

Bench press chains are basically heavy chains attached to collars that you can put on each side of a barbell after you've put weights on it. When the barbell is one the rack or at arm length, only a small portion of the chains are on the floor. As you lower the barbell to your chest, more of the chains pile on the floor - which decreases the overall amount of weight. As you lift the barbell the chains come up off of the floor - which increases the overall amount. This means that when you are using bench press chains you will be lifting less weight at your weakest part of a rep, and more weight at your strongest part of a rep.

You can take advantage of using bench press chains to get stronger on the bench. With the change in resistance through a rep, you'll be challenged throughout the entire lift. Try a couple of sets with the chains added to the barbell and you will feel the difference.

Comments (0)

Building Stronger Bench Press Lockouts

by Rob L on 04/13/11

It's very important to get full repetitions when you bench press. This is particularly true if you are into powerlifting, as you will need to have your arms in a locked out position for your bench press to count. It's also important to lockout if you aren't a powerlifter, as full reps will lead to the most muscle growth. Unfortunately, some weight trainers have problems with this. Here are some tips to building stronger bench press lockouts.

One thing you can do to build stronger bench press lockouts is to practice just that part of the lift. You can do this by lying on a bench, unracking the weight, and just lowering it a few inches before lifting it to lockout. A better (and safer) way to do this is to put a bench in a squat rack that allows you to put bars that will stop the barbell from going lower than where you place them. Then you can safely take a lot of weight (more than you could normally bench for a full rep), unrack it, lower it to the bars, and push it upward to lock it out.

Another technique you can try for building stronger bench press lockouts is to use heavy chains on each side of a barbell when you bench. At some gyms you will find these chains that are specially made for this purpose. If you do some sets of bench press with the chain on each side they will coil on the floor as you lower the weight to your chest so that the total resistance gets lighter. As you start lifting off of your chest that chains come back up off of the floor so that the weight will heavier by the lockout part of the lift. This will help you get stronger on a bench press lockout and help you gain strength on any sticking points you may have during a bench rep.

If your triceps aren't strong enough, they may stop you from locking out on a heavy bench press rep. Because of this, it's a must to train the triceps so they don't keep you from getting successful bench lifts. Close-grip and reverse-grip bench presses will help strengthen the triceps. Exercises such as dips and lying and seated triceps extensions will also strengthen these muscles so you can build stronger bench press lockouts.

With these tips, you should succeed in building strong bench press lockouts in no time.

Comments (1)