A Weird Bench Press Routine

Factual Questions
1

My name is Shodan, and I lift weights.

Hi, Shodan.

I always set goals in my exercise routines. My first was to bench my bodyweight ten times, because I read an article that said this was a test for entering linemen in the NFL. Then I wanted to bench three hundred. Then I wanted to career total a thousand in the power lifts. (I never made that one - I busted my back three pounds short. F*ck.)

Anyway, I was once able to bench press 225 pounds ten times. I would like to achieve this again.

Currently, I can do 205 for ten most of the times I try. I can get only four reps with 225, and six with 215.

I can find lots of routines for getting your one-rep max up. But I cannot find anything that will get up to ten reps with a given weight.

What would the SDMB recommend for a good routine?

Only recommendation I found was to do two reps with 225, wait a minute, do two more, wait another minute, and so forth, until I got ten reps. Then reduce the time between sets by five seconds every other workout, until I could do ten reps in a row.

Or just work with 210 until I got ten reps, then go to 215, and so forth.

Any suggestions? How many sets of ten should I do, if I choose that route?

If it helps, I am 47 (almost 48), about 5’10’’, weigh about 195, and I have been lifting for twenty-three years. I am drug-free.

All suggestions welcome.

Regards,
Shodan

2

damn Shodan… remind me never to piss you off.

3

Shodan:

We’re about the same age and bench about the same amount.

I’d have two suggestions:

Easy: Take creatine. It really works. I’d bet that in 3 weeks you’d get back to your goal.

Harder: Work with 10 - 20 lbs more than what you want to bench, and do as many reps as you can. When you can get that to 7 or 8 reps, you should be able to do 10 reps with the desired weight.

I’d recommend pyramid sets for bench: Increase the weight for each set and reduce the number of reps as needed. I have a diffierent routine now, but when I was focused on power lifting, I’d always to set of 10 - 8 - 6 -4 reps after a 10 rep warmup with just two plates.

4

Shodan, I have a feeling you stick to the 6-10 rep range alot. Lower the weight for a while and go for 8 reps minimums and 12-14 rep maximums. Maybe once per week, hit your chest hard at benching until your max is at 6 reps. All other rep goals should be 8-14 reps.

Then go for the weight you desire for 10 reps. You are thinking backwards on this.

I’ve seen this alot. It is hard to believe that this will work, but I always find the 6-10 rep rule is excellent, but 10 for a max reps of heavy weight is like a wall. Boost reps for a while and build muscle endurance. Sounds weird, but you have to remember that different types of musles are involved in the effort, and the key muscles that will get you those extra reps respond differently than the major muscle groups, particularly of the chest. Get those supporting muscles jazzed up.

Also, focus on OTHER exercises that isolate supporting muscles. Think outside the box, because the last rep or two might be earned by training chest via something other than bench pressing.

5

The first thing I would ask is: do you have any nagging pains? This was the reason I gave up bench pressing a few years ago in favor of dumbell work (and I’m three years younger than you). If so, see a sports medicine doctor.

Also, do you have a distinct ‘sticking point’? I.e., does the bar go up quickly, but stop at the same place? If so, specialized work on the triceps, deltoids or pecs may help. IIRC, the delts are the problem if you can’t get the bar off your chest, and the triceps if you can’t lock out.

Next, do you work out alone, or do you have a training partner? If the latter, you might want to try ‘forced reps’, where you try more than your max, with a partner helping you out.

Try also ‘rest pause’ sets: doing 3 reps, racking the bar, and doing 2 more (possibly, resting and doing 2 more). An even more intense version thereof is ‘maximum rest pause’: do a max, rest, do another max, etc., as many as 6-8 reps total.

How long to rest? Up to you. FWIW, the great Paul Anderson used to do one max, rest half an hour, and repeat, all day long.

The above routine (and the one you mentioned) is a milder version of this.

This isn’t really a routine, just a little advice – hope it helps.

Disclaimer: I have no training in physiology or kinesthesiology: just an old muscle head here.

6

What Philster said: higher rep work is beneficial too.

IIRC, the legendary trainer Vince Gironda claimed that 8 reps developed the muscles, 12 reps the capillaries, both of which are essential for what you’re trying to achieve.

7

Take a look at Ian King’s “12 Weeks To Upper Body Strength” (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). It’s a bit unorthodox, but it’s not terribly uncommon for people to add 90 lbs to their bench across the course of the program.

8

Thanks for all the responses!

John Mace[ul]
[li]I will look into the creatine.[/li][li]I rather doubt I can do reps at all with 235. At this point in my life, that would be a limit single. [/li][/ul]
Philster -
[ul]
[li]Yes, I do 6-10 reps a lot. That is practically all I have done for the last five years or so for chest. Because -[/li][li]As F.U.Shakespeare guessed, I could not bench at all for about two years due to tendinitis in my shoulder. Lots of rest and rehab later, my shoulder is much better, and I can bench once more. No more heavy singles, but I thought the ten rep scheme was enough reps not to trigger the problem. [/li][li]I believe I will try the more reps scheme. [/li][li]I am off to read ultrafilter’s links. Thanks![/li][/ul]

Regards,
Shodan

9

If I were in your shoes, Shodan, my first step would be buying a good hydraulic jack. Be careful, there, sport. If Og wanted you to lift that much, he’d have given you a forklift. :eek: