9 Ways For a Bigger Chest and Bench Press
This article was originally posted on FitnessGeared.com
So you want a big bench? Chances are, you’re doing a lot of benching week in and week out. Who doesn’t? Chest day is everyone’s favorite workout day after all. But chances are also that you’re not where you want to be with your bench press weights. Want to press 225? 315? 405?
Make no mistake about it, people who bench big numbers like that don’t just do it out of thin air. Reaching those numbers requires smart training, dieting, and recovery. For some, benching 405 might be a goal and for others 225 might be more realistic. Which ever category you fall into, follow these tips to help you achieve your goals and build a bigger bench press.
1. Train Heavy
As we’ve mentioned before in our past articles, intensity is what it’s all about. No-brainer you say? Well, that’s the thing. People don’t really know how heavy they should go or what limits to set. So what exactly is “heavy”? Take your last chest session for example. I bet you did 6-8 reps and felt like your chest would cave in. Guess what? Too light!
If strength is your goal, do reps of 3-5 and work on adding more weight on the bar. Scared that you’ll lose muscle doing this rep scheme? Don't worry, no one ever lost muscle by dropping back the reps. In fact you probably will gain some more muscle because of the increase in weights that you’re doing. You need to do 5's, triples, doubles and even singles to get stronger.
2. Eat Big
Again, another “obvious” one that most people seem to not do. In order to get big, you need to eat big. Eat a high protein, high carb diet that will help your muscles to grow. Growing muscles = growing bench press strength = growing chest. Don’t eat like a little girl.
3. Do More Sets
Find yourself always doing 3 sets? Ever wonder WHY you’re doing only 3 sets?
Instead of always doing 3 sets of 10 reps, try doing more sets of 4 or 5. If you’re doing the rep scheme mentioned above of 3-5, you can even do more sets. And no, this is not overtraining. It’s training for strength.
4. Train With a Partner
Studies show that if you lift with a partner, you’ll lift more weight. Ok not really. But based on our experience (and hundreds of other lifters out there), lifting with someone else makes you want to work harder. And when you work harder, you’re pushing more weight.
Find a training partner with the same goals as you and make sure to push each other at every single workout session.
5. Take Supplements Like Creatine and Beta-alanine
These are two of the most researched ingredients/supplements out there, and for a reason. They work. In our last article, we talked about how creatine can help you with putting on muscle. Beta-alanine, meanwhile, helps with your workouts as they help with muscle endurance. Taking a pre-workout drink that has both ingredients is the easiest and most convenient way to get them.
6. Train Explosively
Louie Simmons, the man who has trained more big benchers than anybody and the owner of the Westside Barbell club, recommends this. Get a weight 60% of your 1RM and do 8-12 sets with 2-3 reps. Work on moving the weight VERY fast in both the positive and negative direction without losing control. This will train the neural system to explode with power, exactly what you need when you have a loaded bar across you chest.
The key though is to do this type of workout as a separate session to your normal chest work, not at the same time.
7. Don’t Max Out Every Week
This is one of the biggest mistakes that we see in the gym. Everyone is always trying to max out on their bench press. They put on more weight than they can handle, and it doesn’t even do anything for them. You should only max out every 8 weeks or so. It’s okay to max out on assistance work, but not on your big lifts like the bench press, squat, and deadlift.
8. Want a Big Chest? Train Your Other Muscles
If you want a big chest and bench press, train your back and shoulders. Yep, you read that right. Your chest is not the only piece to the big bench puzzle. The lats, delts, and triceps all play major roles. Train those body parts just as hard as you would your chest.
9. Rest
We saved the best for last. Recovery is very VERY important. Don’t train too much. You also must have at least 72 hours between your heavy bench and speed bench days. You also shouldn’t be working out 7 days a week. Remember, your muscles grow OUTSIDE the gym.
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Originally Posted by drkmn1
