Learn How to Increase Your Bench Press Max Weight
Everyone wants to build chest muscles. For a lot of guys the chest is a glory muscle. One of the most common things that you hear is how much can you bench press? It is one of those things that you are weighed on.
One of the things that most guys want to do if they work out on the regular is to increase bench press max weight.
The funny thing is most of these guys don't know exactly how to increase bench press weight effectively.
You can try to do it the old fashioned way by just pounding away at it, but there are some steps that will help you in the long run.
The Magic Mark
There are many goals when it comes to the bench press, one of the most common goals is to finally get to the 225 bench press mark.
That is 2 x 45lb plates on each side. Other people may have different goals, some to get a better body some to become really strong etc.
The first thing I suggest is finding out what your one rep max is. Do this by checking out our bench press chart, it's super easy to use.
Before we dive into the techniques of how to increase bench press weight let's talk a little about training the rest of your body to be strong enough to compliment your chest.
So we all know that when you talk about bench press you immediately think chest, and while that is correct remember it is a compound movement.
There are tons of other muscles that are involved. If you really want to increase your bench press max weight you will be working on these muscles as well.
Crucial Muscles
Upper Back Muscles - When you think of the upper back you think that it is almost the exact opposite movement as bench press. But training your upper back is critical to increasing your bench press weight.
Try doing barbell or dumbbell rows to really hit those muscles, you will see why later in the technique section.
Triceps - This one comes as no surprise, your triceps are actually the #1 stabilizer muscle while you are doing pressing movements. Make sure you hit up a lot co close grip bench press and skull crushers to really hit these hard.
Shoulders - Ok, you can probably see how these are connected. In fact if you are interested in your incline bench doing military presses are critical. Point being, if you want to increase your bench a ton, make sure you are doing a lot of shoulder presses as well.
Biceps - This is another one that you may not have thought of, but the biceps are a huge part of the stabilizing game, try doing some hammer curls to really get these working.
Techniques to Increase Bench Press Max
Ok, let's move on to the actual technique that will help you press more weight and get more out of your benching.
We will work from the top down. Try to visualize these techniques every time you get under a bench press. This will help you get the most out of your workouts.
The Grip - This is a part of the whole game that gets messed up a lot. In fact, I used to mess this up every time I benched. I was always getting sore wrists after the movement and I didn't know why.
This can also help with shoulder presses as well. The key is to make sure you grip the bar close to your wrist, not close to the fingers like a lot of people do. This alone can add pounds to your bench right away.
Squeeze the Bar - Try to imagine you are holding on for dear life, this helps with the stabilization during the movement.
Shoulder Blades Close - This is getting back to the strong back idea from above. Bring the shoulder blades tight together and create a solid platform to bench from. This is very important.
Push your Legs - Don't forget to use all your body, push your feet into the floor and use those legs, this as well will really help you use your back effectively throughout the movement. It will really help get you through that tough time close to failure.
Explode Up - Don't move up slowly, explode through the contraction. Make sure you go up in a straight line. If you go slowly you are bound to get to failure quickly.
Make sure you really explode on the way up, this is where we separate the men from the boys (and the women from the girls... sorry don't want to forget the ladies).
Prepare in your mind, if you want to increase your bench press max weight you need to be in the right mindset. There is no question that the bench press is a very mental lift, there is a huge element to thinking you can do it.
Be a winner, follow this advice and make sure you eat right. Try one of our protein smoothie recipes for your post workout meals...
Also, if you are interested in learning a little more about the average man's bench press abilities check out this link.
My Recommendation
There is a program that I totally endorse out there that will help you increase your max pressing weight. If you are interested in having a look at it then please click the book to the right.
The program is called Blast your Bench by Lee Hayward. It is a total bench press program designed to show you how to increase bench press max weight.