My Bench Press Journal
 

Ok, I decided to start this journal because I really need to up my chest strength. My chest and shoulders are sadly weak compared to my lower body. I've spent too much time bench pressing on machines and the smith machine. My stabilizers are weak and my form is just ugly. I'm ready to do this the right way now and im hoping for some advice. The machines are done...just a bar and a bench from here out.

I pressed today - 140 lbs 4x5 without getting sloppy. (pretty sad for a 200lb guy).

Im hoping to get into the 3x5x225 range by the end of the year. Thats about 18 weeks. Thats almost 5lbs/week. Im not sure if thats realistic but im gonna try my best.

Any advice on the best way to train for this?

The base of my routine is basically Rippetoes SS that has developed some small modifications over time.

How often can you train your chest? and how much rest is needed between chest workouts?

I was planning to keep it to bench presses @ 5x5 2-3 times per week and mix it up with some inclines and declines.
I think that dips will help with some arm strength and stabilization.


Any advice on the best way to train to achieve this goal will be greatly apreciated.

I found doing the Bill Starr 5x5 routine improved my bench. Plus my squat and dead's.
Chest was trained 3 times a week. That was bench(2) and Inlcine(1)

i would do push ups ,if i was you ,because they always helped me with my endurance, so i was able to do more reps, plus that might help your bench press go up.

Talo's suggestion is a good one. Starr's 5x5 is good and might work well for you. Make sure when working chest to keep it simple, work hard and good things will happen. Good luck. :weights:

yeah starr's 5x5 help my bench a lot too. Just make sure your form is good an you should be able to move up easily, provided your getting enough cals.

Im currently doing a variation of Rippetoes and I train on bench press twice a week. So far I am seeing good results.

Thanks for the advice guys.


I tried doing something different today.... Dumbell bench presses. Only to realize that my stablizers are REALLY weak. It shows alot more with dumbells. I thought I was gonna drop one on my face. I think im gonna do more work with dumbells. If you can have good form with dumbells then barbell presses should be much easier.

Except it doesn't translate quite like that. Dumbbell presses are quite a bit lighter than barbell and the stabilizers needed in DB press are taken out of the picture with BB.

If you have been using machines for a long time then dumbells are a good idea. Just what the doctor ordered. Don't go too heavy and pull something. You are likely to have imbalances and pattern overloads and dumbells will be a good way to iron some of that out...just take it slow and steady. And yes it will help you barbell bench a lot.