Increasing your bench press won’t happen overnight. If you follow the tips in this blog you will have a leg up on everyone else and will increase your bench press faster.
Bench press Schedule
Studies have shown that regular bench press training is far less superior to daily undulating periodization training. This type of training did a study and on and they doubled their strength gains in 12 weeks. Also, by adding in plus sets will help you increase strength fast in as little as 6 weeks as proven from studies. Your bar grip distance is important as well as your bar path. Most make the mistake of bringing the bar straight down and straight back up. You want your bar path on the eccentric part to come down and out to just below your chest. And back up straight and back towards your face. It’s best for most to bench press 3 times a week to make fast improvements as well.
4 Tips on increasing your bench Fast
| Make sure your bar grip is right for you | Check your bar path technique |
| Bench press 3x’s per week | Add plus set training |
This Program will help you bench faster
Monday 2 x 8 is more of a hypertrophy type of training
Wednesday 4 x 3 is more of a power type of training
Friday 3 x 5 it’s more of a strength type of training
Tip #1 How to make sure your Grip on the Bar is Right
There are a few different ways to grip the bar and they all affect the way we lift. And what’s right for me may not be right for you.
There are typically three grip spacing that you can use on the barbell while bench pressing. You can use a narrow, medium, or wide handgrip on the bar.
A wide grip is usually favored because you’re able to lift more weight because of the less range of motion that you need to perform on The eccentric and concentric part of the lift.
Also, a wider grip will make you stronger because it will stretch more of the pec muscles. And also, helps with a tight upper back for better scapular retraction during a bench press.
Since all of our physical biomechanics are different, our shoulder width and arm length are all different. To find our true hand grip for the bench press is done by reducing regret by 1.5 biacromial distance.
On each of our shoulders, we have bony spots, these are called you’re acromial. If you measure the width Between these two bony starts and multiply it by 1.5 then you will find your true grip for the bench press.
The distance handgrip is what’s called your biacromial distance. The formula is done by taking your biacromial distance and then multiply it by 1.5, and that is what your ideal bench press grip for your body should be.
A narrow grip is typically used more for powerlifters who are using gear such as a lifting shirt. This is because they’re lifting gear helps control their torso and they can focus more on lifting more weight by using a narrow grip on the bench press.
8 narrow grip is typically used more for powerlifters who are using gear such as a lifting shirt. This is because they’re lifting gear helps control their torso and they can focus more I’m lifting more weight by using a narrow grip on the bench press.
You also want to make sure your your fists are pointing straight towards the ceiling and without a bend in the wrists.
Most weightlifters and I included do not use powerlifting gear to help us lift more weight. I’m not the biggest fan of being able to use powerlifting suits to lift more, but that’s another story for another day.
| Your hand grip on the bench press plays a big role in the benefits and injury prevention. Our bodies are all different, to find the biacromial distance you need to measure the 2 bony points on your shoulder and X 1.5. A wider grip for bench pressing is usually preferred and you can start with your ring finger around the circle on the barbell. |
Tip #2 Should I bring the Bar Straight down and straight back up?
Now that we’ve taken a look at the handgrip that is best for bench pressing, let’s take a look at which bar path is best. Most people for the longest time myself included have been lifting the wrong way.
I thought That the best bar path was to bring in a bar straight down to your chest and straight ht back up.
As you’re pushing the bar back up towards your face, you want to push your feet against the floor and lift up while driving a bar at an angle. But you don’t want to do is to lift the barbell straight up and down vertically.
Just by correcting the bar pass can help increase your bench press fast. I’ve made the mistake of the bar straight up and down as people do as well.
Kinematic is used to track our bodies move and in the speed of objects. Types of things included were the use of is fast speed 2D cinematographic protocols to track the exercises E36 participants.
There was a study done where bee research was to find the kinematic factors and how it can relate to Performance can reduce the risk of injury during a bench press.
The 36 subjects included 19 experts and 17 novices when it comes to weight training. while looking at the differences between kinetic and time kinematic were used.
If these factors can be identified then this could help understand more between the relationship of increasing all of the variables in the bench press as well as reducing Injury.
Another key Factory regarding the participants who were the expert weightlifters we’re able to lift 79% more than the beginners. That’s definitely a big difference from how much one can weight lift.
Let’s take a look at how the rest of this research turns out. the main kinetic differences included these variables.
- The main difference and the peak Force used well bring them to the bar down was only 43%
- The main difference in the most Forest use while on the concentric (on the way up) part of the bench press what is 87%
- No major factors what differences in torque that’s a shoulder area
- The most important kinematic changes were: The expert group of weightlifters used more of a constant and slower bar speed while lowering the bar on the eccentric part
- Also, the expert group used a bar pass closer to their shoulders
- The expert group also used a different set of bar movements
| Helping your bar path will help increase your strength with this simple step. As you start bench pressing picture your fists are pointing straight up towards the ceiling and your wrists are straight. And then bring the bar straight down and then out to the center of your chest. Use the floor to push your feet down and away and lift the bar straight up and at an angle aim towards the rack. you never want to just bring the bar straight down and then straight back up. |
Tip #3 Bench more to bench press more?
Yep, this sounds to Simple to work but it’s one of the best things you can do. Have you heard the old saying practice makes perfect, well perfect practice makes perfect.
If you are bench pressing more often than not using these four tips oh, it’s likely you’re not increasing your bench press as fast as you would like.
For most weight lifters and especially us natural weightlifters training volume Is important in building muscle and strength. Wait a minute, but won’t this cause us to overtrain?
No, we need to train power muscle groups at a high volume. This is why barbell training exercises work best because they are training more than one muscle group at a time.
For most weight lifters The Sweet Spot for how many times you should bench press is usually around three times a week for most people. As far as reps and sets that can all very, there’s more than one way to bake a cake. If You train with the reps and sets in about the recommend it will help improve your bench press fast.
Bench press Schedule
Monday 2 x 8 is more of a hypertrophy type of training
Wednesday 4 x 3 is more of a power type of training
Friday 3 x 5 it’s more of a strength type of training
This type of training is a daily undulating periodization (DUP), essentially just change up your load and rep range for each bench press workout. This type of programming for your bench press has been shown to increase your bench press fast, even faster turn regular strength training programs.
According to Nuckols (2016), this type of training held up and experienced weightlifters, an increase in muscle mass explained up to 65% of the variables and their strength gains.
After this type of training for 12 weeks, the guys who did DUP Double the strength gains. That is a ridiculously fast way to increase your bench press, it’s just unheard of unless you were on performance-enhancing drugs.
The DUP Group bench press improved by 29% versus 14% for the guys who did normal play training. with the same types of reps and sets play even improve like breast by 55% or 26% 4 guys with the normal type of training.
It’s really pretty simple oh, the stronger you get the more muscle you will put on. DUP bench press training program will help you increase muscle and strength faster.
A study was done in 2003 to look at the comparison of how often you should train how to build strength. if you’re new to working out and have trained for less than one year you should be working out at least 3x’s a week to help build strength.
On the other hand, if you’ve been working out for over a year then only 2x’s and we will be sufficient enough to help build strength.
Here it is a good 3-day program to help Increase your strength on bench press fast. it is a 30-day training program.
Week 1
- Monday: 12 reps
- Wednesday: 6 reps
- Friday: 9 reps
Week 2
- Monday: 11 reps
- Wednesday: 5 reps
- Friday: 8 reps
Week 3
- Monday: 10 reps
- Wednesday: 4 reps
- Friday: 7 reps
When you forgot all the way up to week 4 then just repeat weeks 1 through 3.
Tip #4 Finish with a plus set to find out how heavy you should be lifting to improve your bench press fast
Finish with a plus set to find out how heavy you should be lifting to improve your bench press fast
The University of Missouri published study in 2010 from dr. BryanMann And a journal of strength and conditioning research. interesting enough what they found that was a few increase You may be doing more harm than good.
Increasing weight every week right? it should be that simple as training volume a progressive overload or some of the most important things while trying to improve strength and muscle. You can increase your bench press fast by using a strategy called the (autoregulatory progressive resistance exercise) and more simple terms these are also called plus sets.
During their research they had 23 college football players train by using two different types of training strategies.
- Plus Sets
- Also, increase weights by a set number each week. for example, the squat exercise was set at 3 sets of 8 reps at 70% one rep max during week 1.
- 4 sets of 6 reps at 75% of their one-rep Max during week 2.
- 4 sets of 5 reps at 80% is there one rep max during week 3.
- 4 sets of 5 reps at 85% one rep max during week 4.
During their research, they had 23 college football players train by using two different types of training strategies.
After just six short weeks of exercise, plus set programming proves to be a better way to train. Their bench press 1 rep maximum increase by 93.4 Versus-0.40, for guys who did normal training.
Estimated that there squat one-rep max also increased by 192.7 versus 37.24 guys who did normal training. 225 lb bench press reps were done to fatigue and have an increased by 3.13 versus -0.9 four guys who did normal training.
The whole point of this the group of guys who use the plus set training style got stronger faster. They were also able to bench press 225 lb for three more reps after just six weeks of training.
That’s a huge difference in only 6 weeks! The other group of guys who did regular strength training couldn’t even do one extra rep. The proof is in the pudding in shows that plus set training will help you increase your bench press fast. Even more so than just normal strength training.
| Plus set training works because it makes you push your body for each workout. It helps you choose the right way to add to help build muscle and strength fast. |
Final Thoughts
While there may be more tips we could’ve covered but these are some sure-fire ways to increase your bench press fast! Starting with your grip and how to find your biacromial distance. How to find the correct bar path is going to make a big difference. It may feel odd at first but try practicing with a lightweight. You don’t want to bring the bar straight down and back up again. Benching 3x’s a week seems to be the sweet spot for most and will help you improve. Adding plus set training is a must because it helps you increase your bench press fast!