Surefire Ways To Increase Bench Press (probably NOT what you think)… by James Villepigue

So, you want to know the best ways to increase bench press, well, the first thing you should realize, is that this will take more of a well thought and methodical approach, instead of one that’s haphazard and rushed into… Like how most people go about it!

In the last post about how to improve your max bench (read that here: increase bench press by 50 lbs), you were given a dynamite workout routine to boost your bench press through the roof, almost literally.  Today, we’re gonna talk about something that’s not quite as sexy, but still VERY important when it comes to increasing your bench pressing ability…

When you’re young and working out, the average young body seems to be able to handle more physical stress compared to older people.  Unfortunately, when most people weight train, they jump right into their workout, using heavy weight without sufficiently preparing the body’s muscles prior to doing so.

Most young people don’t see this as being a problem and that’s really only because they don’t feel any ill effects from just jumping in like this.  Why don’t they, you ask?

There are many reasons for this, but one of the most probable reasons, is that most young people have simply not yet reached a point of training to the point where they’re overusing and abusing their connective tissue and various joints.

Don’t get me wrong, most young people are absolutely doing the damage now (I’ll get into the reasons for this shortly), but their young bodies are still resilient enough to mask pain – even with more serious existing injuries and they’re likely in the beginning stages of this cumulative bodily trauma.

Most seasoned lifters, however, eventually end up having to deal with these problems or as I like to call it, the “wear & tear”, as the many years worth of repetitive use injuries always end up revealing their ugly heads in the form of terrible pain and discomfort…

… and usually it’s when they’re not attempting to workout.  Reason being: most people simply never allow their body’s the chance to heal and recover, and this is the essence of overuse injuries.

Well, this post is one that every exerciser should pay close attention to.  Warming up, especially before a weight training session, is much more important and beneficial than you may think.

Men can be especially stubborn when it comes to taking the time to warm up their muscles and would rather just jump right into their “working sets” when trying to increase bench press… or beat up any other muscle group, for that matter.

Many exercisers are curious about why it’s so important to warm up before a weight training session, especially if they’re feeling flexible enough to just jump right on in. There are many reasons why warming up before your weight training session is vital to you right now and if you’re planning on working out in the future.

When your muscles are cold and you suddenly begin an intense workout session, your body will naturally begin to govern itself, and will actually attempt to hold your muscles back from going “all out” in this unprepared state.

Some people are mentally stronger than others and may push hard to override the body’s protective attempts, but this can, and often does, lead to injury.

When you properly warm up, you will bring increased blood flow to your skeletal muscles.  The increased blood flow will also be accompanied by an increase in body temperature.  Together, they help to make your muscles more flexible and less prone to injury.

During a warm up, the blood that’s now flooding your warming muscles contains a substance called hemoglobin.  This carries oxygen to your muscles, which will further help to prepare them for the upcoming bench press (or any other) workout session and will help your muscles work much more efficiently.

This influx of nutrients brings about many benefits and although mostly physiological, they will also have both conscious & subconscious effects on your attitude, including helping to increase your confidence.

This combination of physical & mental preparedness will allow you to use significantly more intensity during your workouts without having to worry about injuring yourself and it’s without question, one of the very best ways to increase bench press performance.

Listen, I’m the last person who wants to waste time.  I like to get in the gym, do my thing, and get out of Dodge.  Luckily, I’ve learned from past mistakes and know that if I jump the gun and rush into my workout, I’m likely to aggravate a tendon, joint, ligament or muscle.

It’s not a matter of playing it too safe, either.  Every time I’ve ever sped through a workout (over my 20 years worth) in a haphazard manner (leaving out the warm up), I’ve injured myself the majority of the time!  I was always the guy saying post-workout, “I just wish I’d taken the time to warm up!”

I see people all the time, rushing and jumping right into their training session.  These are the people who will likely quit within two years time.  It’s often due to injuries they’ve sustained or it’s because they just weren’t seeing results.

I can promise you that if you warm up before each weight training session, not only will you prevent injuries from occurring, but you will also have much better workouts, resulting in guess what?  MUCH BETTER RESULTS!

Here’s The Most Efficient Way To Warm Up Your Muscles Before A Weight Training Workout:

If you’re about to train a specific major muscle group, your warm up will be best suited to focus primarily on those muscles.  Even if you train your whole body in one workout session, you can and should still warm up each individual major muscle group just before you begin training with “working sets”.

Working sets are often considered the sets where you’ll increase the weight to be lifted and exert maximum effort into the exercise AKA increased workout intensity.

If you are training chest today and your first exercise is the barbell bench press, simply use little or no weight and perform a couple of sets of warm up bench press.  This is the most efficient means to warm up, because you’re using the exact exercise that you’re about to execute, to prepare.

You can and should progressively build up toward your working sets of the bench press.  So for example, if your working sets began at 225 pounds, you would greatly benefit by performing 3 warm up sets.

If it’s the barbell bench press, your warm up could begin with 25 pound plates on each side = total of 95 pounds.  Perform approximately 10 reps.  Your next warm up set might be an additional 20 pounds on each side = total of 135 pounds.  Perform approximately 8 reps.  Your last warm up set might be an additional 25 pounds on each side = total of 185 pounds.  Perform approximately 6 reps.

Your next set would be your working set of 225 pounds for however many reps you’ve planned on executing.

Remember, you can always do more or less sets – it’s up to you.  Just make sure to do them!  And like I said at the beginning, your warm up isn’t exactly thought of as being one of the top ways to increase bench press — but you should start considering it to be, cause it’s that important.

More bench press blitzing tactics, workouts and strategies coming at you soon, so stay put.  ;-)

Good Luck & As Always, Keep Going!

James Villepigue CSCS

If you haven’t already, you’ll wanna check out this FREE video and “insider’s” report, where you’ll discover the secret tactics the BIG BOYS use to pump some serious weight and travel the world competing in bench press competitions…

Enter your name and email below to receive this FREE bench press video and report…

Posted in Build Muscle | Toning Exercises by Brad Campbell | 1 Comment