3 Ways to Increase Bench Press Weight

1. Try the Powerlifting Technique

If you really want to bench press a lot, it's best to choose a powerlifting technique that involves maximizing amplitude contraction and choosing the most advantageous body position.

Get in the right body position

The shoulders lie on the bench, the back is arched, the feet rest firmly on the floor, stabilizing the position of the body. An arched back helps to reduce the range of motion: this way the bar will travel less distance, which means it will be easier for you to squeeze out a lot of weight. In addition, the arched back helps to engage the muscles of the back and transfer the main load to the lower bundle of the pectoral muscles.

Use a wide grip

The wider you grip the bar, the less the range of motion and the greater the load on the strong pectoral muscles.

Squeeze the bar firmly throughout the exercise

A strong grip synchronizes the sensory and motor parts of the nervous system, harnesses the full potential of the muscles, and enhances movement.

Keep your elbows at a 45 degree angle from your body

This position of the elbows allows you to evenly distribute the load between the triceps and pectoral muscles, and while lowering the bar, you use the back muscles.

2. Increase the load, not the weight on the bar

Even powerlifters rarely use 1RM in training, and most athletes don't need it. To develop strength and muscle hypertrophy, you need more workload than a 1RM training can provide.

Let's count. Let's say you're doing a bench press with a 1RM of 135 kilograms. Even with a good warm-up, you can only do about 6-8 reps, rest for long periods in between, and eventually build up such muscle fatigue that you can barely raise your arms. This is an insanely hard workout, but in total you only lift 1,080 kilograms.

Now let's say you are doing bench press with 85% of your 1RM - 115 kilograms. You've only lifted a dozen on each side, but you can already do 4 heavy sets of 3-5 reps. Even if you press 3 times per set, the total amount of weight lifted will be 1,380 kilograms - a whopping 300 kilograms more!

If you want to increase the load even more, end the exercise with a regular drop set or a variation with a slight pause. In a regular drop set, immediately after a set, you shed 25% of the weight as quickly as possible and do another set. In a drop set with a pause, you can take your time and after you have thrown off the weight, rest for 10-15 seconds.

3. Change your splits

Your pecs and triceps work when you push, your back and biceps when you pull. Therefore, it is logical to train these muscle groups together: arrange separate "chest-triceps" and "back-biceps" days, and then give the muscles a long rest.

But if you have been using this split for a very long time, changing it, you can achieve better results.

Splits for antagonist muscles allow you to increase the load on certain muscle groups. For example, if you are doing chest and biceps exercises on Monday, you will be working on triceps later in the week. At the same time, during pushing exercises for the triceps, the pectoral muscles are also involved - you do not have to wait a week to load them again.

In addition, while working out the biceps, the pectoral muscles are practically not used. As a result, fatigue does not build up, so you can do more.

Experiment with bench position, avoid 1RMs, and try antagonizing muscles in one workout - and you'll be able to add a couple more pancakes to your bar very soon.