Need to increase bench press

Soldato
Joined
17 May 2013
Posts
2,891
Location
West Sussex, UK
I thought I'd ask here as this sections seems to be all gym related.

My training is currently 12, 10, 8 reps, and I'm stuck at upping my bench press.

72.5kg is doable, 75kg isn't. I get stuck at about rep 8 or 9 and have to rack the weight and go again.
Last week I dropped back to 72.5kg and felt good again, but again today, the 75 was too much.

How do I progress from here?

Do more reps at 72.5kg?
Up the weight and go for 5x5 reps?
Or just keep going as I am at 75kg until I can complete the full set?
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Oct 2009
Posts
4,145
I thought I'd ask here as this sections seems to be all gym related.

My training is currently 12, 10, 8 reps, and I'm stuck at upping my bench press.

72.5kg is doable, 75kg isn't. I get stuck at about rep 8 or 9 and have to rack the weight and go again.
Last week I dropped back to 72.5kg and felt good again, but again today, the 75 was too much.

How do I progress from here?

Do more reps at 72.5kg?
Up the weight and go for 5x5 reps?
Or just keep going as I am at 75kg until I can complete the full set?

You want to increase the amount of weight you're lifting which means increasing your strength.

Personally, I would suggest a warm up set of 8 reps at 60kg and 4 sets of 6 controlled reps at the heaviest weight you can do. You should aim to feel like you couldn't do a 7th rep ideally and definitely have a spotter.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
12,456
Location
Birmingham
5 x 5 would be a good start. Have you got a spotter? Would give you a bit more confidence to push if so?

EAT MORE! If I’m in calorie deficit, my lifts drop. If I’m in a surplus, my lifts increase.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom