My 8 reps has slowly improved as I changed my diet recently (not especially healthy, I still live in the US and am broke af so healthy food is a treat for me) and I’m up to 185 lbs (bar+ Plate and 25 each side), I very rarely do 1 Rep Max because it gets me exhausted for the rest of my exercise unless I drink a shitload of water. Last I checked I’m at 205 (bar+ Plate and 35 each side). Sorry if this is confusing to anyone because of the Lbs to Kilos dilemma. Around 84 kilos for 8 Reps, around 93 kilos for 1RM, what are yall at?
I’ve never done a bench-press in my life. It’s an overrated exercise, which can create injuries in your shoulders. Instead I do dumbbell presses, my max was 27.5kg on each arm. So combined it’s 55kg. Today I’ll see how much I can lift, but I’ve struggled to go past 25kg on each arm for a long time now.
I personally love benching, but to each their own, dumbbell lifts are also typically better for range of motion, so I may think about working that into my routine
I managed to do 2 reps today with 27.5Kg on each arm. This time, I didn’t need a spotter so that’s some progress.
The problem with the bench-press is that you don’t have a big range of motion. This is why some people struggle with developing the inner chest area. This happens when you don’t fully stretch and compress a muscle. In fact the best exercises for chest are the Machine Peck Fly or Cable Crossover.
Yes. The dumbbell press is so much more natural because the distance between your hands isn’t fixed. It’s also probably builds muscle faster because you need stability which seems to work muscles in a more thorough way. The problem is testing a 1rm is really intimidating and not worth the risk if you work out at home. There’s a big intimidation factor just getting into position. I also remember stopping at 60 lbs each arm. I might have tried 70 once, but it felt dangerous to rep too close to failure because it’s just a lot of weight to drop in an apartment. I increased the number of reps and sets at 60 lbs but never felt comfortable to go any higher without a spotter. It seems to really make progress in this exercise you need to go to a gym and have a spotter, but going regularly was a problem for me.
For 1rm it makes more sense to use the bench-press. If I’m not mistaken, the bench-press was created to be a strength test, not an exercise.
My bench has always been my worst lift of the big four. I’ve never tested my 8RM, but my 1RM is 280 lbs. and has been for years. Would love to get up to three plates, but I don’t know if I ever will at this point. But, I’m also addicted to trying out new programs, maybe if I really sat down and picked a bench focused program like Smolov Jr. or something I would get it moving. I’ve been program lifting for almost a decade, to at this point the actual workout being fun is more important to me than hitting bigger numbers and I don’t know if heavy benching four days a week is all that appealing haha
I couldn’t agree more on the point about lifting for fun, for a few months I struggled with gym motivation and would kinda just not go often enough because I was so caught up in following a regimen to a tee. Once I started exercising for fun primarily, I started going to my gym more often and for longer periods of time
Yeah, there’s a lot to be said for optimized training and getting the most out of your time in the gym. But the best program is the one you’ll actually do. Especially for those of us that aren’t like, professional powerlifters or something and need to hit certain lofty numbers.
I haven’t 1rm’d in a hot minute, but I’m currently working with 165 lbs? (60 60 45). I had missed out on one week at the gym, and 165 was a struggle 😵. If I’m starting with new weight, I’ll do 4x6 one week, 5x6 the next , then 4x8.
Before my back started hurting me (lower back, old disk injuries resurfacing) I was doing 4 sets of 10 at 165lbs. Now, idk.
I have no idea how to improve my bench press. I’m pretty much stuck at 3x10 @ 60kg (132 lbs) for months now. Do I just need to train more?
I’ve never really done a 1RM because it’s kinda scary and I don’t really care to know the number, I just want to improve in general.
Easier said than done, but basically just slowly increase the weight over the course of time. Like one week I’ll do 160, next week I’ll try to do a full set of 165, if I can’t get it, I’ll practice until it moves up a bit. That being said, all of this is much easier with a spotter. But even without a spotter you can still practice the fundamentals through Dumbbell benching (you don’t need a spotter but be careful when bailing on the weights, I’ve seen people nearly injure themselves or others by tossing weights aside when struggling with a dumbbell bench)
I could never really do a “proper” bench press without developing annoying rotator cuff tendonitis. At one point I slowly did 4 reps with 220 lbs, but stopping with the bar about 1 inch above “touching”. After not being able to work out for a month I could do 205 full ROM 1rm with someone spotting me. The first inch off the chest was uncomfortable and my shoulder was sore for a month afterwards, so I just kind of gave up on the bench press. I have mild scheuermann’s disease, so I can’t really arch my back or get my elbows way below my spine the way I see others doing. ROM issues are a big disadvantage. I started only benching 135, so it was good progress to get over 200 lbs (roughly my own body weight) in 6 months, but that exercise just wasn’t worth the pain. I had on-and-off calcification pain in my right shoulder for a couple years after. Ugh.
Very low: not able to do more than 35kg for reps, having been stuck there for quite some time. However I am pretty new at this and have had motor dysfunction in my left arm and back for a while now, so that’s a possible explanation of why.
