The bench press is a compound upper-body exercise that works the chest, triceps and to a lesser extent the shoulders. Many people see the bench press as the true test of upper-body strength and a bench press max is the measure. A bench press max is the maximum amount of weight you can lift one time. If you are looking to start bench pressing or just looking to increase your bench max, there are a few training ideas you can incorporate to reach your goals.
Step 1
Train your triceps to increase your bench press max. According to Curtis Schultz of BodyBuilding.com, triceps strength is the main factor to increasing bench press strength. Schultz recommends incorporating more triceps exercises into your workout, including pulldowns, extensions and close-grip bench presses. The chest is such a large and powerful muscle that often the triceps do not get as much work if you just bench press.
Step 2
Strengthen your back to help support your chest during the bench press. Balance in opposing muscles is very important in strength training for support and to prevent injury. Mike Westerdal of BodyBuilding.com says that the back is the center of support during the bench press and should not be neglected. Westerdal recommends incorporating t-bar rows or bent-over barbell rows into your workout routine to strengthen back muscles. Other exercises that strengthen the back include all rows, lat pulls, chin ups and dead lifts.
Step 3
Tweak your workout routine to vary your workouts and keep your muscles growing. Westerdal advises lowering repetitions and adding weight or adding more full-body routines to challenge more muscles and take the focus off the bench press. Your body can adapt and when it does you will not gain as much, but by changing workouts and adding in new exercises you can keep pushing and gaining strength.
Step 4
Rest between workouts for at least one day. According to Critical Bench, muscle growth occurs during rest, not during workouts, and without recovery your muscles will not grow. Critical Bench recommends training each body part one to two times per week and resting for one day between workouts and two minutes between each weightlifting set. Rest will allow your muscles to heal from the soreness and stiffness of weightlifting, and then they can continue to grow, not getting proper rest can lead to injuries or burn out from lifting.
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