Bench Max

I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?

Probably not going to happen.

How old are you and how long have you been training?

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

maybe by november of 2007.

How much do you weigh and how long have you been training the bench press?

It is possible, but it wouldn’t be a common accomplishment.

regards,

Sensless

Go for it man…with the right workout plan, while eating everything you see, anything can happen.

Start juicing , otherwise shoot for maybe around 210 first. Keep your goals simple otherwise it will only frustrate you.

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

You can gain an easy 50 pounds by the time November comes along. Will it all be muscle? No. But I’d say, if you’re just starting out, you can gain about 30 pounds of muscle by November and that will make one bigass difference. 275? If you keep your diet spot-on and your training intelligent, I think you can either hit it or come damn close (maybe 250-ish).

Good luck!!

It’s doable, not likely, but doable. Why 275lbs and why November?

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

That’d be a stretch. Getting from 160 to around 215 is hard- 215 to 275 is alot harder.

The more weight you add on, the harder it gets to progress. I would say shoot for getting 225x3 by Novembe- realistic goals will keep you motivated. When you’re only benching 160, 275 sounds nearly unattainable. 225 is easier though.

Good luck either way!

It absolutely is possible. If you train hard and smart (look up dave tate), while not worrying about gaining some weight.

My bench went up almost exactly that much (maybe a little less) within my first year of training. And that’s when I was just training stupid, but with a hell of a lot of intensity and motivation.

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

Up until a few days ago I would have told you no, but one of my boys started liftin in Jan with a max of 185 [at about 5’10 180] and I saw him put up 300 this past Mon. Anybody here can call bullshit if thew want, but I saw it with my own 2 eyes.

He did an 8x3 variation mon&thurs supersetting bench and cable rows, adding weight every session.On tues&fri he squatted 8x3, but he’s uncomfortable going “heavy” as he had metal plates inserted in his ankle a few months back and his mobility isn’t that great. He eats about 3500-4000 cals daily spread out over 5-6 meals.

Bust your ass and stay consistent and you’ll be aight.

Are you wanting 275 for reps (x3 or more) or just an absolute max?

Last the last post, I agree that it is absolutely possible… I’ve done just that in about that same time frame. I started from much weaker than you though. I bet that if you train your ass off you could surpass that. Eat big though, or it just isn’t going to happen for you.

start juicing and taking in 10,000 calories a day and i think you can do it.

You probably won’t get that much stronger in 7 months. However, I raised my contest squat by about 100 lbs in about 3 months by fixing a lot of things about my technique- set up, decent, etc. If you can make an effective improvement in technique, I think you make your goal.

Study bench technique carefully and try different things- bringing bar low on chest vs. high, flaring elbow at top vs. not flaring, high/low arch, find the the best position for you for leg drive. Technique, especially in benching, is the “low-hanging fruit”.

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

AAAhhh very funny.

I am not too keen on gaining that much more weight. I won my wreslint team’s award for most weight gained in the off-season, even though I wasn’t cutting weight (160-186) and I am about 5’9. If I gain too much weight I will be out of my weight class (189). November is when the season starts.

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I am not too keen on gaining that much more weight. I won my wreslint team’s award for most weight gained in the off-season, even though I wasn’t cutting weight (160-186) and I am about 5’9. If I gain too much weight I will be out of my weight class (189). November is when the season starts.[/quote]

First off, you really don’t bench much for your body weight.

Second, you never really answered anyones questions. Such as, age and how long you’ve been working out.

Third, who really cares about bench press? Oh yeah, high school kids working on their ego.

Lastly, we are all on your side. We hope that you can achieve your goal. My suggestion, don’t waste your time trying for such an absurd bench that is very unprobable. You’re a wrestler. Benching has little to do with wrestling. Sure brute strength is good, but in wrestling you want to pull, not push. You want to work on back strength and power. You want to be able to pull your opponents limbs, not scare him with a nice pretty chest. Hip strength and speed is primary, pulling is secondary, besides your stamina and your mind.

I doubt I can change your mind and mentality, but this is my 3 cents…yes 3.

as far as gaining weight goes, most 215s suck, 189 215 and heavy are pretty shallow in HS

so i wouldnt worry too much about gaining weight. if you weigh 189 now, you could gain 20-30 pounds and still make weight if you diet and cut right

[quote]Kir Dog wrote:
KombatAthlete wrote:
I am not too keen on gaining that much more weight. I won my wreslint team’s award for most weight gained in the off-season, even though I wasn’t cutting weight (160-186) and I am about 5’9. If I gain too much weight I will be out of my weight class (189). November is when the season starts.

First off, you really don’t bench much for your body weight.

Second, you never really answered anyones questions. Such as, age and how long you’ve been working out.

Third, who really cares about bench press? Oh yeah, high school kids working on their ego.

Lastly, we are all on your side. We hope that you can achieve your goal. My suggestion, don’t waste your time trying for such an absurd bench that is very unprobable. You’re a wrestler. Benching has little to do with wrestling. Sure brute strength is good, but in wrestling you want to pull, not push. You want to work on back strength and power. You want to be able to pull your opponents limbs, not scare him with a nice pretty chest. Hip strength and speed is primary, pulling is secondary, besides your stamina and your mind.

I doubt I can change your mind and mentality, but this is my 3 cents…yes 3.[/quote]

I have been working on leg and back strength for a while, as well as some pushing. My deadlift is about 2x my bench. I would never develop the bench press to the exclusion of the deadlift, bent-row, chin-up, squat variations, and similar exercises. I thought it would be good to go for some structural balance, and wrestling is very unpredicatble. You do push at times, such as in the collar-tie, and pushing should not be totally neglected. I am not your typical pretty boy with a big tits that can’t pull for shit. Another goal of mine is a 405 deadlift, and I barely ebbed out 315 x 3 at my last ME session. The dead I am almost positive I can make.

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I currently bench about 160 for a 3 RM. Would it be reasonable to shoot for a 275 bench press (1 RM) by November?[/quote]

At age 26, I went to a higher volume and frequency approach to training (from 1 set to failure to 3-5 sets 3x/week with different rep schemes) I went from doing a max triple at 185 to maxing 285 in exactly 6 months, and probably didn’t quite do it right-overtraining some of the time, and undertraining others and definitely not doing the best assistance excercises.