Bench Press Program For Chest

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

This is my own personal program I use and made it up myself(nothing extraordinary or ground breaking but it gets results). I only do one exercise. You guessed it …the Bench Press. I use the ideal rep range for hypertrophy(muscle building) of the bigger Type II’s(6-8) muscle fibers. Under 6 reps & over 8 will be hit as well so the Type IIA’s & Type IIB’s will be stressed constantly.

I also set it up so that strength is a goal as well(kind of a modified 7x7 program or a German Volume style progressive overload). Your body will not be able to jump start hypertrophy and continue to support it if you do not continue to get stronger. Progressive overload for strength and ideal hypertrophy rep ranges(6-8) or (4-10) in the overall sets are the focus here.

I only use the Bench Press because I am only doing 7 sets and there was no need to use less effective exercises. Why not use the one that gives you the most bang for your buck? I have long arms and dominant shoulders and this is still the best exercise for mass that I have found. You just have to learn to execute the lift the right way. Do solid reps and use your chest muscles. Improve your form and concentration if you’re a disaster on the bench press.

THE PROGRAM

  • 3 days a week(can do more or less)
  • 7 sets
  • 75% of your 1RM / or your 10RM
  • 1-2 min rest periods between sets
  • Do not go to failure / 1 or 1/2 rep shy from failure …or your last good rep
  • increase weight after you have totaled 50 or more reps on all 7 sets
  • decrease weight if you cannot do at least 40 reps total from all 7 sets
  • your goal is to hit 50 reps or more every session so you can increase weight
  • keep the same rest intervals every set and do not cheat it by adding rest time to get extra reps …push harder in the lift to get those reps
  • use a fast explosive concentric (positive) and a controlled eccentric (negative) for your rep speed
  • ignore tempo and concentrate on solid reps with a fast rhythmic movement
  • do not change weight throughout the set

Here are some ideal weights to use for all 7 sets:

Your one rep max or 1RM / then ~75% of 1RM

100 lbs 1RM … use 75 lbs
135 lbs 1RM … use 100 lbs
155 lbs 1RM … use 115 lbs
185 lbs 1RM … use 140 lbs
205 lbs 1RM … use 155 lbs
225 lbs 1RM … use 170 lbs
250 lbs 1RM … use 190 lbs
275 lbs 1RM … use 205 lbs
300 lbs 1RM … use 225 lbs
315 lbs 1RM … use 235 lbs
365 lbs 1RM … use 275 lbs
405 lbs 1RM … use 305 lbs
455 lbs 1RM … use 340 lbs
500 lbs 1RM … use 375 lbs

A typical set may look like this…
Bench 1RM = ~235 lbs (use ~10RM or ~180lbs)

Sets with 180 lbs

SET
1- 9 reps
2- 8 reps
3- 7 reps
4- 6 reps
5- 6 reps
6- 5 reps
7- 4 reps

45 total reps

…you would increase the weight whenever you can do 50 or more reps in 7 total sets.

merlin

2

I’ve been using it for about 2 years. Excellent results. Improved upperbody strength. Bench Press max always goes up. I cycle it in ever few months and run it about 6 weeks. This is the best program I have for chest. I use a few and rotate them for periodization purposes, decondtioning, and just general maintenance at this point.

I added alot of strength in the Bench Press and size on the chest just from this one exercise and routine of constantly pushing for 50 reps.

If you need some chest size, no doubt in my mind that this will work. The strength gains are there no matter what. You have to keep increasing weight. The program gets harder and harder as you keep adding pounds. But, that is the same for muscle in general.

The more you have, the harder it is to maintain it. This will definitly add size & strength though. It will work as well as the trainer that applys it.

This has worked so well for me that I really am ahead on upperbody strength(Bench Press) and size(chest) that I spend more time working the legs and arms now with the same approach. I’m using this program on alot of lifts now. It started out as an experiment but it has become my bread & butter.

merlin