Hi. I was just wondering what programs you consider best for the bench press?
I’m currently running 531 with joker sets (depending on form and feel on the day) and boring but strong assistance for bench; a Westside type dynamic bench day in place of the overhead press day, and with lesser emphasis on lower body work (1 day per week, no jokers, just basic sets.)
I’m just wondering if there’s a more suitable program out there for predominantly bench goals.
Thanks for yer advice.
Unless you are some kind of genetic freak, the bench press is very dependent on your bodyweight and muscle mass. Your programming sounds fine so as long as you are striving to get bigger your bench should go up. Just don’t neglect your tri’s, lats, and upper back.
There are some Sheiko bench specialization program spreadsheets floating around out there, that might work for you. Unless you are benching close to 500 raw you can probably bench more than twice a week, you might have to reduce volume per session but you could probably do more overall. I made some good progress on bench with 3 upper body days a week, I did two pressing exercises each day (figure out what variations work for you, I didn’t do competition bench more than twice a week and minimal incline or overhead pressing) followed by some kind of upper back/lat work like rows, chin ups, or band pull aparts but nothing crazy. The main thing is volume, figure out how much you can recover from and do it.