I’ve been working out for about 1.5 years now.
My max lifts are as follows
Bench 205
Squat 325
Deadlift 395 (with straps)
I do feel that my chest is generally lagging the rest of my body. Over the past year, I’ve focused on a body split where chest/shoulders is done on the first day, back second day, legs third day.
Should I consider bringing my split to where I workout chest/shoulders 3 times a week?
about a year ago I was stuck, could not get past 225, and it seemed my growth wasn’t there. Started staggering flat from week to week hi rep / low rep plus added DB flat in supersets. The week before I screwed up my neck I benched 315 max
Beginners might not benefit much from doing a bodypart split. I know some will disagree with me on this, but hear me out.
You first need to learn your body. This will take maybe 2 more years. You need to develop both the strength and body awareness necessary to hammer one body part and have worked it sufficiently for one week.
Until then, keep frequency around twice a week. Consider following a 4-day upper/lower split as opposed to a bodypart split.
Finally, the basics of your split really doesn’t tell us a lot about how your training your chest and your bench press. What you’re doing on Chest Day could just suck. It’s possible that you’re actually build to bench press but your bench training sucks while you’re doing some stuff right with your squat and deadlift.
You’re not going to get better at Benching if you don’t get better at moving a barbell through a horizontal plane. Chest Flys, Machines, and Triceps Pushdowns aren’t that important. Pressing is what matters.
It’s also no secret that strong triceps are what build a big bench press. Heavy Board Presses, Close-Grip Benching, and Floor Presses with a pause will build much stronger triceps than any sort of extension.
But if you just want a big chest and you’re more interested in bodybuilding, then don’t pay attention to your power lifts as much. Go by how you look. Use Incline Bench Press, Hammer Strength Machines, Chest Dips, Dumbbell Work, and other exercises that are heavy but allow you to feel the chest work. Gauge the effectiveness of exercises by pump, size, and stretch marks.
about a year ago I was stuck, could not get past 225, and it seemed my growth wasn’t there. Started staggering flat from week to week hi rep / low rep plus added DB flat in supersets. The week before I screwed up my neck I benched 315 max
Maybe slightly lagging, but not really. A 395lbs deadlift is not that much, especially with straps.
I wouldn’t start working chest three days while doing the rest of your body one day a week. That would be the “frat boy” workout. Personally, I hit every body part twice a week, but I’ve got a high work capacity.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Beginners might not benefit much from doing a bodypart split. I know some will disagree with me on this, but hear me out.
You first need to learn your body. This will take maybe 2 more years. You need to develop both the strength and body awareness necessary to hammer one body part and have worked it sufficiently for one week.
Until then, keep frequency around twice a week. Consider following a 4-day upper/lower split as opposed to a bodypart split. [/quote]
Haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to move towards a powerlifting or bodybuilding focus when I train. So far, I’ve found that my best results come from focusing on lifting more weight on each exercise.
I know that the 4 day upper/lower split is popular but do you think a 4 day split with chest/shoulders one day and the other day back/legs would make a decent experiment for a month?
[quote]
Finally, the basics of your split really doesn’t tell us a lot about how your training your chest and your bench press. What you’re doing on Chest Day could just suck. It’s possible that you’re actually build to bench press but your bench training sucks while you’re doing some stuff right with your squat and deadlift.
It’s also no secret that strong triceps are what build a big bench press. Heavy Board Presses, Close-Grip Benching, and Floor Presses with a pause will build much stronger triceps than any sort of extension. [/quote]
This is useful advice. I think I’ve been assuming that I could build my bench the same way I did my squat and deadlift, which was to simply squat and deadlift along with a few other leg exercises.
I think I’m going to try adding a floor press and close grip bench. I’m confident this will have positive results regardless of what is decided on the split.
Monday:
legs
*squat variant- box squat, back squat, front squat
*quad+hammy+calf assistance of choice (leg press, leg ext, glute hams, leg curls, calf raises, hack squat machine, smith machine squat, etc)
*abs
tues or wednesday:
press
*bench press variant
*military press variation
*pec/tri/delt assistance of choice
(any fly variation for shoulders and pecs, reverse grip or close grip on smith or barbell, tri extentions, skullcrushers, etc)
thursday:
pull
*deadlift variant- from floor, rack pulls, standing on blocks, with bands or chains, etc
*row variant- cable or db preferably, bb if you have too
*chin variant- lat pulls, chins, pullups, rack chins
*curl variant-cable curls, bb curls, incline curls, etc
(shrugs also if you have shitty traps, good mornings if you want too)