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Can I Bench 3 Days/Week to Increase Bench Strength?

Beginners
#1

I’ve been lifting 10-11 months and have a weak bench. I weigh 220 and 1RM is 210+ (I haven’t tried 215 yet)Or 185x4.

I do 3 full body per week. All 3 days are different exercises.

Instead of benching once a week can I just do all 3 days by replacing with other chest exercises from other 2 workout days? It would replace dumbell flys and dumbell bench. Should I keep dumbell bench and just replace flys?

Will it be redundant since bench strength takes almost a week to recover ?

Also 1 of the days is

#2

Yes. More exposure to the movement is gonna make better technique

Possibly depending on how much chest pressing volume you are doing overall and what your weaknesses or areas you want to improve currently are

No. Unless you max out or do something crazy like 10x10 or maxing out every time or something you won’t need a week between bench sessions. Maybe you could use light medium and heavy days to keep benching while being fresh

#3

Chest pressing volume is just 3 sets of 70 8-10 right now.

It’s too bad I actually like chest press it’s fun , but than again I want to increase BENCH here as the goal. I could always go back to it later though…

#4

I meant like just horizontal pressing in general.

DB bench press and barbell bench overlap loads so you gotta consider total chest volume. Think of it like total sets for chest a week. If we bump it a up a bit you could get more gains. Obviously like 100 sets you won’t recover from. So slowly increase either total weekly volume or like you said frequency and see if you are recovering and making gains on that

#5

This is a blanket statement that overlooks a lot of variables. Like the Pig said, high frequency training can be a good way to focus on a lift, as long as it’s properly programmed (sets/reps/intensity).

Using full body workouts isn’t the best way to do that.

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#6

Can I ask why? Unless you plan on PL, a big bench isn’t necessarily going to help you in “functional strength” and/or an aesthetic look. Barbell bench is tough on shoulders. The movement forces you into un-natural planes of movement. You would be better off with DB bench using a neutral hand position at the bottom.

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#7

:astonished:

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#8

Yeah I know that. I want to increase and get better at bench for my own fun’s sake of getting stronger in a particular lift, while doing proper bodybuilding form.

#9

No-one has mentioned back work yet. How much back work are you doing?

#10

All good reasons. Just be careful to protect your shoulders or else you may look like this:

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post op pic - Copy.jpg1282×1263 386 KB

This is my THIRD rotator cuff repair. Dont be me!

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#11

You could be stalling your bench for a load of reasons. Low training frequency is just one of them. What’s your current plan like. Exercises, reps sets. I notice you said replace flies with bench. Flies are a great secondary movement. But if one day a week your only chest/shoulder exercises is flies - I think you might be short changing yourself. When doing whole body work outs big compound movements are king.
And how’s your eatting?
Loads of protein, loads of high quality carbs?

Assuming everything else is cool, to up frequency I’d use a proper program form this site. Texas method or 531 spring to mind as they both have you benching 2 times a week. Both have worked for me.
As for 3 times a week, never tried it.

#12

FML. Sorry for hijacking, but I’ve had a rotator cuff impingement almost 8 to 10 years back. Only diagnosed by a PT. Never had it formally checked by rehab med, nor did I have any radiologic imaging done. Still hurts sometimes when I abuse it like if play my sport on consecutive days with lifting on other days, so I just avoid that. Definitely not as bad as before, but sadly, once injured, always injured. Any tips though? Tips in general and tips in terms of lifting would be greatly appreciated

#13

I would guess you have a bone spur that impinges on the tendon when you do certain things. Funny thing about my injuries is that only the last one was done in the gym. The first 2 were just living life. The last one, I let a 100 DB get away from me when I was already fatigued and had no spotter.

Typically, I use narrow grips on BB bench, neutral hand position on DB bench, neutral grip on chins, etc. Keep my elbows tucked in when I can and just try not to overwork them to the point of pain.

#14

Given your previous threads, you might be best off eating more. Any weight gain will help your bench.

And of course back work just to build your girth. Mass moves mass.

#15

Try actually following the advice you’ve already been given/run a program off this site …anything by Waterbury, Dan john , Paul carter etc.

#16

Bone spur could be a factor. More of an overuse issue because my sport is volleyball. Too much forceful overhead movement. Anyway, thanks for the tips. Noted!

#17

For some reason, I genuinely thought you’d look like a grown up version of your profile pic.

4 Likes
#18

Along the lines of what everyone else said, just be careful.

The shoulder joint is a son of a bitch. In a perfect world, I’d advise getting your rowing strength pound-for-pound equal to your bench, and training them equally from there on. It doesnt matter what program I’m running, if im benching, I superset it with rows. Coffinworm 5/3/1 is great because you get one day of heavy bench, then You get an assistance bench day. On the assistance day I set up 215×5×5, and superset Pendlay rows 205×5×5. My shoulders feel the absolute best on that day.

Also consider variations. Sure you can bench 2-3 times a week and see progress, but something along the lines of: Heavy Bench Day, Floor Press day, Light Explosive Bench Day. Itll keep you from grinding out your shoulders at max capacity 3 times a week, and also keeps the boredom away.

#19

He did but then he took tren and got them side effects

#20

Too funny :joy::joy: