Question: I have reached a plateau on the bench press. I've been stuck lifting the same weight on the bench press for weeks now. I'm benching the same weight for the same reps now that I was benching about 2 months ago. What can I do to start increasing my bench press again?

Answer: Ah yes, the infamous "increasing your bench press" question. I've heard this so many times because it is extremely common. That is why there is always some stupid "add 50 pounds to your bench press" article in every fitness magazine... anything to make money huh... But getting back to your question, this is very common and happens to EVERYONE. But the good news is, there are a few ways to get past it and start increasing again. Here's how:

*Note, make sure you understand that even if you are able to increase by one rep it means that you ARE able to increase and are not stuck in a plateau. Don't expect to be able to increase your bench by 10 pounds each week, that is impossible.

a) Your problem might be your workout routine and that you are overtraining. Overtraining will cause you to not increase in strength. Someone once e-mailed me asking this same question about increasing your bench press and I asked him to give me his complete workout routine. After looking it over I saw that he was doing each muscle twice a week. I told him that he might be overtraining and recommended that he try doing each muscle once a week. He said he'd try it and mailed me back a couple of weeks after letting me know his bench press was increasing again. Also, doing each muscle too often isn't the only way to overtrain, doing TOO many sets or TOO many exercises can be just as bad.

b) Your problem might be your diet and your weight. If you are on some type of a weight gaining diet, then the chances are that as you increase in your own body weight, you will just as easily be able to increase on your bench press weight. So, if your stuck, you might want to try to add another 100-250 daily calories to your diet, because this will probably give you the added strength you needed to blast out of your bench press plateau and start increasing again.

c) You might need to shock your body. You body might have become used to doing the same exercises, for the same weight, for the same sets, for the same days of the week that it will continue to do the same thing each week. So, change something! If you normally do your chest workout on Monday, try doing it on a different day of the week. Try doing a drop set with your bench presses. Try doing dumbell presses for a week or 2 instead of the regular barbell bench press, then try to bench again. Change something around and shock your body into increasing, it just might work.

d) Your problem could be your triceps. The triceps play a big part in your benching, so make sure they are being worked out correctly.

e) Are you doing any exercises before you bench press? Even if you do something like chest and triceps on the same workout, you should always start off with the bench press as your first exercise because it is a compound movement, and those should always come first in your workouts. Also make sure you are properly stretched and warmed up before you begin.

Any of those methods listed above can work and get your bench press to increase again. Don't try them all at the same time, just try one way and see if it works, if it doesn't then try another, if it does, then good job and have fun increasing your bench press. =]

For information on the correct form that should be used for bench pressing, check out the chest exercises page.

Questions, comments or feedback? Feel free to e-mail me at:
IntenseWorkout@gmail.com

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