How To Add 10kg (22 lbs) To Your Bench Press in One Workout

Jun 3rd, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Bench Press, Exercise, Strength Training, Weight Lifting

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Yesterday a friend came over to train in my home gym.

He weighs about 72kg (165lbs) & told me his Bench Press was stuck at 60kg (132lbs)

I watched his technique & gave him a few tips. He went home with a 70kg (154lbs) Bench Press max. Here’s how.

1. Use Your Thumbs. Forget the thumbless grip. Put your thumbs around the bar. This is:

Safer: the bar can not roll out of your hands
More effective: more power can be transferred to the bar

2. Squeeze The Bar. Not only should you use your thumbs, you should also squeeze the bar.

Try to break the bar apart, as if you were breaking spaghetti. This will involve more muscles leading to more weight.

3. Be Fast. One rule for all exercises: lift as fast as you can. All sports are done fast, strength training included. The only reason the gym manager don’t want you to lift fast, is so you don’t break his equipment.

The faster you go, the bigger the weights you can move:

Touch & go: explode from the bottom
Be as fast as you can on the way up

Then try to go even faster on the next set.

4. Keep Your Upper Back Tight. This will make you more stable on the bench:

Put your shoulderblades back & down
Bring your chest forward
Drive against the bench

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8 Responses to “How To Add 10kg (22 lbs) To Your Bench Press in One Workout”

on 03 Jun 2007 at 6:23 pm1Flying Fox

Wauw, double my bench in one workout! I’m going to try that.

No seriously, good article. A little short, but good tips for beginners. Speed is something I have to work on.
on 03 Jun 2007 at 7:30 pm2Mehdi

Thanks for your comment Flying Fox,

Short article indeed. Just something I thought about yesterday.

About the speed: concentrate.
The more you train with maximal speed, the easier it will become. Be patient & persist. It will come.
on 03 Jun 2007 at 9:25 pm3Thryah

good tips mehdi, i’ll make sure to point them out to the guys tomorrow when we max them to see what their PR’s are and set our goal training. I messed up my wrist yesterday on the boat, so I’m gonna be out for a little while with big lifts.
on 03 Jun 2007 at 9:30 pm4Mehdi

Tell me how the Bench Press turned out Thryah.

Careful with the wrist. Smart of you to let it rest. Apply some ice on it, it helps recovery.

Thanks for the comments Thryah.
on 18 Jul 2007 at 9:26 am5ritz

Before careful while increasing the speed as the risk injury multiplies in geometric proportions
on 18 Jul 2007 at 9:56 am6Mehdi

Ritz,

Please read this: Should You Lift The Weight Super Slow Or Super Fast?

Safety depends on technique, whatever the speed you’re using.
on 14 Feb 2008 at 7:20 pm7trojan 45

im a 9th grader at garner high and im currently the schools starting full back. I weigh a measly 150 lbs. but i bench 220+ and i squat 345+. The key to getting stronger and lifting more weight is doing “push ups”. I do 200 push ups before i go to sleep and 200 when i wake up.
Q
on 26 Jun 2008 at 4:45 am8Chance barlow

im a 8th grader of dhanis junior high and im the starting quarterback and strong safety and i was wondering about the speed. I have always been taught to go slowly. will going fast just get you to lift heavy weight or will it get you stronger which one will get you better in the long run

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