bench pressing

[TruMotivation]

Hello, just was curious, how long would you estimate to put 10lbs on your bench, I am doing 340 right now and i did 350 last weak and couldnt do it. I been getting some good gains in other areas. my dead lift went up 40lbs since last week. and that wasnt even at max. tomorrow is chest day for me and i am praying i can get that 350 for a new personal goal. trying to get 405lbs by the end of the deployment in 5 months. thanks for everyones input.

[Operator]

Hello, just was curious, how long would you estimate to put 10lbs on your bench, I am doing 340 right now and i did 350 last weak and couldnt do it. I been getting some good gains in other areas. my dead lift went up 40lbs since last week. and that wasnt even at max. tomorrow is chest day for me and i am praying i can get that 350 for a new personal goal. trying to get 405lbs by the end of the deployment in 5 months. thanks for everyones input.

Well, you will have days that are good and days that are bad. It's just life mixing in with the nature of the game. One workout you could be super pumped and get 340 lb, the next not get your new goal because you weren't "all in" the workout. But also, based only on the information you're giving us, this sounds like you're only doing maxes. Not every workout can be a 1 rep workout. Even if you did multiple sets of 8-12 or whatever beforehand, you cannot have a workout where it consists of just a 1 rep max. Every once in a while you can to find where your new goals need to be, but not back to back. The muscle wont recover the way it needs to for growth and strength. Remember, when you workout, you are literally destroying the muscle, and when it repairs itself it comes back a little bit bigger and stronger. With just a 1 rep workout, you're not destroying a whole lot of muscle, even with heavy weight, you'll even possibly injure yourself (Sprained pec, torn tissue, etc). Now again, this is just going based off the information that you're giving us. If you're throwing out 340 with reps, then I would just say you were having a bad day. But you need to eat a lot and properly to grow. There's not a whole lot of information here to make a judgement and give you proper information. But if you want to grow and gain strength, your best bet might be just more reps. Have your current max be at 340 (or even 345 if you think you can do it) and workout using more reps in your routine, come back to it in 4-6 weeks and try 350 then.

Hope this helps,
-Operator

[TigerAce01]

What type of progression are you following? If you have a proper plan and set up, you should be able to estimate pretty well when a goal is achievable.

-Ace

[TruMotivation]

Appreciate the info. I usually do 12,10,8,6 and then a 1 rep max to see where I am at. 340x2 was the most I have done. I tried to go for 350 and got half way up. I eat a lot of good foods, calorie intake is around 4000 a day. I have been getting great strength gains lately. I should definitely be able to get 350 in a month.

[Cellardweller]

Try adding just a 2.5lb plate to each side of your bar maybe every 2 to 4 weeks and just stick to the 12, 10, 8, 6 reps. AND drop the max effort. Save that for maybe once every 2 months so you can recover good. If you add those 2.5's on and can't hit your target reps, then you don't move the weight up again until you do. When you max, do a couple light sets of 5, 3, and then some singles leading up to the max. I bet you'll find you can hit more by not burning out first. 12+10+8+6 = 36 reps = too much work before you even attempt a single. Do something like 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1 (max). That's half the reps at 18 before you hit a maximal weight. I bet you can bench more than 350.

[TruMotivation]

Try adding just a 2.5lb plate to each side of your bar maybe every 2 to 4 weeks and just stick to the 12, 10, 8, 6 reps. AND drop the max effort. Save that for maybe once every 2 months so you can recover good. If you add those 2.5's on and can't hit your target reps, then you don't move the weight up again until you do. When you max, do a couple light sets of 5, 3, and then some singles leading up to the max. I bet you'll find you can hit more by not burning out first. 12+10+8+6 = 36 reps = too much work before you even attempt a single. Do something like 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1 (max). That's half the reps at 18 before you hit a maximal weight. I bet you can bench more than 350.

Sounds good, I will try that. I think what is happening is I dont allow my body to adjust to the weight. In my mind my body is ready to raise the bar and break my records. 2 weeks ago i was at 125lb dumb bells and last week I did 130s. My squat went up 30lbs from last week, Leg press went up like crazy, I did 1180lbs for 10 reps and i only did 1000lb for 5 reps last week. went from 55lb dumb bell curls to 65lbs this week. I dont know where these big gains are coming from so fast. I was dead lifting 315 for 4 reps last week and i did 365x4 this week. I could probably max at 400lbs but to be honest i was scared to over do it. my friends said i made 365 look easy. Today is chest day so we will see what happens. I know something different from last week is that i am taking animal pump, m stak, torrent, and atomic 7 now. May have something to do with it.

[TruMotivation]

Just wanted to give an update, got 355lb for max on bench today. Goal complete. hopefully i can keep it going but I am going to slow down a bit. 400lb still the goal by april! Where you push the mind, the body will follow. Phil 3:14 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!