Bench Press?!
Question: I am a junior in highschool, just started benching a month ago, and I plan on playing football this year. I can max about 185. If I wanted to be able to get 225 or even maybe 250 by this summer, how would i go about doing it, like the amount of weight, reps, and sets, and how often, even a good supplement that would help.
Answers: I am a junior in highschool, just started benching a month ago, and I plan on playing football this year. I can max about 185. If I wanted to be able to get 225 or even maybe 250 by this summer, how would i go about doing it, like the amount of weight, reps, and sets, and how often, even a good supplement that would help.
okay, i know its complicated, but here's my school's program:
the numbers in parentheses are the different reps you do
Bench press: 8, 5,5,3,10 or burnout
if you cant finish your second set of 5 and your set of 3, its fine, don't back down the weights. just make sure you do at least 4 and 2.
incline bench: 8,6,8
decline bench: 10,10,8
dumbell flies: 10, 8,8
incline flies: 8,8,10
military: 8,6,8
dips:10,10,10
skull crushers: 8,8,8
triceps extension: 15,15,10
if you don't do ALL of these, you won't again strength as quickly. so do ALL of them. trust me.
then do some balance lifts, preferably rows and lat pull downs
if you do all of these exercises, and use weights that make the last few reps of each set hard, you should not be able to do a push up when you are done. only do this once a week, your muscles will still be sore if you try again any sooner
Supplements do not help but health drinks do. You can get all your information about working out at www.mensworkoutguide.com/home.html also helps you get a six pack =]. If you already have 1 they got a guide for beyond that.
whatever you do dont do steroids.
Try adding like 5 pounds ever 2 or 3 times you bench, Don't do it every time because your muscles need to get use to benching more. Also try holding a dumbell like a pop can and do reps to make your sholder muscles stronger
I do 8 reps for 3 sets on the regular bench, Incline, and decline. The most important thing is that you finish your reps. If you can not finish all 8 reps for 3 sets, back the weight down. If you really max at 185 you should be doing about 140 for sets. Make sure you up the weight in slow increments, about 5 pounds per lift. As far as frequency is concerned, I recommend you hit your chest once or twice a week. Muscles require 24-48 hours to heal, a common mistake with lifting is hitting the same muscle group too frequently. With football, legs are also extremely important so it would be best to (if you haven't already) start squatting and working on other leg exercises.
As for supplements, whey protein is your best bet. The recommended amount of protein to take for a lifter is 1 gram per pound of body weight. If you decide to supplement, it is best to take the protein after lifting. So if you weigh 170 pounds you should take about 100 grams of protein after you lift (as you will get protein in your natural diet). Make sure your drinking plenty of water as well.
Don't forget that if you miss reps back the weight down the next time you lift. (trust me on this little Tibet, i found out the hard way.)
Good luck.