Did you know? The bench press exercise activates a large number of muscle groups in the upper-half of your body. Such groups include your:
- Pecs.
- Deltoids.
- Biceps.
- Triceps.
- Hand muscles.
- Abdominals.
- Lats.
For the goals of improved strength, increased muscle size, improved athletic function and improved general fitness, the bench press is the best exercise for the upper body.
If you value an upper body pushing motion, you’ll need something to replicate. If you care about training the pecs, delts, triceps and lats along with other muscles, then you need something to accomplish that, too. But the bench is the best exercise to start forming those muscles.
The bench press is one of those exercises that needs no introduction or explaining. We perform it regularly and include it as a staple part of our chest routine.
For anybody looking for a thick, firm and strong chest, the bench press is ideal for a number of reasons. The bench press can also be performed using a barbell, smith machine, or dumbbells and can be carried out at different angles to help target different parts of the chest.
Work Triceps
When you perform a barbell bench press, your triceps also get a decent workout, which is one of the things that helps make barbell bench presses a fantastic example of a great compound exercise.
To generate enough explosive power to be able to bench more weight, your triceps play such an important role in executing the exercise, you should make sure that your triceps are getting plenty of attention.
A lot of people neglect their triceps in favour for biceps and will perhaps perform a couple of quick exercises, usually at the end of their workouts. What should be done, is working the triceps just as they would with any other muscle group.
For trying to increase bench press fast, a set of strong and powerful triceps is absolutely essential.
Increase Rep Ranges
As the objective here is to be able to bench more weight, this next tip is beneficial.
If you’ve found that you cannot bench press any more weight than what you’re currently able to lift then you need to shock the body into a positive response. For a few weeks, perform the same bench press exercises, only with lighter weights and more repetitions instead.
Say you’re stuck on maximum and simply can’t go any heavier, for the next few weeks, try reducing a weight down instead and aim for more reps. Most gyms will have light plates, use these light plates to your advantage and use them to help you increase the amount of weight you can bench.
Instead, you should gradually work your way up, by increasing the weight in increments of a small plate per side. Begin at a comfortable light weight, perform one rep, add another plate, perform another rep and continue to do so until you reach absolute failure.
Gradually work your way back up to maximum and by the time you get back there, you should be able to push for more. This will then increase more and more with each passing week.
One Rep Max
When trying to increase bench press fast, it’s easy to actually attempt to do so, without knowing what their one rep max is. Basically, your one rep max is the amount of weight that you can lift when performing the exercise, for one rep only and unassisted.
When you know what your one rep max is, you can then work on increasing it. Instead of performing 4–6 heavy reps, work on performing just one rep, with the heaviest weight you can manage.
This will help stimulate new growth and will recruit more muscle fibres. This will then help you to generate more explosive power to help power the bar up from your chest.
Explosive Lifts And Grip
By explosive lifts, you should focus on recruiting more fast-twitch muscle fibres by focusing on pressing the bar explosively and quickly on the way up. When looking to increase bench press fast, explosive lifting is ideal. You lift the bar off the rack slowly then slowly control the bar down until it grazes your chest.
Here, you will pause for a second, before pushing the bar upwards as quickly and as powerfully as you can. Also simply altering your grip slightly, you will be able to lift a great deal more weight on the bench press.
The narrower your grip, the less the chest is worked and the more the triceps are worked. By going for a slightly wider grip, you are able to generate even more power from your chest muscles, as well as your triceps muscles.
Press More Often
With bench pressing practice it and try to do it more frequently. To increase bench press fast, increase the frequency in which you bench press each week.
If you only bench once per week, try twice per week instead, or have a day solely for working on your bench press. You will bench press and work muscle groups, plus perform exercises that you know are going to help you to improve and get better.
After a few weeks of increased bench press frequency, you should notice an impressive improvement.
Eat Enough
When you train heavy, you need to ensure you have plenty of energy! Which means that your body must have plenty of calories available which it will then convert into energy for you. Before you hit the gym, make sure you have a good supply of healthy meals and supplements to provide your body with energy.
Oatmeal, peanut butter and a banana for example, is one of the best pre-workout meals, it provides fats, proteins and both fast and slow release carbohydrates. Your body literally has everything it needs. A pre-workout protein shake is also beneficial, around one hour before you train.
