OK, so I need to shake something up - I have extremely long arms and my bench weight is pretty poor in my opinion. At nearly 13 stone I could bench 100K for 1, however I am 15 stone now and my bench is still only 100K for 4 tops and my PB is 112.5K

Can anyone direct me to or suggest a new method to improve this, it is beginning to annoy me ever so slightly. Thanks in advance.

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

what is your current routine?

CHEST
Bench Press - 40x12, 60x10, 80x8, 100x4, 105x2, 110x1
Close Grip Press - 60x10, 70x8, 80x8
Incline Press (Dumbbells) - 27.5x10 (x3)
Decline Press (Dumbbells) - 30x10 (x3)
Dumbbell Press (Flat) - 30x10 (x3) + (35 to exhaustion if I can manage it)
Cable Crossover Flys - 30x10, 35x10, 40x10, 45x10
Dumbbell Flys - 22.5x8 (x3)
Dumbbell Pullovers - 30x10, 32.5x10, 35x10

TRICEPS.....

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

are you doing 26 sets for your chest?
not including pull overs.

ORIGINAL: peagreen


CHEST
Bench Press - 40x12, 60x10, 80x8, 100x4, 105x2, 110x1
Close Grip Press - 60x10, 70x8, 80x8
Incline Press (Dumbbells) - 27.5x10 (x3)
Decline Press (Dumbbells) - 30x10 (x3)
Dumbbell Press (Flat) - 30x10 (x3) + (35 to exhaustion if I can manage it)
Cable Crossover Flys - 30x10, 35x10, 40x10, 45x10
Dumbbell Flys - 22.5x8 (x3)
Dumbbell Pullovers - 30x10, 32.5x10, 35x10

TRICEPS.....

F***ing hell.

Just do Flat Bench Press for a while, plus one assistance exercize - personally CGBP or DB Fly's.

Feel the fear, and do it anyway!

http://www.englishpowerlifting.co.uk/index.html

25 really, the dumbbell press to exhaustion is an extra, rarely gets done. I also used the pec deck today as an extra 3 sets.

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

Mate, seriously, you are doing far too much. I used to train just like you - look in my journal if you don't believe me, go back 6 months! I have been adopting a powerlifting regime for about 4 months and I've put 30k on my bench press.

Feel the fear, and do it anyway!

http://www.englishpowerlifting.co.uk/index.html

Thanks for that, I do a four way split - chest & triceps, back & deadlifts, shoulders & biceps and then a leg day with abs usually.

My squat PB is 200K, my deadlift is 200K and my bench is 112.5K. So you think I should cut back a bit with the routine, I wondered whether I was spent by the time I reached the 100 barrier.

Thanks for the input

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

i think most people will say your doing to much.
As old git says. Just concentrate on the basics and reduce your volume.

best thing i ever did was bench more!

in 8 weeks i moved my pb (which was long stagnent) by 20kilos. Bench mon wed friday. must total around 80 sets of bench per week. However percentages are key

My Training Log!!!

thanks for that, I do a four way split - chest & triceps, back & deadlifts, shoulders & biceps and then a leg day with abs usually

back and deadlifts? deadlifts are mainly a back exercise

chest and triceps will get hit again on shoulder day, biceps will get hit on back and on biceps day, and you are doing loads of exercises and loads of sets.

i would juggle your split to cut down on doubling up on the smaller muscles.

chest, shoulders tricpes
back and biceps
legs

and abs done after each workout.

i would look to do just a couple say three, exercises per bodypart but go all out on them. if you really go to maximal failure on bench, then there is no way in the world you will be able to really hit close grip bench, incline bench, decline bench, dumbell bench. it is just massive overkill.

remember the body only grows when repairing itself. if you are constantly breaking it down and not giving it the chance to recover it will never grow.

I agree I might be pushing a lot into one session but I only work out every other day, so its only a full body workout over 8 days - is this really too much?
ie.
Sunday - Chest & Triceps
Tuesday - Back plus Deadlifts
Thursday - Shoulders & Biceps
Saturday - Legs & Abs
Monday - repeat.......... chest etc.

I did mention the length of my arms but no one has offered whether that would be a disadvantage - I have to be extremely careful when putting the bar back because I can literally push it over the top of the bench, especially on close grip.

I'll re-evaluate I guess - thanks again for the info.

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

you can't do much about your arm length.
so just keep trianing.

Dont do triceps after chest for a start. A lot of bench power comes from strong triceps, so u want to hit them fresh on a seperate day.

i still dont get having a workout as back plus deadlifts, that is just back plus back, you would not say legs plus squats.

and i still believe in using your time in the gym as efficiently as possible to not overtax recovery, so i always pair triceps chest and shoulders as they all get hit when you do the others. i prefer to do chest first, this pre exhausts triceps and shoulders. then do shoulders which further worke the triceps. and finally triceps, which then only need a couple of exercises to get finished off.

oh, and i have long arms too, so yes, bench is one of my weaker exercises and deadlifts one of my strongest. you just have to keep working at it. but before getting too upset consider some of the wsm competitors, they are very very tall and some have very very long arms, so it can be done.

ORIGINAL: peagreen


I did mention the length of my arms but no one has offered whether that would be a disadvantage - I have to be extremely careful when putting the bar back because I can literally push it over the top of the bench, especially on close grip.

I am about 5'10" and my arm span is 6'6". Bench is probably my most natural movement.

How much are you strict pressing overhead?

"and i still believe in using your time in the gym as efficiently as possible to not overtax recovery, so i always pair triceps chest and shoulders as they all get hit when you do the others"

No offence but that is terrible advice! Nobody can hit shoulders properly after a chest workout, esp if the chest workout is done right! The only reason u would do that is if u could only get in the gym a couple of days a wk. U cant work 3 pushing workouts in conjuction, if ur going to work diff muscle groups together do a push/pull workout-ie chest and biceps, back-triceps, even shoulders/tris as tris dont get hit as hard in a shoulder workout as chest, for me anyway.

ORIGINAL: McLaren
I am about 5'10" and my arm span is 6'6". Bench is probably my most natural movement.

How much are you strict pressing overhead?

I've just measured my span and its 6' 4", so a little under yours, however I don't really understand what you mean by 'strict pressing overhead'?

My triceps is only a small set of three exercises, as I know they are already hit after chest and to be fair if I'm spent they hardly get touched.



I should mention my back routine never used to include deadlifts which is why I say back plus deads, they are a part of the whole routine to be fair - I see them as a separate lift as I used to split them into another day when I trained with a group of powerlifters, it became an extra session at the gym. I don't do that anymore as I've moved, therefore it became an addition on my back day.

My routine seems a bit controversial to some?

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!

Already hit after chest?? Triceps are a big part of all pressing movements and deserve to get hit properly- heavy cg bench, weighted dips, pushdowns. If u just work them after chest, they will always be lagging.

Actually my triceps don't lag at all which is why I don't hit them as hard.

Disneyworld - a giant man trap operated by a mouse!!