Bench press. What do you think?

CPL_SAiKO

New member
Lock out or keep tension on the chest skipping lockout?

My chest growth has been lacking compared to the rest of my body. I normally lock out or get really damn close to it and this is why I'm asking. What do you guys think/do?
 
If you do it right hell yeah and don't forgenot not to bounce the bar off your chest. Take it nice and easy smooth
 
If you do it right hell yeah and don't forgenot not to bounce the bar off your chest. Take it nice and easy smooth

I've been doing good with that sometimes even pausing at the bottom. I've read bouncing it at the bottom can wreck your shoulders over time... So I've done my bet to avoid doing that
 
if you don't lockout your lockout will diminish. however i always look at things from a strength perspective. maybe your goals are strictly hypertrophy and massgain? either way lifting heavy and eating big will not only increase strength but size as well. i see no reason to lift for size only.
 
if you don't lockout your lockout will diminish. however i always look at things from a strength perspective. maybe your goals are strictly hypertrophy and massgain? either way lifting heavy and eating big will not only increase strength but size as well. i see no reason to lift for size only.

My gains with lockout seem to be lacking. I'm not insanely strong by any means. My heaviest max has been 340 but I'm not currently at that level anymore. I just think if I try without the lock out it may yield more mass for my chest which I'm not getting. My chest seriously lacks in comparison to the rest of my body but oddly enough chest is one of my fav workouts!
 
Lock out or keep tension on the chest skipping lockout?

My chest growth has been lacking compared to the rest of my body. I normally lock out or get really damn close to it and this is why I'm asking. What do you guys think/do?

Pre exhaust em with dumbell flyes 3 x 10~12 and then right after this heavy db benches,I bet your pecs will scream for mercy.
 
My gains with lockout seem to be lacking. I'm not insanely strong by any means. My heaviest max has been 340 but I'm not currently at that level anymore. I just think if I try without the lock out it may yield more mass for my chest which I'm not getting. My chest seriously lacks in comparison to the rest of my body but oddly enough chest is one of my fav workouts!

i've seen videos of bodybuilders benching, if you can call it that. but their chests are huge. if your endgame is size then do what you gotta do. not locking out would be more time under tension which is good for hypertrophy. i'm just saying i wouldn't neglect locking out and training for strength all together but maybe every other chest day just focus on hypertrophy, i see no problem with that
 
For growth pick a weight that you can do at least 8 reps but cant exceed twelve. Do 3 sets of this weight. You shouldvomplete these sets at a slow pace. 3 seconds up then 3 seconds down. You will have to use lighter weights to achieve this. Do not lock out but do use a full range of motion. When you train think intensity, form, progression in that order. When you can complete 3 sets of 12 at a certain weight, increase the weight. You should always strive to perform better than your last workout.
 
3 seconds down, good. 3 seconds up, stupid. no offense. you should always be using maximal force on the eccentric portion of the lift (except for deadlifts, obviously).
 
I usually explode up until I can't and do a slower negative. I do like to pause at the bottom to ensure I don't bounce off my chest. Pre exhausting sounds like a technique I may try out. Hopefully that'll do something for me.

It great seeing all the feedback! Chest always seems to be a huge deal

I'm currently doing 5x5 with 245lbs on bench press
 
you struggling on the last rep of the last set? you could go 5x5 on the first 4 sets then as many as you can do for the last set, but i wouldn't recommend doing this every week. maybe once a month
 
you struggling on the last rep of the last set? you could go 5x5 on the first 4 sets then as many as you can do for the last set, but i wouldn't recommend doing this every week. maybe once a month

Yeah it gets tougher towards the end. I have been increasing by 5-10lbs depending how I felt I did the previous week
 
5x5 with 245 is pretty damn good man. do you do this every week? increasing weight when you can of course but i mean do you ever incorporate speed work?
maybe a dynamic day and a max effort day. great for improving strength but also the different stimulus will spur new muscle growth
 
5x5 with 245 is pretty damn good man. do you do this every week? increasing weight when you can of course but i mean do you ever incorporate speed work?
maybe a dynamic day and a max effort day. great for improving strength but also the different stimulus will spur new muscle growth

Well I recently started this routine maybe three weeks ago. I used to be a lil stronger. I'm mainly working back up slowly to ease myself back into it. I started at 225 5x5 and went up 10lbs each time I did chest. Then I do two other exercises for 2 sets 8-10 reps. Usually some sort of dumbbell bench and then flys. (Cable or db) once I can do both sets for 10 reps I up the weight. The 2 exercises are at a higher pace less rest
 
I do the guillotine bench style a bit too with my chest workouts, (guillotine is when you lower the bar to your upper chest or neck area instead of lower on your chest... you gotta put quite a bit less weight though, otherwise you might choke yourself if you don't have a spotter lol
 
I do the guillotine bench style a bit too with my chest workouts, (guillotine is when you lower the bar to your upper chest or neck area instead of lower on your chest... you gotta put quite a bit less weight though, otherwise you might choke yourself if you don't have a spotter lol

Haven't heard that one before! New workout to switch things up every now and then haha thanks. And I lol'd when I read the last part about choking yourself... Hahaha
 
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