Bench Most Dayz: Increase Your Bench By 30-50lbs In 6 weeks

"How much do you bench?"

It's one of the first things you hear when you're in a gym, or even if you're not in the gym and just having a discussion about it.

It doesn't matter where, or what the conversation is, if the topic of lifting comes up, "how much do you bench?" is bound to follow.

Heck, even your grandma wants to know how much you bench.

Benching heavy weight is a big deal since it's something that you can take a lot of pride in, especially since you know it's bound to come up in conversation at some point.

Taking The Bench Press To Elite Levels

For me, the bench press is a big deal because of its application towards powerlifting. I have been chasing the goal of going elite as a powerlifter for a while, and the bench press is one of the three powerlifting movements (squat and deadlift being the other two).

Going “elite” means reaching a certain weight when it comes to your combined numbers in squat, bench and deadlift in your weight class. It’s the pinnacle level when it comes to pound-for-pound strength in the sport, and the highest level you can achieve, and it’s somewhere I want to get.

For my 198lbs weight class, that number is 1,471lbs.

What makes a powerlifting bench press a little more difficult is the fact that you have to pause the bar for one second on your chest before you get a “press” command.

That means that you not only need a strong chest, back, and powerful triceps, but you always have to be explosive as well.

Herein lies my problem and how I found the solution.

Bench Most Dayz: Intro 2:33

Trial And Error: Finding The Right Routine

Even though I've had the opportunity to learn from a number of great bench pressers at the famed Westside Barbell and my own gym, Old School Gym, whenever a meet came around my numbers stayed the same.

I've always been a solid bench presser for my weight on regular touch and go reps (375 for 1 rep, 315 for 11, 275 for 15 and 225 for 29 reps all at bodyweights of around 220), but now my goal is to do that paused, weighing more than 20 pounds less and with no shoulder pain.

Due to some reoccurring shoulder pain, I had pretty much abandoned heavy bench presses altogether, at least with a wide grip. You can predict what happened – I lost size in my bench and my numbers suffered considerably since I pretty much had to go exclusively to a close-grip.

It was frustrating to say the least and I was looking for solutions. Little did I know it was right in front of me the entire time.

I have had unreal success with my version of the Bulgarian Method of squatting every day. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Olympic lifting coach John Broz and learn all about the system, both mentally and physically.

From there, I meshed those ideas with some Westside Barbell methods and came up with my own method of squatting every day.

To say it has worked would be a wild understatement and the results have been amazing.

My previously dismal front squat went from 225 to 405 in one year, with my high-bar Olympic squat going from 315 to 460 – with better depth – in the same time period. My low-bar meet squat went from 405 to 530 and my deadlift has also shot up in the process. My sumo stance deadlift went from 450 to 550, while my conventional was a weak 430 and is now 100 pounds better.

Mentally, I’m a much stronger lifter as well and the intensity this has allowed me to reach in the gym is just incredible. It truly has been a gamechanger.

So how does this apply to benching? Well, let’s dive in.

All along my squat everyday journey, I always got a lot – and I mean A LOT – of questions like, “Can I bench everyday, too?” They would see the squat gains and ask if the same approach would be applicable to the bench press. Again, it goes back to the fascination to the bench press and just the presence it has in the gym life.

After all this, and with my own bench press struggling more and more, I decided to use a similar approach and try to fix my bench press. I was more pain-free and injury-free once I started squatting everyday, so maybe it would do the same with my upper body if I benched more frequently.

One crucial training method I picked up from Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell was how his gym would use around 50% of their max on their speed days, going against bands or chains for 9 sets of 3 reps, using three different handles or grips throughout all 9 sets. So to rehab my shoulder I decided I would work with literally 95 pounds – yes, just a quarter on each side – on incline, using three different grips.

Right around this time, I was lucky to attend Arnold’s Christmas party where I had a long talk with none other than the legendary Franco Columbo, who told me about the importance of a high touch point on incline pressing. I implemented that into my routine just get my chest to grow again.

So combining that with what Louie at Westside taught me – again going back to one of my foundations of mixing numerous methods in my training – I found a great bench method to put in my plan.

Bench Most Dayz: Heavy Day 2:51

Bench Most Dayz

To start, you unrack the weight with a narrow grip, hitting 10 close-grip weights. Sit the bar on your chest momentarily, move out to a medium grip and hit 10 more reps, finally moving your hands out wide (splitting the ring) for 10 final reps. Yes, it’s all done without rest and without racking the bar.

If you stay true to the high touch point on incline, the pump is enormous. Lo and behold, my shoulder also started to feel better applying this on a frequent basis.

After finishing incline, I go over to flat bench and do the same thing for three sets, simply adding to the pump.

The next part of the process is creating stability in the bench press, which is where the lats and upper back come into play. Since strong lats and upper back muscles are big components to a strong bench press, I decided to superset each set of bench press (both incline and flat) with a rowing motion (seated rows, t-bar rows, dumbbell rows, etc.). After each brutal 30-rep set of presses I would do 15-20 reps of rows, creating an unbelievable amount of blood flow in my upper body.

It sounds a little crazy but then again that’s what I’m all about: doing the unconventional.

The next key is doing this three times per week. Yeah, that definitely fits into the unconventional line of thinking. But the six total sets of 10/10/10 (3 sets on incline, 3 on flat) with the rowing supersets were a huge jumpstart.

In just two weeks, my chest blew up almost instantly. Plus, I felt more stable in the back/shoulder area and my joints felt great. I knew I was onto something; the next step was applying a heavy element to it and I would have my “Bench Most Dayz” plan.

Again, I was sick of being at the 300-pound level when it came to paused bench presses at meets, I was ready to blow past that.

So I tweaked the approach from above, added in some of my squat everyday element and came up with the second part of the plan.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from squatting daily, it’s that practicing the motion works. So, on Monday I added in a heavy day, using paused triples and working up to a heavy single, finishing with a back-off set of a heavy single with a five-second pause. Here, you need to focus on form, getting the proper arch and really practicing the pause and creating power.

Now, mind you, I had done the 10/10/10 part of the plan for just a few weeks, but I couldn’t believe how easy 275 felt. It’s not a huge amount, but felt worlds better than my bench has felt in a year. At my last meet, I only paused 300, which is unimpressive, but that’s bound to change.

So after going heavy on Monday, the goal was to flush my upper body with a ton of blood flow, which meant Tuesday was the 10/10/10 workout for both incline and flat bench with the rowing supersets.

Now, I was using 115 on incline and 135 for flat for the 30 reps, getting all of them without racking it once.

After taking Wednesday off, I repeated the process on Thursday and Friday, going heavy on Thursday and going for high reps and a massive pump on Friday. Before long, my weight started to jump on my heavy days.

In a month, I paused 320 pounds, then 330 and then 340 and, finally, most recently 345. It was nuts, to be honest but I knew I was onto something. My bench had never felt that good. Plus, my joints felt good and all the pump and upper back work had me feeling great.

In around two months, my paused bench press had jumped 70 pounds and I was sold. Without question, it was one of the craziest things I’ve had happen to my bench press. What makes it fun is that you’re getting massive pumps a few times a week to go along with increasing strength at the same time.

I mean, what’s better than that? I can’t think of anything. This has changed my whole view on training by far and was the missing link to help me reach my elite total. Now, it’s your turn.

Everybody wants a big bench, so it’s time to get it. In less than two months, you’re going to have new response when someone asks, “How much do you bench?”

Bench Most Dayz: Light Day & Outro 4:43

The Workout

Apply this to your normal workout splits, doing bench press first on the days you bench.

The First Two Weeks

Weeks 3-6

Week 7: Test Your New 1 Rep Max

Test your new 1 rep max bench press. I'm confident you would have added 30-50lbs to your starting number.

If you're planning on starting the Bench Most Dayz program make sure you swing back and post your results in the comments below!