How to Bench Big in 6 Weeks

How often do you get asked, “How much do you squat?” And when do people ever want to know about your best curl poundage? For better or worse, the bench press is the only lift you’ll likely ever be questioned about, and it would be nice if you didn’t have to answer with a lie to save face. Give us six weeks, and we’ll show you how to take your max bench up 15 pounds and build a barrel chest to match.

How It Works

While building your bench press will be our main goal, we’re not going to neglect the rest of the body. You’ll train every muscle group in each workout, resulting in strength and muscle gains all over. The training comes in two parts: a three-week accumulations phase, and a three-week intensification block. The accumulation weeks are designed to build a foundation for big gains later. You’ll do a higher volume of sets and reps and concentrate on grooving technique on the bench press. when you’ve acclimated to this workload, we’ll crank it up in the intensification phase and hit your muscles with heavier weights and exercises that target common bench-pressing weak points. Doing half- and three-quarter-range reps will strengthen your lockout, and presses that start one inch above your chest will improve your ability to get the bar moving. You’ve probably never done speed work before. Learning to explode the bar upward will allow you to blast through sticking points and hit numbers you used to lie about for real.

Directions

The program lasts six weeks. Perform each workout - Day 1, 2, and 3 - once per week, resting at least a day between each session. Exercises that are paired (marked “A” and “B”) are done in alternating fashion. Complete a Set of A, rest, then a set of B, rest and repeat until all sets are done for the pair.