It seems that everyone is looking for that one magical bench press workout that can take them from zero to hero. The truth is, there isn’t a particular workout that will produce the same results for everyone. As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Performing specific exercises that are synergistic and work your overall chest will have a more positive effect than just randomly doing exercises. Deciding which exercises to do, however, can be very confusing. There’s so much information out there and so many different opinions, it can be difficult to figure out what really works and what doesn’t.
Things To Consider
Over the years, I’ve found that by keeping my workouts simple, I get the best results. By simple, I mean sticking with compound, multi-joint movements for large muscle groups. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your workout routine needs to be elaborate or fancy for you to see results.
In his heyday, Arnold’s basic chest routine consisted of flat barbell bench press, incline barbell bench press, flat dumbell flyes and cable crossovers. As you can see, there’s nothing fancy or overly complicated about this routine. Even by today’s standards, though, his chest still remains one of the best ever.
Always keep in mind that how you do the exercises is as important as the exercises themselves. Even a solid bench press workout will be largely ineffective if you’re not performing the exercises properly. Be sure to follow some basic bench press tips and you’ll be sure to continue to make progress with your workouts.
Natural Vs. Drugs
There’s one important point that I would like to make concerning drug free weight training vs. chemically enhanced weight training. If you’re a drug free bodybuilder (by this, I mean anyone who lifts weights to improve their physique and health) or power lifter, you will not be able to train with the same frequency or volume that a drug assisted bodybuilder or power lifter can.
If you’re drug free, you can’t do 20-25 sets for your chest, twice a week. This may seem very obvious to most, but unfortunately there are a lot of people who read the magazines and try to follow the latest workouts of the pros. If you do this, you will become overtrained in a very short period of time and your gains in size and strength will eventually start to go backwards.
I’m not here to pass judgment on anyone who uses anabolic drugs. What people do with their bodies is their business, not mine. I have no issues with anyone who uses anabolic drugs, because as I said, that’s their business and it has no affect on me. I simply want to make sure that as a drug free bodybuilder you realize that you can’t train like someone who is using anabolic drugs.
I’m a lifetime drug free bodybuilder and the bench press workout that I’m going to share with you will reflect that. As you look this routine over, you may feel like there’s not enough volume, but I can assure you, if done properly, you’ll get plenty of benefit from this workout.
My Favorite Bench Press Workout
I’ve used the workout that you see below in many different variations over the years. This exact version is probably my favorite bench press workout, though, and I’ll normally use this for 4-6 weeks at a time before switching up to something a bit different.
Exercise #1 – Barbell Bench Press
I like to do 5×5 for this exercise. I like to do my light warm up sets and then 2 sets of progressively heavier warm ups and then my 3 working sets of my targeted weight.
I use this setup:
Set 1 – 65% of 1 RM (1 rep max) x 5 reps
Set 2 – 75% of 1 RM x 5 reps
Sets 3-5 – 85-90% of 1 RM x 5 reps
You may see different people use slightly different percentages than these. Strength training is a very individualized thing. As you gain experience, you need to be able to take certain training routines and protocol and adapt it to what works best for you.
I don’t carry a calculator in my gym bag and I don’t stress myself about getting exact with the percentages. If you’re new, I suggest figuring out what your 1 RM is and use a calculator to see what weights you should aim for.
For example, let’s say your 1 RM is 275 lbs. This means your first set is going to be 65% of that.
65% of 275 = 178.75 lbs.
Obviously, it’s going to be impossible to get that weight. Use 175 or 180 lbs. As you gain experience, you’ll be able to do most of this by feel.
Here’s an example of what this looks like in sets and reps with a 1 RM of 275lbs. The weights are strictly for example purposes. You need to adjust this according to your 1RM, experience and strength levels.
Warm up sets (Do as many sets as you need to be fully warmed up and ready to handle your work sets)
Set 1 – 175 x 5 reps
Set 2 – 205 x 5 reps
Sets 3,4,5 – 240 x 5 reps
On your working sets, you should barely be able to get your 5th rep and you may even need a bump from your spotter. This is fine, but if it’s too easy or your spotter has to pull the weight off of you, adjust the weight accordingly. It should be your goal to add weight each week, even if it’s just 5 or 10 lbs. Make sure that you’re always challenging yourself.
I normally don’t take very long rests between sets, but with the 5×5, I’ll usually rest a little longer. If you normally rest 90 seconds between sets, give yourself an extra 60 seconds or so, you’ll need it.
Exercise #2 – Incline Dumbell Presses
Once I’m done with the flat bench, I move over to incline dumbells. I do 3 sets here, increasing the weight with each set. My 3 sets would look something like this:
Set 1 – 90 x 8-12
Set 2 – 100 x 8-10
Set 3 – 110 x 6-8
If a weight is too heavy or too light, I will adjust accordingly. I usually like to fail right around 8 reps. Just remember not to put the bench too far upright. You want your upper chest doing most of the work, not your shoulders.
Exercise #3 – Dips
After incline dumbells, I move to dips, my last exercise. I do 3 sets here, all within the 8-12 rep range. If you can get more than 12 reps, you may want to add some weight using a belt and plates.
There is a technique that I use for dips to hit more of my chest than delts and triceps. I keep my elbows out, my chin tucked down to my chest and lean slightly forward. Done properly, dips can take your chest development to another level.
If you’ve never done dips before, don’t worry if you can’t get 8-12 reps, just do as many as you can in good form for 3 sets. Eventually you’ll get to that rep range and you’ll be adding weight. Make sure you keep good form, though. You’ll get much more benefit from less reps and good form than you will with high reps and bad form.
That’s it. Three exercises, done with heavy weight and a lot of intensity. Your workload will be 11-12 working sets total. Like I stated earlier, this may not seem like much, but sometimes simple is best.
Keep in mind that after you use this workout, you may want to change a few things to fit your needs. You may decide to do flat dumbell presses and incline barbell presses. You may decide to do flyes instead of dips. That decision is up to you, but I would suggest you try this exact workout for at least 4 -6 weeks before you change anything.
This bench press workout is great for building size and strength, but it won’t work forever. Remember to change your routines periodically, so that you will continue to see progress with your bench press.
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