When you bench press, you are weak off the chest, and you want advice.
You probably think you know what I’m going to say.
Do more pause bench press, right?
Yeah, I am sure you’ve heard that one a million times before. (literally every post says to do pause bench)
Seriously, it seems that whenever someone says in a forum or comment ”Help me, I am weak off the chest when I bench press!” the solution is always ”Do pause benching”.
That is some nice regurgitation that people spill out of their inexperienced mouths.
It kind of annoys me too, I gotta say.
Listen man, pause benching is fantastic.
I mean, I love it!
The only problem, however, is that you’ve already tried that, and it’s not fixing your problem.
I know this to be true, because 99% of other articles talk about pause benching, and you have already seen them.
Anyhow, continue doing pause bench press, but also do what I say in this article.
I promise you that it will fix any real weakness off the chest.
It’s not a gamble, it’s a fact.
I can 100% guarantee you that my advice is going to work without fail. Not 99%, but 100%.
Become Strong Off The Chest
To accomplish what I’m talking about, all you must do is start incorporating the repetition method on dumbbell pressing.
That means, you will perform high rep dumbbell presses (3 sets 15-30 reps with 2-5 minutes rest per set) once a week, every week.
You’ll also be hitting your dumbbell presses from ALL angles, rather than just doing flat.
You change the angle every 1-2 weeks, depending on training experience.
Every week for more advanced guys, and every 2 weeks for intermediates.
You do your presses vertical, incline, flat, decline, off a bosu ball, on the floor, etc.
Whatever interesting combination you can think of, do it.
All I want you to do is break PRs every time you do these high rep dumbbell presses.
Eric Spoto, world record holder of 722lb raw bench uses high rep dumbbell presses.
High rep dumbbell pressing accomplishes many things.
Your pecs will hypertrophy like you’ve never seen before because you are maximizing the stretch reflex and going through a very deep range of motion that a barbell can’t replicate. The humerus is also coming across the body, which activates the full functions of the pecs.
Literally dumbbell pressing is so good that you will soon have watermelons popping out of your chest.
Just like this guy.
Shoulders will get pretty big too, because they stabilize the unilateral pressing of the dumbbells, and because of the angle constantly changing. they will be doing a lot of work during certain times.
When you train, you will also get mad pumped, which will make everyone around you look like a chump.
There’s other benefits too, such as acquiring insane amounts of endurance and work capacity.
This will be great for all sports such as football, rugby, MMA, etc. (that’s for another article)
Pour Conclure
That’s it my man.
Do high rep dumbbell presses to failure once every week, utilizing multiple angles and switching the angles every 1-2 weeks, and I promise you that your bench press weakness off the chest will be eradicated.
As a bonus, you acquire an aesthetic chest, with amazing endurance endurance and work capacity to go with it.
Anyhow, let me know how these tips help you out, and for the love of God…don’t you dare talk about pause benching ever again.
It’s just too much of a general answer.
Until next time
-Alex
Never heard this before.
At least it’s not pause benching tho…I’m fed up of seeing articles bout it
I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my
trouble. You’re incredible! Thanks!
Simple, yet effective strategies.
Thank you Alex.
PS: Your book is AWESOME! My bench press went up 20lbs in a month after not seeing progress for a very long time. (255×3 to 275×3)
-Michael Klem
best possible article on raw benching. really helped beat my plateau!
I’m very happy to hear that Michael!
lol watermelon pecs
good article man
Didn’t realize pause benching was so overrated. It makes sense though. When I first started training I did lots of dumbbell presses for high reps (to build the pecs) but when I switched to powerlifting I stopped doing them. No wonder I started getting so many plateaus…
sickening pissening workout bro
Alex, I simply want to tell you that I really appreciate your work. Since I started using your methods I have added 50lbs to my bench press in less than a year (265-315lbs).
-Jake
Awesome tips man, this really helped my bench
AWESOME tips bro
Finally…an article other than pause bench. LoL
I’m truly experiencing this strength & conditioning site. Outstanding work! My bench is rising fast with all these tips
Cool tips
thank you for fitness advice it real good man
This is concurrent training right?
Simply wish to say your article is surprisingly brilliant.
I’m a 26 year old female and I whole-heartedly agree with you.
Hey alex does 3 sets every week mean 3 diffirent angles, or 3 sets flat and then next week another angle? Like incline
Hey Max,
Each week you rotate the angle. Example w1 incline w2 flat w3 decline