Five Steps to a Better Benchpress

By Kyle Devitte

March 2006 – Step 1: Find someone who is willing to be your weight room partner. He (or a strong she) should be in roughly the same shape as you are. You’re going to need someone to help you when the weight gets heavier later on in your workout.
Step 2: Find a weight that you can bench 10 times with minimal effort. This will be your base, your comfort weight. Don’t worry if the weight seems low ~ even the biggest dude in the gym started somewhere. (He might not admit it, but he did.)
Step 3: Start off doing a set of 10 reps with your comfort weight. Then add five pounds (5lbs). Do another set. Repeat this process twice for a total of four sets ~ this progression is called pyramiding. Make sure your lifting partner is spotting you adequately. (Dropping the bar on your dome is not considered adequate ~ and it’s grounds for immediate dismissal from the spotter position.)
Step 4: As soon as you have mastered Step 3, it’s time to move up in weight. That’s right, you have to go big to get big, so suck it up (or, more accurately, press it up). Warm up as you normally would. For the next set, complete four (4) reps of your highest weight so far. For the next set, your third, attempt the same. Then finish up by trying to do 12 reps of your comfort weight for this last set. (Also try not to puke. That’s a sure-fire way to drive away your spotter.)
Step 5: After a month of heavier weight training (and once you’ve developed a very trusting relationship with your spotter/partner), use the following technique:
Lift the bar and bring it down until it hovers over your chest.

Hold it there for two whole seconds and then quickly (but safely) bench/throw the weight up.

This approach builds the fast-twitch muscle fibers in your chest and will increase your power ~ you’ll be a gym god in no time!