de-emphasizing bench press!

[GMCtrk]

Well, I have finally put aside the ego, and have learned that my best friend is the incline and decline press How the heck am I supposed to be able to bench 225 if I never focus on anything but bench press itself?

Incline gets the chest much better than bench. My tris are fine. So now incline comes first and decline second in my workout. I might do a few dumbbell bench presses here and there, but until I strengthen my chest to the point where I can bench 225 I don't plan on hitting the barbell bench.

Just for reference for you guys, today I performed close grip bench press and was able to pull 145x5. My bench press hovers are 165lbs. You guys see a problem there? I sure do. My chest is lagging. My inline press is rougly 125lbs, and I struggle with 135lbs, maybe 3 reps. Decline press I do 185 about 4 times.

So anyways, just some food for thought for you guys wanting to increase your bench to be repping the magical 225 (at least in my view )

[JTyrell710]

whats so magical about 225??
I bench 170 right now the only magic number in my mind is 300- i want that in 2-3 years. short term goals are diferent though. and maybe im mistaken but doesnt decline hit the pecs much harder then incline/ flat? im not sure which hits chest harder incline or flat tho.

[trich daddy]

decline is a good substitute for weighted dips

[Praetorian]

whats so magical about 225??

well 225lbs=100kg

a sweet round number. everybody i know uses that as a 'bench-mark'

[bill]

Well everyone will, can, debate, but to be strong in a given lift that is usually the lift you need to focus on. (at least until your really advanced). A powerlifting friend of mine told me to bench when I was asking for advice on increasing that lift. Those lifts seem pretty inline.

[JTyrell710]

heh..benchmark..So i guess i had it all wrong, incline = more emphasis on pecs, decline more emphasis on tris?

[HemiVision]

whats so magical about 225??

2 plates a side on an olympic bar

[GMCtrk]

I'll tell you guys why 225 is magical to me.

7 months ago I could not bench 80lbs. Fast forward to today I can bench more than twice that, and I only weigh a measly 160lbs at a massive 5'9 tall. Not to mention the fact, that 225 lb bench press for repititions is no joke. I am in the gym everyday, I see what the general population of college students bench press. Now sure, on the internet, benching 225 is commonplace, but for me, benching 225 is a goal, and I am driven to reach it

[Brokensword]

Are you kidding? 225 is great. I'm 5'7" 150lbs and I think it'll take me another six months to get to 225. I haven't tried maxing out in a while, but I think that I would be at around 175 max right now where I started out at 140, and that's four months of serious lifting. I guess I'm just weak

Funny thing is that I get compliments on my physique and lots of people (especially my girlfriend) tell me my chest is amazing. So I guess I must be doing something right. All I gots to say is keep on truckin to that 225 mark.

[GMCtrk]

Are you kidding? 225 is great. I'm 5'7" 150lbs and I think it'll take me another six months to get to 225. I haven't tried maxing out in a while, but I think that I would be at around 175 max right now where I started out at 140, and that's four months of serious lifting. I guess I'm just weak

Funny thing is that I get compliments on my physique and lots of people (especially my girlfriend) tell me my chest is amazing. So I guess I must be doing something right. All I gots to say is keep on truckin to that 225 mark.

Thanks for the encouragement! At my size, 225 will be impressive for sure IMO At benching around 165-185 right now, I am WELL built. I carry around 160-165 lbs on a medium sized frame. However, when I am benching 225 I am sure I will be a brick lol! People will smaller frames have an easier time looking like bricks...

[Praetorian]

2 plates a side on an olympic bar

i just reached that yesterday. oh man, was that sweeeeeet. two friggin plates on each side 4 is next!!!!

[BlingMeter]

ya 225 is a great number. thats 2 plates on each side! next would be 3 im almost there!

[PiKappaWRX]

i like 225 because when i'm repping it out like it's nothing it means i'm very into my routine and have been strict on staying in the gym and eating right. right now i'm repping out 245 (3 sets of 8) and i've maxed 285...i want 315! that is a magical number 3 PLATES.

[zen]

Yeah, the two-plates goal is a good motivator, in my opinion.
I started my two plates (225) mission when I first went to the weight room at my college and witnessed this very fit looking Mofo put two 45lb plates on each side of the bar and do a set and I thought, godamn, I want that! I wanna do that!

When I finally reached that level, it wasn't a like this huge celebration. When I started closing in on that weight I knew I would make it and I started focusing on higher goals. Not just pressing it a few times rough, but many times and with quality reps too. Once you get there, you start to look beyond, but I think it is a great visual motivator for your goals.

[Kiaran]

See that's the thing. When you finally get close or get to 225, you already want 315. I remember when all i wanted was 135 (1 stinkin' plate/side). Now 135 is cake. This is good, however, I was not impressed, I hope it's different at 225...

[Bboy486]

BrokenSword can u post a pic of your chest. I am around the same measurements as you (though I weigh more) and I am curious to see different builds on guys my height

[galileo]

I took a picture of 225 when I hit it for 5 reps this winter, so it was a good feeling.

I've hit the 315x1 mark, so next goal must be 405. I consider that a 5 year goal. :-x

[HemiVision]

i just reached that yesterday. oh man, was that sweeeeeet. two friggin plates on each side 4 is next!!!!

Congrats! I'm still working on it. A lot of people I know "looked like a weightlifter" when they got to around that point... to me anyway. I think as a general rule, if you can bench 2 plates people can tell you lift right away by looking at you. Of course there are exceptions, but I can totally understand why this is a "magic number" for anyone who hasn't reached it yet.

[Feminator]

2 plates a side on an olympic bar

The bar is 20kg, the red plates are 25kg, so bar + 2 on each side is 120kg, which is 264 pounds.

225 pounds would be a red and a blue on each side.

[Kiaran]

jeez, I wish my gym had red plates and blue plates. We have craptastic, chipped black painted, rusty iron plates...ohhhhh yeah. And the bars are all worn down and crappy, in fact i should probably deduct about 1 pound from all my lifts since the bars and plates are so worn...heh...just kidding. The Dumbbells are all shi*tty too, the grips are all worn down and requires massive chalk and many are bent from dumb shi*ts that drop them. There I go off on a tangent...2 rusty plates per side sounds good to me.

[Bruise Brubaker]

The rust and the worning out are balancing!

Rust = you're lifting more oxygen.

[BlingMeter]

uh nice ****in gyms! all of the stuff i use is 100% a ok. i guess those vinyl coated weights etc. very nice