How often do you Bench?

[bigbench]

  My goal is to bench over 300lbs raw.  I'm recovering from a bicep injury and want to really get back at it and focus solely on my bench.  My question is, how often should I bench to make some serious gains.  I'm 43 years old so I know the recovery time may be longer and I work really rough hours so the energy level is sometimes low also.  Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. 

[bulldawg56]

I am 57, and bench one a week.

[skabow22]

I think a lot of it depends on what type of method you prefer to use. You can train more frequently if you use sub maximal weights (think ~85% or less) and basically rely on volume on the bench and higher frequency as "skill practice" of sorts. However, I think the benching once or twice a week is also sufficient if you program it right. A lot of it boils down to personal preference, how often you like to train, etc.

[bigbench]

Thanks for the advice. As for training I'm trying a few different ideas/routines. I'm going to train once a week for sure. With my schedule once a week works much better.

[dbunch]

I know several “Bench specialists” who bench or do accessory work 2 or 3 time a week. I personally agree Skabow it depends a lot on your goals. Do you want to be a specialist or do you want to keep training all round but focus on the bench.

I actually squat 2 or 3 times a week. I have my regular squat day but I also add a set of medium to light squats to my deadlift day and my pressing day at the end of my workout. My squat jumped from 460ish to 500 in 2 months you could do something similar with your bench.

[bulldawg56]

Hey bigbench, how much do you weigh, and what is your current max?

[bighawgfsu]

I have been working out for the past 25 years +....my advice to you is to not go solely on what other people do...read as much and learn as much as you can from everybody. Pull what works for you from each person and MAKE YOUR OWN workout. Your body is different than everybody elses.
I do chest/bench press sometimes 10+ times a week....main goal is to not overload your central nervous system.

[osu122975]

I lift heavy every session. Usually 3x/wk (sometimes more), but I only bench. I stopped all assistance work except high rep rotator work at every session. No injuries. No one has ever proven assistance work is profitable for powerlifting because no one has ever done a study to prove the differences. I've done both and not doing assistance work has done two things: improved recovery and my bench has climbed more since stopping the assistance work.

But....thru a lot of experimenting - this is the conclusion I came to FOR ME. Check out my log and you'll see the increases and frequency.

Best advice I can give - try things you think will work and see what happens. I've done a LOT of different programs, methods, and philosophies. No program works continuously - only a few base rules.

[3speed]

You can lift as often as you want.  You will just have to manage the frequency of your training against the volume and the intensity of your training.

From another forum...
there are three variables to training, intensity, frequency and volume, generally most well thought out programs involve manipulating all three, but can only put two in the moderate to high range without quickly running oneself into the ground. a high frequency routine will often use either low volume or low intensity. a high volume routine generally uses low intensity and may use medium to high frequency. high intensity generally requires low volume and moderate to low frequency.

This is me talking again.  ^^The higher you run a particular variable, the lower you have to run the other two.  Also, to tie in what osu122975 said, you have to take accessory work into account and cut back on it as you increase other factors.  I have done everything from high intensity/high volume once a week with a separate accessory day to low intensity/low volume 5 days a week with no accessory work and made progress.  You can make any version work as long as you are smart about it.

bulldawg56 asked for a couple of basic details which you haven't supplied.  We can provide general guidelines, but can't even thnk about giving actual advice without knowing a little info about you.  A suggested routine that might work very well for a person at one level of training might be too much for another lifter and not enough for yet another lifter.

[bulldawg56]

Right on the money 3speed. I'll do base building with high volume and then transition into high intensity as I start using heavier weights as my training progresses. Hence, my frequency is usually low. Some of that may vary by exercise too depending on what I have to use. Like our tricep push machine will only go so far, so I will end up with 5 sets of 20 for 100 reps total with the max weight you can use on the machine. That is a pretty high volume if you ask me...

[bighawgfsu]

I have been working out for the past 25 years +....my advice to you is to not go solely on what other people do...read as much and learn as much as you can from everybody. Pull what works for you from each person and MAKE YOUR OWN workout. Your body is different than everybody elses.
I do chest/bench press sometimes 10+ times a week....main goal is to not overload your central nervous system

[bighawgfsu]

The Sheiko prinicipals work well... I think it would be more beneficial for an experienced lifter to use this...generally an experienced lifter is more adept at listening to his body and can regulate when a rest day or period is needed.