can i benchpress everyday?

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JaKob

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Hey im a pretty new weightlifter, you probably have established this. Im really keen on increasing my benchpress and refining my form. I go to the gym 3 days a week and only do 5 sets of 10 at 80 kilos (whatever that is i think its about 200 pounds). Is 5X10 3 times a week enough to make progress or would i be fine to bench everyday.... i do 3 full body workouts a week but have a bench at home, i was thinking about using my home bench on my off days.
 
Every day is way too much.
3x a week is actually quite heavy.
 
i was actually implying 5 days a week sorry, not every day... but if 3 days is quite heavy, 5 would be too much i assume.... thats cool, don't wanna burn out.
 
Absolutley not. It varies between individals but the leats you should wait between benches is 1 day off, although 2-3 wold be more prudent and many lifters see quick gains by lifting only 1x a week.
 
You CAN bench press every day, but you would burn out in a month at most and would make sod all progress in the mean time. I'd say even three days a week is a lot, especially if you're doing other compound movements in the same workout and you'd be better off twice or once a week.
 
The most i would suggest is one heavy day and one rep or speed day for benching.
 
graedy said:
The most i would suggest is one heavy day and one rep or speed day for benching.
Click to expand...

Yeah, give that a shot, Jakob. You're not ready for three heavy days, and varying intensities or periodising microcycles doesn't appear to be an option, here.
 
I bench 3 times a week because I do everything 3 times a week. Full body routine. Nothing has benefitted my bench more that benching often. But I never bench under 5 reps, with most of the volume done @8-12.

I still think that 5 times a week is a lot though. If I was to do this, I would make sure not to lift too heavy on too many sets. In fact, I'd probably do only push-ups on the 2 days on which I don't train full body.

But I don't see any reason to do this. And it would wear out my elbows very quickly.
Be patient and stick to 3 times a week, that would be my answer.
 
I dunno, I'm only benching once a week, real heavy sets of 6 (if i can do more than 6, I'm not lifting enough weight), about 5 sets.... been seeing real good results.
 
i heard a rumor (could be an urban legend) that a guy actually tore his pectoral muscle so bad from overtraining that it looks like he has 3 pecs now...
 
Noskill said:
stick to 3 times a week, that would be my answer.
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I think this is a bad answer. Once a week is plenty. Although the poster who mentioned a possible heavy day and a speed day makes an interesting point.

Lifting is not like grappling where you are working on technique and practicing to get better. Your time benching is only a part of the equation. More important than your time in the gym is recovering from those workouts.

Sure you'll get stronger benching 3 times a week. But you'll get stronger faster if you bench less frequently. Why do more lifting to make less progress?
 
This is really interesting, thanks alot guys... I always thought i should do more because i see pretty big guys benching EVERY SINGLE DAY (i go in every day for cardio) so naturally i think i should do the same.

So essentially.... Benching 80 KILOS, (200 poundish) 5 sets of 10.... once or twice a week will give me better results then 3 times a week?
 
Hi.
I'm no expert on this but I do recall once reading that when muscle tissue is broken down, depending on a number of things, it can take as much as 96 hours to fully rebuild.

So by doing anywhere near five times a week, going heavy, you'd almost certainly be breaking down tissue before it had actually fully recovered from it's previous breakdown.
 
KOU In3 said:
I think this is a bad answer. Once a week is plenty. Although the poster who mentioned a possible heavy day and a speed day makes an interesting point.

Lifting is not like grappling where you are working on technique and practicing to get better. Your time benching is only a part of the equation. More important than your time in the gym is recovering from those workouts.

Sure you'll get stronger benching 3 times a week. But you'll get stronger faster if you bench less frequently. Why do more lifting to make less progress?
Click to expand...

I tried once a week. I tried once every 5 days. I tried twice a week ME and DE. I tried 3 times a week. 3 times a week worked best for me. How can that be a bad answer?
 
Jakob, 80kilos is about 180lbs.

If you can lift it for 5 sets of 10 you'd be better off increasing the weight. Try 5 sets of 5-6 reps or 8 sets of 2-3 reps if you're wanting to add strength.
 
Carnal has left sherdog some time ago.
 
In my opinion. every day is too much. I alternate days and also vary intensity/weight depending on what I am attempting to enhance and improve.
 
Noskill said:
I tried once a week. I tried once every 5 days. I tried twice a week ME and DE. I tried 3 times a week. 3 times a week worked best for me. How can that be a bad answer?
Click to expand...

Suit yourself. If it works best for you... great. Science and kinesiological studies normally say it's not optimal is all.
 
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