Training for max reps on the bench
Do a search on the internet and you’ll find more information than you care to on achieving your one rep max in the bench press. Try to find information on doing as many reps of your body weight as you can on the bench press and you’ll find next to nothing. So I turned to some weight training forums and got some good ideas for training for maximum repetitions on the bench.
Someone offered up a post on density training. Not sure why it’s called density training but it goes like this -
1 – Have your body weight equivalent on the bench press – in my case – 175 lbs.
2 – Your goal is 60 reps.
3 – Have a watch nearby.
4 – Start with 4 reps per set.
5 – At the top of each minute, do a set.
6 – At 4 reps per set, you’ll need 15 sets to get 60 reps.
7 – Do each set on the minute so that it takes you approximately 15 minutes to do all 60 reps.
When you accomplish this, do 5 reps per set the next time. When you hit 60 reps doing 5 reps per set, move up to 6 reps per set. Keep doing this until you can do 60 reps at 8 reps per set and in approximately 8 minutes.
I tried this for the first time today and got 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3. The last 4-5 sets were rough. I can see why this works. It likes interval training for bench press.
I’m going to work this in and make it a regular part of my workouts.