Bench pressing for building size

[jmull]

amen to that i use to do exactly that thumbs over on everything it did work but i was a victim to a nice 215lb bar falling on me cuz my rist gave out due to the thumbs over luckly i was fine the wieght wasnt locked in but that was the last time i did bench that way

I've seen Phil do 150 lbd. dumbells for 25 reps. Sorry Phil I usualy don't like to tell stories.

 

[tkav1980]

heres the deal with chest. you can make it bigger or smaller, the shape of the muscle is genetic. you cant pick one part of one single muscle and make it grow. heavy compound movements are the best way to put on size. so if you lift a heavy weight for a good amound of reps, say 6-10, and every week you add 5 lbs to that you will grow a monster chest. end of story.

 

[xmyb420x]

I don't think there is a "thumbs rule" per say, but I have lifted like this for some time.
For me...it puts allot more emphasis on the muscle I am trying to use.

And I must say, I agree with all of you about the safety and that being the number one issue. However I work with about 225-275 and I have full control of the muscle, the grip, and my reps. I try to make the chest muscle do all the work for about 30 seconds. I am into body building and not powerlifting. So I may not be lifting anywhere near as much as some of you guys are, and therefore I can be more liberal with my grip.

That being said, I am not really a huge fan of bench press or incline anyways. For me its about fatiguing the muscle, and for me that requires lots of shocking principals..pre exhaustion, forced reps, negatives supersetiing etc etc.

For me, its not the amount of weight I move, but how much work the target muscle(s) is doing

 

[tkav1980]

That being said, I am not really a huge fan of bench press or incline anyways. For me its about fatiguing the muscle, and for me that requires lots of shocking principals..pre exhaustion, forced reps, negatives supersetiing etc etc.

im not 100% sure i agree with this one. look at ronnie coleman, he started out as a powerlifter, thats how he got his mass. the basic principle of DC training, Progressive resistance, is along the same lines. how many guys have you seed in the worlds strongest man who werent packing tons of muscle. to me its really simple...Lift heavy ass weights, get big ass muscles. ive never seed anyone rep 495 on a bench press that didnt have a chest that looked like someone packed 2 giant pot roasts under theyre skin.

 

[xmyb420x]

im not 100% sure i agree with this one. look at ronnie coleman, he started out as a powerlifter, thats how he got his mass. the basic principle of DC training, Progressive resistance, is along the same lines. how many guys have you seed in the worlds strongest man who werent packing tons of muscle. to me its really simple...Lift heavy ass weights, get big ass muscles. ive never seed anyone rep 495 on a bench press that didnt have a chest that looked like someone packed 2 giant pot roasts under theyre skin.

Im not saying I dont do my fair share of these moves...
I always lift heavy for each body part at minimum 1/week


But heavy for ME is not heavy for Ronnie

I also have NO plans of weighing 300+lbs....

 

[tkav1980]

Im not saying I dont do my fair share of these moves...
I always lift heavy for each body part at minimum 1/week


But heavy for ME is not heavy for Ronnie

I also have NO plans of weighing 300+lbs....

lol you have a point there. im mostly talking from personal experience on this one. ive experimented with just about every type of workout imaginable to grow, and the only thing that ever worked for me was tons of weight and tons of food, any food as long as i got my 400grams of protien a day. for everyone that has as much trouble as i do adding any size at all i really think its the only way to go, however if your just trying to bring up a lagging bodypart, thats a whole other story.

 

[Swifto]

I'm not a fan off the bench either. Although I use it, I prefer using dumbells for chest, flat and incline. The backbone of my chest workout is pushing movements, ending with flys, dips, crossovers and peckdeck.