Power-Building Your Way to a Bigger Bench Press

I often talk about an overlooked way to increase your bench press is just flat out getting stronger all over. Now don’t be confused, you still have to specialize on your bench if that is your weak area and one that you are trying to bring up.

So your probably wondering what do I do? Well although everyone is different levels, I have had luck In using a method the great Johnny Jackson (AKA-Worlds Strongest bodybuilder) has coined, and its called Power building.

Here are the facts-Power lifters compete in the squat, bench press and dead lift.

And they get big and muscular because they’re strong. So to keep it simple, if you start lifting more weight than you usually do… your body must adapt in order to handle that weight.

It does that by growing bigger and stronger.

If you don’t get ANYTHING else at all from this blog post, just remember that… because that alone will give you more results than anything else you do!

Bodybuilders… on the other hand… generally train for muscle growth and for aesthetics or looks. Not all bodybuilders are as strong as they look. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with that.

But if you’re anything like me… you probably want to have strength… as well as the lean, muscular look.

And believe me, you can. Because despite what most people think, strength and size go hand-in-hand!

If you try to get stronger… each and every week… you’re GOING to get bigger. It’s just a fact.

So in short YOU need to start focusing on lifting more weight. I dare you to find a guy who bench presses 400 pounds that doesn’t’t have a powerhouse body to match.

So whats A power building routine look like?

Well it starts out first with your power move in this case we’ll use the Bench press, you will want to work up to a 2-3 rep max and always aim to beat your previous weeks #. Here’s a sample workout if you currently have a 225 max…

Warm Up-95lbs x 5reps

Warm Up-135lbs x5 reps

Warm Up-185 x 5 reps

Work set #1- 205 x 3 reps

Work set #2- 215 x 2 reps

Work set #3- 215 x 2 reps

Work set #4-215 x 2 reps

Then the next week you would aim for either another set of 2, or up the weight 5 lbs and start again on the work sets…

After your initial power movement then the bodybuilding comes into play, pick 3 to 4 exercises and do them for 12-15 reps. Some good choices here would be Pull-ups, bent over rows, facepulls, lat pulldowns, ETC…

Just remember that even though you are doing high reps, that is not an excuse to go light, this is were power building comes into play…high reps, heavy weight=More strength, and bigger muscles.

Power-Building Your Way to a Bigger Bench Press by Ryan Magin