How I hit 115kg on bench press
I’ve reached 100kg on bench press three times in my life. The first time, it took me six months to get there and as soon as I did, I stopped immediately. All my motivation had gone. I felt like Frodo at the end of Return of the King.
The second time I got there was a year later, and it took me 3 months. I thought I was determined to keep going past 100, but I broke my hand, so I had to stop. I had an excuse, but really the motivation had gone again.
A year later, I reached 100 again. I don’t remember how long it took, only that I didn’t make a fuss when I hit it. I didn’t even record the lift. I didn’t give myself the excuse of making a big deal out of it. After all, how could it be? I’d already done it twice before.
So I kept going. I was determined to lift as heavy as possible. I got to 115kg and it took an age. I failed so many times but I kept going.
I hit 115kg weighing 80.4kg. Not bad, in fairness.
I had to do a load of research to hit high numbers. There’s a lot more to benching than putting the bar down and lifting it up. Here are some quick tips:
- Get your arms in the right position for you
- Control your breathing
- Arch your back
- Squeeze your glutes
- Pin your shoulders back
- The bar goes from eyes to nipples on the way down
- Then nipples to eyes on the way back up
- Squeeze your biceps on the way up
Ta-da.
The reason I’ve been able to lift this much is almost entirely down to a screenshot i took 3 years ago. It says:
- Monday: 3 sets of 8 reps at 75% of your 1 rep max
- Wednesday: 4 sets of 3 reps at 70% of your 1 rep max (lift explosively)
- Friday: 5 sets of 3 reps at 85% of your 1 rep max
The screenshot comes from a Jeremy Ethier YouTube video. His channel has been incredibly useful to improve my strength.
Very recently however, I have discovered that this video is now gone. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if he unlisted it or repurposed it into different content, but I can’t find it anywhere.
Thank god I took that screenshot. I am in possession of the sacred texts. I feel like the people who still have copies of the old testament.
Maybe this screenshot is like the Holy Grail from The Last Crusade. I don’t really want to end up like that knight though. Although, imagine how much I could bench stuck in that bloody room for eternity. I could drink my creatine out of that iconic chalice.
I’m worried now though, because Jeremy keeps releasing new videos on how improve your bench press. What about my screenshot Jeremy? It’s been on my phone since June 2023. How are you going to tell me that there’s a better way to improve on bench, after all this time?
I think I need to clear my head. I might go to the gym. Thank god it’s bench day today.
