Everybody wants a big bench and many of the athletes I work and consult with are judged and tested on their bench press strength. Thus, I'm always looking at unique ways to rapidly get the bench up.

Here is a routine utilizing principles of high frequency training and concentrated loading and unloading that has been the SINGLE most effective routine I've found for increasing the bench press for intermediate level lifters. Increases of 10 pounds per week are not uncommon. This may not be the best set-up for an advanced powerlifter going from a 500 pound bench to a 600 pound shirted bench, but in my experience it is the quickest way to get you up to that 300 or 400 pound raw bench.

With my client base the minimum increase with 10 different lifters from a variety of ages and strength levels has been 30 pounds over a 6 week period of time. Increases of 40 pounds in 4 weeks have been the norm.

Greasing the Groove

This set-up uses some of the "Grease the Groove" principles of training a lift fairly frequently with low volume. This routine was originally designed for relative strength rather than hypertrophy, because the volume is so low per session. With a few minor adjustments, it can and WILL give your current hypertrophy oriented protocol a nice kick in the butt, as I will describe. Here is the set-up:

Bench Press

Mon: 1 x 1 at 100% (max out), 3 x 3 at 85%

Tues: 3 sets of 2 at 90%

Wed: Wed: 3 x 1 at 95%

Fri: optional: 4-5 sets of 1 at 80% (should be very light)

Retest your 1rm each Monday and base your weekly percentages off of that. Let percentages be your guide but don't take them as gospel. Use a weight that allows you to get all the reps without going to complete failure. If you fail to increase a week, back off on the weights for a week or 2 and build back up. Progression should be relatively steady and ongoing.

To implement this into your regular hypertrophy oriented setup, all you have to do is make sure you do all your other chest, shoulder, and tricep work sometime between Monday and Wednesday. Make sure your routine contains no pressing or tricep movements from Thursday through Sunday other than the light bench on Friday.

Here is one way to set it up:

Mon- Mondays bench followed by your normal chest and Back workout

Tues: Bench

Wed: Wednesdays bench followed by your normal Arm workout

Thurs: Off

Fri: Bench followed by Legs

Sat and Sun: Off

Or

Mon: Bench, horizontal pressing and pulling

Tues: Quad dominant lower body

Wed: Bench, vertical pressing and pulling

Thurs: off

Fri: Hip Dominant Lower body

Sat: Accessory work of your choice

You can set it up however you want and do whatever other lifts you want as long as you allow your pressing muscles to recover Thursday thru Sunday. How much extra work you do is really not an issue as long as you follow those principles.