beginner bench press

hi guys, i'm a beginner to the lifting game. i never really did much lifting seriously. all the muslce i got is from doing track and playing lots of basketball. so i want to start doing some bench presses. i'm 16 yrs old, male, 5'7", about 9%bf 150lbs. at this moment i can basically only bench 100lbs. (i know, weak). can you guys give me advice on how to help me get the best results for my chest when i bench? i just want to know how many reps and sets are good for a workout for me, how many times i should do it in a week, and when i should move up in weight. thanks guys.

just starting out with a 100 lb max is ok, gotta start somewhere. Most importantly, don't be intimidated going into the gym about the weight you are lifting, becuase it will go up if you are religous enough about training. At a 100 lb max and just starting out, i'd do 4 sets of 10 reps for flat barbell bench. Start out with 60 lbs. for your weight and see how it goes. If you start getting tired and don't think you can finish the workout, lower the weight, no shame in that. When you are starting out reps are more imortant than weight. Also for your chest mix in maybe 3 sets of 10 dumbell incline benchpress. Try starting out with 15 pound dumbells b/c this excercise is really awkward for a beginner. Again if thats too much, lower the weight. Give yourself 1-1.5 minutes rest between sets and 3 minutes between excercises (if you are really tired, 5 minutes is ok, again reps are important). At the end of the workout if some reason you feel like you have something left, do some push-ups. This is only for your chest though. Visit the critique my training forum and post a workout for yourself if you think you know what you want to do and tell everyone your height/weight and age and that you are a beginner. You will get a lot of help here. I'll check over there later tonight.

WHY ONLY BENCH??
Is it just me, or have we had a handful of people asking for chest and arm routines only the past couple of weeks?
No offense meant, monsoonwolf, but if you're serious about fitness in the least, and if you really want the best results in your chest, you really need to get on a full program that works out EVERY muscle group. There's absolutely no sense in having a strong chest if you don't have a strong lower back, legs, shoulders, etc- Think about it. If you're trying to push something, which is what the chest muscles do primarily, but you don't have the back or leg strength to keep your body straight under that force, you're just going to be pushing yourself backwards. The only time your chest strength is going to be worth anything is when you're lying on the bench, pressing weight. Besides, if you only work out your chest, you're going to find that you'll hit a brick wall when it comes to gains early on- Without tricep and shoulder strength, you're only going to be able to bench so much weight. (The shoulders and triceps also come into play while doing bench presses.) In order to have the best performance on the bench, you need to give your triceps and shoulders their own workout too- With added strength in those areas, your bench press weight will go up, therefore giving you a stronger chest. To take the connection that exists between your muscles further, the best strength building exercise for shoulders is the standing military press- In order to lift a reasonable amount of weight for that, you need to have strong legs and a strong back in order to keep your body from swaying under the weight- You definitely don't want poor form while doing any exercise, but poor form in an exercise where you're lifting weights over your head is probably the most dangerous. So, you need to work your legs and back too- In order to have the strongest back possible, you need to work your biceps, since they help out with a lot of heavy back movements. Weak biceps can translate to a weak back, which means weak shoulders, which means weak bench press. See how it works?
So, the best advice I can give you is this- Check out the training forum, there are a bunch of great programs available there- Definitely take a look around in the "Best of training" thread.

thank you both for some nice suggestions. edwhobbs, when you mean 4 sets of 10 reps each. is it okay if i just use a machine bench press for that? and maybe then use the 15lb dumbells to cool off. okay now, cpl. i got a couple of questions for yo. for status i got decent upper body strength. i'm willing to workout my upper body more than my lower body. so now, here comes my question. saying that i'm 16 yrs. old. and i wanting to maybe grow a little more in height, i was worried maybe the leg presses and stuff will not help me grow taller. so the questions, if i want to grow height wise. should i still do work on my legs? another thing. i've been going track last year. and I am already one of the fasted spriniters in my school for beging a sophmore, so my legs are naturally kind of strong, that that help in any way? or should i work on my legs when i stop growing?

ya, another thing. since i'm new to the game. can you guys suggest any books or websites i should read. to help me understand and know what each excerise are and how to do them correctly. cause half the excerises you just mentioned. i have no clue what they are. thanks guys!

I used to run track also, and the thing i regret the most is not training harder for it in the weight room. Have you seen those olympic/professional sprinters? Their legs are HUGE (and so is the rest of their body). During the offseason, training your legs hard is great. During track season, or any athletic season, you should definately back offf a bit on the weight training. That does not mean to completely cut out training your lower body! I noticed a direct increase in speed with my leg strength. As a sophomore in high school, i weighed 165 lbs, squatted 260 lbs once, and ran a 4.59 40 yard dash. As a senior, i was 5'9, 185 pounds, squatted 370, and ran a 4.50 40 yard dash. As long as you are putting on muscle weight and getting stronger, working your legs will only make you faster. P.S., my bench max in high school never really changed, it only went from 260 to 285. So that really had nothing to do with my speed. I learned how to do certin routines from peers, coaches and family. In order to further help you, i and everyone else needs to know what kind of weght training equipment you have access to. Is it a well equipped school gym, membership gym, or home gym?
You also really need to scan around this forum some, it will really help out. Let us know what kind of equipment you have access to and then we'll go from there. Being 16, weight training will do anything but stunt your growth.

yeah ed i hate that if you lift weights it stunts your growth crap
maybe the really young but even then there are exceptions(proper training and trainers)
also the only thing that dictates more growth like height is episeal plates in your legs have not closed up yet
that is the only way to know if you are though growin
but the main thing i think wolf is you need to try and stay away from alot of machines
i think you mainly need alot of free weight excercise
a good chest workout is what ed said but i think you need to do some dumbbell flyes for a good chest stretch and cable crossovers for peak contraction
as far as websites i would look into bodybuilding.com and also search for position of flexion routines. they seem to work really well for me and maybe you too. they focus on a compound lift, stretch and peak contraction and few more exercises can be added in the routine as well
books go to barnes and noble or books a million and look through bodybuilding books
i like arnolds encyclopedia but i think you need to tone down some of the stuff he does and focus on less sets and reps but i think there is alot of good info in that book
also there are diagram books to get that show what the muscle looks like and how you should work it out
i have a book like that but i cant think of the name of it
if you really want it tell me and ill find it
its really good for beginers to show what the muscles look like
other than that just stay focused and work really hard
never get discouraged and always try to get better
later chief

so my legs are naturally kind of strong,

Actually, running doesn't increase leg strength. It increases stamina, cardiovascular health, etc- But if you take a runner who doesn't train with weights, I wouldn't risk asking him to squat 250 for reps. Strength training increases strenth, not endurance training.

Wenjia (Monsoonwolf). All of the above information is good. And, you don't need too many books if you work around this forum. You should find answers to most of your questions here. But, as for bench press. I don't! Simply because most injuries in the weight room are caused by the bench press. Ask any heavy lifter how his shoulders feel, or, how many shoulder operations have they had.? You can get an awesome workout of your upper body using dumb bells. You can do bench presses, decline presses, incline presses and flys. You can also use dumb bells for shoulder raises and shruggs, not to mention bicep and tricep work. Pound for pound, the dumb bell is the best piece of equipment in the gym. I stay completely away from the barbell bench press. I am 61 and still have my rotator cuffs intact, after 15 years of fairly heavy lifting.

ya, another thing. since i'm new to the game. can you guys suggest any books or websites i should read. to help me understand and know what each excerise are and how to do them correctly. cause half the excerises you just mentioned. i have no clue what they are. thanks guys!

I agree with DaddyDanDan, Arnold's Encyclopedia is a really good guide for excersise descriptions. Also, like he said... don't follow the routines he has outlined. The excersise combos are good, you might be ablt to cut the sets he suggests in half, or almost and do good, but the stuff he recomends is really good old basic stuff. Cool stories about lifting as well... also, a really good book is "Strength Training Anatomy" by... I forget, do a search on the forum on it, we discussed it a while back, great, great book!!

I agree with everything everyone said... like Old Navy suggested, most injuries are caused by the Flat Barbell Press. I personally really, really like that movement and think it's really great for beginers. I currently don't do it because the angle irritates a injury I had at one point, but if you approach it with respect you should fair well with it.... I like Flat DB's like Old Navy and the Hammer Press. Don't forget the Close-Grip Bench for your triceps, both are great!!

Ed. you guys do 40m? dash? wooh. all we got for the lowest is the 55m. Well anyways, about the equipment. it's all at my school. basically all of the machines, and good collection of dumbells, also barbell benches, So think of it as all i need, for now. There is a gym teacher there everyday after school, and i can ask him if i need some help. So i guess if working the legs is no harm, i'll prob. try to do some leg presses or something. Recently, i have been trying to stick away from the bench, part of my right deltoid feels a little tense. So i've been lifting with dumbells a lot. i work my triceps and biceps with those. and i tried some bench presses with my dumbells ligt weight, just to get some sort of workout. I thanks you guys for the advice, i hope i can decipher it all the excerises you guys mentioned fast. well the weightroom in my school is open everyday. But i prefer to go 2-3times a week. if you guys don't mind, try to give me a workout plan. thanks

haha the 40 time is from football, not track. Here is a good begginner workout. The first number is number of sets, and the second number after the "x" means how many reps you do for each set. So 3x10 means 3 sets of 10 reps. Keep your weight the same unless you feel like you can do more or less on the final set, then adjust the weight so that you get 10 reps. Always work with a spotter on Benchpress and Squats, getting stuck sucks and can be dangerous. Give yourself 1.5 minutes of rest between each set, and 3 minutes of rest between excersises (ex. if you are going from benchpress to incline dumbell benchpress rest for 3 minutes before you start incline dumbell benchpress.)

Day 1: Chest and Back
Benchpress - 3x10
Incline dumbell benchpress - 3x10
Dumbell flys or machine pec deck - 2x12
Bentover rows - 3x10
Lat pulls - 4x10 (do two sets in front of the head, two sets behind the head)

Day 2: Legs
Squat - 3x10
Hamstring Curls - 3x10
Leg Extensions - 2x10
Calf Presses - 3x12
Hyperextensions - 3x10 (a lower back excercise, but great results when done on squat day)

Day 3: Abs
Weighted Sit ups - 3x12 (put a weight on your chest and do normal sit ups)
Elbow to knee crunches - 2x??? (Crunches but come up at an angle. Put your knees off the ground so that they are at 90 degrees to the ground, then touch your right elbow to your left knee, your left elbow to your right knee, and so on. Do two sets as many as you can for each set)


Day 4: Arms and Shoulders
Barbell curls - 3x10
Hammer Curls - 2x12
Standing Military Press - 3x10
Dumbell shrugs - 3x10
Tricep Extensions - 3x10

Day 5, 6 and 7: rest but repeat day 3 on one day, preferably day 6 or 7

If you are in season for track and feel exhausted from running, cut all excercises to 2x12. Make sure you eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight, and that you get 3000 calories a day. Also take a daily multivitamin. Drink lots of water milk. Stretch between every set and excersise. This promotes growth and prevents injury. Stick with this workout until you have developed a good base for heavier lifting, then get a new workout. DO NOT lift weights on a day close to a track meet (don't lift the day before a meet, or two days before a meet), so adjust your lifting schedule accordingly. I'd stay away from deadlift and straight leg deadlift for now, they are heavy lifts and if you do them wrong your back will not thank you. You can do the ab day at home so you will only have to go three times a week.

oh, stick to this for awhile, i wouldn't say short of three months. And i meant water and milk

this workout is only a suggestion, listen to other people too.

thanks ed, i'll try that exercise next week. a few questions. say i work my biceps and triceps, how many days should i rest, until i should work on it again? speaking about biceps and tricep. i heard from my gym teacher that there is a great dispute about whether you should do biceps on one day and triceps on the next day, or do it on the same day. The gym told me just to do it on the same day, cause they can't proved that doing both on a day cancels the other out or soemthing? and for the abs, when you mean put weight on your abs, you mean any weight or plate? and we have machine to exercise the the abs and the back, so is that better?