I want to do 5x5 bench everytime i hit the gym for the next few weeks. Every second day (48 hrs). Is that too often...

I want to do 5x5 bench everytime i hit the gym for the next few weeks. Every second day (48 hrs). Is that too often, or is it all good?
I'm currently benching 150 pounds & I weigh 207

You'll be fine, upper body generally copes with higher volume and even benefits from it more than lower body. Just don't go to failure every day, you should still have a few reps in the tank on your last set and you should improve your bench faster than you have before.

Great, thank you!

Adding that lower body recovers slower partially because you can't not use your legs in getting around so they don't recover as well

well the program im on is:

A:
5x5 squats
5x5 bench
5x5 pullups
5x5 bicep curls

B:
5x5 squats
5x5 rows
5x5 military press
3x5 deadlifts

but im off it for a few weeks & just improvising, and im very eager to reach 160 on bench, so the idea is, if i do it more, ill get there faster.
I'm basically asking if that is the case, or if I should stick to doing it every second time?

Definitely. You may sacrifice gains in other areas but sounds like it will be worth it for you. Just remember to respect rest days, eat right and sleep well, that's just as important as hitting the gym.

please never attempt to give advice on this board again

Alright, I will then. I'm thinking I'll do 6x5 and then 7x5 and soforth, and then increase the weight and go back to 5x5, and repeat, until I'm at 160.

Thanks!

>Just don't go to failure every day, you should still have a few reps in the tank on your last set
lol why, to build muscle you need to overload which is going to the limit

Hang on... just to be clear you are currently benching 5x5 at 150 lbs (207 bw) and your goal is 5x5 at 160? Mate for real you can aim higher... Add 5lbs a week and you'll hit bw benching in 10 weeks, definitely achievable.

Sounds like he is about to start benching 3x a week for the first time ever at that frequency, if he is going to failure every day he will probably be too sore in the first couple of weeks and make excuses then skip sessions defeating the purpose of higher frequency training... Progressive overload doesn't require literal failure every time, if 150 is hard but doable, next week 155 is hard but doable. If 150 is dropping the bar on his neck then Wednesday is a "eh I'm sore, I'll go tomorrow". His numbers are still pretty newb so failure probably wouldn't destroy him, but better to get the frequency up than risk burning out

Sir I bench 7pl8 I think I know what I'm talking about :^)

I'm a bit UNSTEADILY at 150, if that makes any sense. I still struggle with the 5th rep, but I am planning on, starting tomorrow, going up to 6x5, and then the day after, I'll possibly to something akin to 155 with 5x5. Basically, I am definetly intent on increasing in weight more rapidly. 160 is not necessarily my goal, but I've been "stuck" on 160 for a bit.

My only only concern with progressive overload now is that for the next few weeks, I won't have anyone to spot me, and I'm concerned about getting hurt. But what you're saying is kindof, find out the most number of reps I can do at 150, do that x5, and then next time, adjust the weight accordingly so that I'm at 5x5 with the most I can do?

Sorry if my questions are poorly phrased, but I think you understand what im asking

No one at all to spot? As in you cbf asking or you're home gym? If former, just ask, it's a gym it's no biggie. If latter, learn to the the barbell roll, roll it down to your hips, sit up and unrack plates before moving it back to pins.

If you've been stuck there a while and continually grinding out maybe back off to 135, focus on good form and work your way back at 5lbs/week. Where do you struggle, lock out or from the chest? If lock out, do tricep accessory work, if from the chest do a bunch of flys or db bench or other chest accessory work.

If none of this applies, check your food intake is enough, sleep is enough and rest time between sets is enough.

Well my friend is sick, and its a self-serve gym in an empty-ass town. But at the weight I'm doing, I can always just slide the bar off myself if I end up unable to lift it.

The main issue I'm having is that I've been using poor technique with my wrists for a long time (applying pressure to it), and I've only been starting to straighten them out for the last few months. But the wrists are a bit unsteady and shaky, so I end up being a bit more focused on that. But I could always do more accessory work, So I suppose I will focus primarily on upper body for the next few weeks, with isolation exercises on both chest & tri.

So after what you've told me, I'm planning on, for the next 3-4 weeks, basically sticking to maybe 5 exercises every time; bench + 2 tricep exercises & 2 chest-exercises (unless someone now tells me thats fucked). I realize I'll be ignoring my other bodyparts, but its only for a short while

Thanks a lot for helpful replies everyone!

If you've never done it before just try it once with empty bar so you know how it feels. Not hard so long as you are benching from your chest not your neck.

Accessory work helped me a lot, throw it in at end of session and do the whole bro thing of mind-muscle connection and feel the squeeze for whichever muscle you're aiming for.

gl bro, we're all gonna make it

sorry I dont entirely understand what you mean by "empty bar". Meaning nothing to put it on between sets?

You could also dumbbell bench, no danger of getting stuck under the bar, and works more stabilizers. You won't be able to do as much weight but that's because of the weaker stabilizers

the reason im hesitant to switch over to dumbbells is because i feel like it makes it more difficult for me to track my progress. im honestly not really that concerned about muscle failure. as I mentioned, if i get 150-160 pounds stuck on top of me, thats not really gonna fuck me up. ill just slide it off

Yes, benching anything less than 3 times per week is basically useless.

Overhead presses can safely be relegated to an accessory lift, given that you don't have ambitions for weightlifting, in which case it should be opposite.

Just meant if you've never had to bail from under a barbell during bench before, when warming up just use an empty barbell (no plates) and make sure you know how it feels rolling it down to your hips so you can get out. Better with no weight to just test it than suddenly at failure with your 5 rep max having to try it for the first time. Like you say, at 150ish you're probably fine anyway but I'm a safety nut so suggested a practice run.

Legit I love db personally, feel it in my chest a lot more, but whatever floats your boat if it's not your thing.

duly noted. I'll definetly start doing bench every other day for a while now, based on your post + the others who have written here

ah, that makes sense. Yeah for sure, ill try that out tomorrow. sounds like a good idea

>tfw guy at my gym today picks up the 337.5 lb dumbbells
>proceeds to 3x8 bench

Was this you?

I can't even diddly that much m9