Increase Your Bench Press By 200%

When I was younger, I was obsessed with getting big. And, being an instant gratification-loving American teen, I wanted to get big now.

Also being a noob to training, I decided to hit up my old pal Google for the ‘best’ workout program (that is, the routinethat would get me the results I was looking for the fastest).

My search turned up a few promising results. With hindsight, they were garbage. But then, with youthful enthusiasm, it was like striking gold. “This program looks pretty good…but so does that other one. Maybe I should combine them…” I thought to myself (it seemed like a good idea at the time). In the beginning I jumped from routine to routine, gradually putting on muscle. But not enough. After months, I still wasn’t seeing the results I was after. I was following the programs, drinking my milk and getting plenty of rest. And I still couldn’t even bench 135…which was more than slightly embarrassing since I looked like I should be able to bench at least 155.

But there I was, whimpering about the strain-induced butt cramp I acquired while struggling to get just one more rep with all of 115lbs and wondering why I wasn’t improving. My problem was that I didn’t know what I was doing. And if I kept following someone else’s workout routine, it would have stayed that way. I would have never learned to train myself, and I would have hit barriers in my training without knowing how to work around them. You should know how to train yourself.

With time and experimentation, you’ll find how to train yourself better than anyone else ever could. You’ll also find it to be incredibly simple. And training should be simple, especially when you’re a beginner. But don’t confuse ‘simple’ with ‘easy’, ’cause they’re not the same. I won’t get into routines or set and rep schemes.

This article just outlines the very-basics. Let’s look at a table to simplify it further: It’s simple: Train heavy, compound movements. But is it easy? No. Especially not if you’re used to isolation lifts. It’s simple: Train with people who are stronger than you. But is it easy? Not necessarily. It’s simple: Train your weaknesses. But is it easy? Not if you expect to get anything out of it. It’s simple: Consistently consume more calories than you’re probably used to. But is it easy? Try it and see. See the difference? It’s okay for training to be simple. It should be. Just don’t let it get easy, or you won’t get any stronger. Let’s go over the table a bit.