Today I want to have a serious conversation with you about something many of you might be doing wrong in your training: bench pressing three days a week. If you’re serious about improving your bench press, it’s time to rethink your approach.
Now, I get it. You’ve heard that the more you bench, the better you’ll get. And for beginners in their first year of lifting, this might hold true. Early on, repetition helps you nail down technique and build the foundational strength you need.
But once you move into intermediate and advanced territory—pressing in the 300s, 400s, or beyond—benching three times a week can do more harm than good.
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Why Benching 3 Days a Week Is Counterproductive
The problem isn’t the effort; it’s the redundancy. When you repeatedly bench, you’re reinforcing efficiency in that movement. While that sounds great, it has a downside: efficiency reduces muscle recruitment.
Over time, you’ll find that benching stops stimulating your muscles effectively, and your progress stalls and you face that dreaded bench press plateau.
Think of it this way: The better you get at a skill, the less energy it takes to perform. This is great for things like running a marathon, but when your goal is muscle growth and strength, reduced energy expenditure means fewer gains.
And note that a lot of this comes from my video on the Powerlifting Technique YouTube channel.
The solution: Press, don't just bench.
If you’re itching to press multiple days a week, you don’t have to stop pressing entirely. The trick is to diversify your pressing movements. Instead of benching three times a week, try this:
- Day 1: Traditional Bench Press. Stick with the classic movement to work your chest, shoulders, and triceps.
- Day 2: Shoulder Press. Focus on building stronger shoulders, which are essential for a big bench press. A dumbbell or barbell shoulder press is a great option.
- Day 3: Close-Grip Bench Press. This variation puts more emphasis on your triceps, a critical muscle group for locking out heavy weights.
By alternating the type of press, you’re targeting different muscles and angles, promoting growth and strength across your entire pressing anatomy.
And there are plenty of bench press alternatives if you want to expand your focus.
Why Changing Stimulus Matters
Think about the last time you tried a new exercise. Remember how sore you were afterward? That’s because your muscles weren’t used to the new movement, and they were forced to adapt. The same principle applies here. If you always bench the same way, your body adapts, and the stimulus becomes less effective.
Switching to variations like shoulder presses or close-grip presses shakes things up. It challenges your muscles in new ways, encouraging growth and helping you break through plateaus.
If your bench press progress has hit a wall, it’s time to stop benching three days a week and start pressing smarter. Incorporating different pressing movements can unlock your potential and help you achieve the gains you’ve been chasing.
Tracking your training can be an easy way to see gaps in your training programs. It can also be a good way to assess what has worked in the past and what hasn't. It can be as simple as saying “I felt strong during these weeks”, and then looking at what you were doing leading up to that point in time.
Overcoming Bench Plateaus, PLT
So if you're wondering why you hit a limit on the bench press, the answer could be simple. You might just want to rethink how often you're doing that specific motion. Focus on related muscles, and you can push through to new levels of strength.
Until next time, keep lifting, keep learning, and let’s smash those PRs together.
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