Bench warmups

[andysutils]

Ive always had this problem, every dam time I do any warmup ready to do some bench pressing, my arms are totally fatigued after the first set which means its almost pointless me doing bench work at all.

Has anyone ever had this or anyone know any good tips for warming up? ive had a new thought about doing some tri sets, you think this would help?

 

[dennis]

Sounds to me like you are using way too much weight to warm up with.My max is 275 on flat bench,I warm up with the bar first (45 lbs)12-15 reps slow at first then speed it up towards the end.Next I put on 2 - 25 lb plates 95lbs total and do 10 -12.Now I am ready to begin my bench/chest day.[)]

 

[andysutils]

Sounds to me like you are using way too much weight to warm up with.My max is 275 on flat bench,I warm up with the bar first (45 lbs)12-15 reps slow at first then speed it up towards the end.Next I put on 2 - 25 lb plates 95lbs total and do 10 -12.Now I am ready to begin my bench/chest day.[)]

nice, i could probably manage half of 95lbs right now in my current condition[)].

thanks for tip bro, ill warmup with some lighter weight if I can get any lighter than that.

I think Ive pushed far to much weight last year, especially the legwork which is probably how i bust a hernia to start with.

 

[mr.nitro]

deffinitly lighter and longer breaks between sets.

 

[andysutils]

deffinitly lighter and longer breaks between sets.

I use to take 60 secs between breaks as Ive heard that shorter breaks will give you more mass and longer breaks for strenght increase.

Is this BS or does it not make any difference?

 

[Lizard King]

I may be weird but I actually do overhead rows for my chest warm up. Gets the blood flowing nicely in my shoulders and loosens everything up. I do 3 sets with a light weight, 80 - 90lbs for 20 - 25 reps each, then I do a set with 135 on the bench and work my way up from there.

 

[CoachG]

I'll do one set of 20 reps with the bar, then 1 set of 20 reps with 135, then 1 set of ten reps with 185, then 5 sets of 5, starting at 225 and moving up from there.

 

[Quietstorm09]

I use to take 60 secs between breaks as Ive heard that shorter breaks will give you more mass and longer breaks for strenght increase.

Is this BS or does it not make any difference?

ive heard 2 min between sets. could be wrong but thats what ive heard.

 

[bigbench]

ive heard 2 min between sets. could be wrong but thats what ive heard.

Thats the best amount of time for bulking and strength. Even as long as 3 minutes. It allows for proper muscle fiber recovery as well as ATP replinishment between each set

 

[jmills]

Ive had the same problem, here's my thinking on this now: basically, anything that raises yor internal temp by 2 degrees is a warmup...so kind of like squatting heavy will affect your overall muscularity, warming up your entire body will cause your (insert individual body part here) to be ready to go!
Now dont get me wrong, I'm not above doing a few lighter sets to get my head around what I'm doing, but I dont think warming up a body part by performing multiple (lighter) sets of your heavy compound exercise for that bodypart is the most effective method.

For instance, on leg day i might sit in the hot tub for 10 minutes or so then hit the bag OR do 4-5 sets of ab exercises...in between sets of these I'm getting the bar ready for my squats...then I'll do something like this
1x135x8
1x225x8
Thats it. I'm good and warm...maybe even got a little sweat going...shoulders, wrists, back and legs got plenty of blood flow and I've found my groove mentally. From here, I'll bang out 3-4 more sets of squats and move on.

I just have to stay away from the bikes or a bunch of lighter sets of squats or my strength suffers.

 

[jmills]

Andy, i just re-read your post....are you doing a bunch of arm isolation stuff? Are you working your chest too soon after tris? If your arms are really gassing and limiting the amount of work you can do on your chest them maybe you need to restructure your w/o...maybe even stop doing any arm work at all for a while.

just a thought...

 

[Helomech74]

What's your form like on the bench? Often times I have found that when my form goes to shit, my arms will fatigue. If I concentrate on using strict form, the only thing that gets gassed is my chest and then my tri's towards the end of the set (Last rep or 2). I elevate my chest, pull my shoulder baldes together, and never let my elbows come down lower then parallel on my movement. This makes the bar barely touch my chest, and keeps my pecs under tension the whole time. Never lock out at the top. This has worked for me. I used to have the same problems with my arms gassing when I was younger. When I was college playing ball our strength coach preached form and function and it's worked ever since.