Key Takeaways
- For some, it might take a few weeks to bench 225, while for others, it might take a couple of months.
- Your genetics will dictate your starting point, but from there on out, it’s all about how hard you work.
- The most important muscles for the bench press are the chest, shoulders, triceps, and lats.
So, you wanna bench 225? Join the club, bud.
While benching isn’t the holy grail of the gym, it is a pretty big milestone for most. The time it takes for you to bench 225 depends on your genetics (starting point) and how hard you work (the journey).
We’ll give you some tips on how to bench properly, how to improve your bench, and how to make sure you don’t tear a pec off while benching.
Benching 101
Alright, class, take your seats!
We’re talking about the most alpha exercise you can practice — except for actually trying to improve yourself. No, the bench press is far easier than going to therapy, but it can be particular.
Benching is one of the best chest exercises… wait, no, it isn’t.
I’m not about to beat around the bush. The bench press is dangerous. The function of the chest is to draw the humerus (upper arm bone) up and across the chest. When you’re ‘locked’ in place with a barbell, the chest can’t really do what it’s supposed to do properly.
You can tear your chest while benching, especially if you’re using improper form. Here’s an example of how not to bench:
You’re also far less likely to tear your chest while doing a dumbbell bench press. But, if you’re insisting, let’s break it down piece by piece.
The bench press requires a few muscles other than just the chest, including the shoulders, triceps, and (believe it or not) the lats!
- The chest moves the arm up and across the body, allowing the bar to move up and down.
- The triceps allow for arm extension, which enables your arms to straighten.
- The shoulder muscles are used for stabilization.
- And lastly, the lats lock the shoulders down and keep the arms in the correct plane.
You’ll also use your glutes and core, especially if you use powerlifting techniques.
How Long Does It Take to Bench 225?
Unfortunately, we simply cannot guess how long it’ll take for you to bench press 225 pounds.
But we can guess some arbitrary things, like:
- Most men can bench press 50 – 100 lbs from the get-go.
- You could add 2.5 lbs per week to your bench press.
- Factors that make you better at benching include being short, having a larger ribcage, and having stronger triceps and shoulders.
With these factors, we can estimate you could end up benching 225 within 3 – 4 months of training, but again, these markers vary wildly from person to person!
Another factor to consider is your actual body weight. This isn’t strictly science, yet, those who are in the fitness industry will be eager to point out that heavier individuals tend to be better at strength.
With all that said and done, let’s give a quick rundown on how you should be benching before we give you tips on how to bench better.
Proper Training Technique for the Bench Press
Before you go out there and bangin’ and clangin’ with all the other gym-goers, we need to make sure your form is on point.
Here are the steps you need to follow to bench properly.
- Step 1: Set up the bar to the right height (slightly lower than arm length). Also, have a spotter to lift the bar up and make sure you don’t get injured.
- Step 2: Grab the bar a thumb length wider than shoulder-width. Remember: thumbs under. Going thumbs over is only for the elite and those who wanna get injured.
- Step 3: Plant your feet firmly and flat on the ground with your back flush against the pad.
- Step 4: Have someone lift the bar off and hold it over your body — lower than your nipple line but still on your chest line.
- Step 5: Engage the lats by tucking your triceps (imagine squeezing a watermelon under your armpits).
- Step 6: Slowly lower the bar to your chest and press it up to the starting position.
How to Get Better at Benching
And now we’ve come to the bulk of the article (pun intended). Before we start, just know that how “good” you are at benching is in no way only dependent on how hard you work.
If you’re taller, you’re going to struggle.
If you don’t have a large rib cage, you’re going to struggle.
So, let’s get started, getting the first two boring ones out of the way.
Diet and Recovery
If you think you can chow down on McDonald’s and get incredibly great at benching because “Bulking, Bro!” you’ve got another thing coming.
Running down the to-dos in your diet:
- Plenty of protein: At least 1 gram per pound of body weight
- Calorie surplus: Especially if you’re really keen on getting better at benching; aim for 200 – 300 above your maintenance calories
- Variety: Including various veggies, carbs, and healthy fats
Other than that, you also need to focus greatly on your recovery. If you fail to recover, you simply will not grow muscle mass, and you won’t get stronger. This means no 225 benches.
Also, sleep at least 8 hours per night. Avoid stress whenever you can, and avoid stressful people or situations. Don’t overtrain, either, so don’t use too much volume per session or per week. Make use of rest days, too…
Wanna Get Good at Benching? Well, Bench More
Wanna know how often you can train your chest? Every other day. If you keep your volume low with your intensity high, you could theoretically train your chest every second day.
For instance:
- Monday: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
- Tuesday: Lats, Upper Back, Biceps, and Hamstrings
- Wednesday: Chest, Quads, and Glutes
- Thursday: Off
- Friday: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
- Saturday: Lats, Biceps, and Hamstrings/Glutes/Quads
- Sunday: Off
So, this person has trained chest three times in one week. Across a year (granting a 5-week hiatus), this individual trained chest 141 times. Compare this to the ‘bro-split’ guy who’s only trained his chest 52 times (once a week frequency), and you have an almost 300% increase in volume!
(Granted, this should be coupled with low-volume workouts and high-intensity training.)
Of course, you should be benching at least twice a week if you really want to get better at it. You might do some incline work in there as well.
Do the Right Training Intensity
If you want be lift weights and actually increase your bench press strength, you should (in the beginning) follow a progressive overload method that takes you close to failure.
Each set should be taken within 2 – 3 reps shy of failure. By doing this, you allow for the most amount of muscle mass adaptation while also increasing strength.
Simply add 2.5 – 5 pounds each week, or increase the number of reps you did on the same weight last week. Ideally, you’d add weight and increase the number of reps.
Do the Right Movements
Those who are exceptional at the bench press all have something in common: they all have the same assistance and isolation exercises in their training program.
Combined with bench press training, you’ll be in the perfect position to build muscle while also gaining strength in the right places.
Here’s how:
Triceps
Having strong triceps is a surefire way of being dang good at benching. For instance, I saw someone misgroove a bench press in a powerlifting competition, and he simply used his triceps to rack it. It was 200kg/440lb.
For strong triceps, start utilizing heavy skull crushers and JM Presses. Combine that with some single-arm isolation extensions, and you should be good to go.
Shoulders
The shoulders need to stabilize and control all that weight. Without strong shoulders, the bar will tend to veer toward your feet, and that’s not only bad for lifting heavier weights… It’s dangerous as well.
For stronger shoulders, do a press (barbell or dumbbell), lateral raises (cables or dumbbells), and lastly, do some rear delt work as well.
Lats
Many forget just how involved the lats are in compound exercises like the bench press. Without strong lats, you won’t be able to lock your arms in place, and the bar will drift all over the place. Again, dangerous.
For stronger lats, doing any vertical pull (like pull-ups) combined with horizontal pulls (like rows) is best.
Chest
Saving the best for last, we have the chest. It’s one hell of a topic to cover, so let’s try to keep things short and sweet. You need a big ‘ol strong chest to actually bench press a ton of weight.
No science, no study — you just need a dang strong chest.
For a stronger chest, make sure you do ‘all the sides of the chest.’ This means your weekly training program should include lower, mid, and upper chest movements.
Don’t be afraid to play with flyes as well, as these could take some of the load from your triceps but still allow you to train the chest rather effectively.
Dips are another great exercise. In fact, they target the chest, shoulders, and triceps! In my personal training experience, dips are an effective tool that you can easily overload and incorporate into any training program.
One more thing: while these assistance movements and isolation exercises are great, they should never come first in a workout. Your primary goal is a bigger bench press, so focus on that.
A chest training plan might look like this:
- Bench Press: 2 x 5, 2 x 3, 2 x 1
- Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 x 10 – 15
- Dips: 4 x 8 – 20
- Cable Flyes: 2 x 8 – 15
In this hypothetical situation, we cover all the ‘parts’ of the chest and spend a good amount of energy focusing on the bench press alone. Doing this allows for more physical and mental energy to ‘go’ towards that exercise, meaning it’ll improve the most.
How to Bench 225 Faster
To decrease the time you need to bench 225, do the following:
- Train the chest (shoulders, lats, and triceps) hard and often.
- Always train bench press first on chest days.
- Spend more ‘volume’ on chest training, which means you might do less volume on quads to ‘shift’ it towards the chest.
- Eat, sleep, and relax like an athlete.
And then, above all, enjoy the process. A friend of mine just deadlifted 300kg off a 5.5-inch deficit, and he was just as happy as he was when he did 300kg off a normal floor for the first time.
Take the time to enjoy the process of learning, growing, and making new friends. That last part is really important… you’ll need someone to spot you.
So, How Long Will It Take For Me to Bench Press 225 Pounds?
Well, how hard are you willing to work?
- I kinda want it: 3 – 5 months
- I do really want it: 3 months
- I dream about two plates with chicken and rice afterward:
Sure, these are just guesses, but that’s the point. No one knows how long it’ll take for you to reach a 225-pound bench press because you and I are completely different. We have different genetics and different work ethics.
Overall, most folks should be able to bench press 225 pounds within half a year of training. But for those who are really eager and willing to make quite a few sacrifices, it might be a lot shorter.